The results were negative for parasites. Her chest may have looked larger because she had eaten prior to that video, but mainly because she had her head sitting quite far back in her discomfort.
I am happy to report she has been pooping normally and has improved significantly! She is full of life and doing chicken-y things starting yesterday.
What was the culprit? Well it began right after feeding them a piece of bread. Certainly hay contributed. There wasn't a feelable mass in the crop. They were previously only fed crumbles, and they would barely touch scrambled eggs, cut up grapes, and blueberries. They only eat pellets if wet. (I might also note they are messy, immature eaters; more like chicks than pullets). When I first fed them little pieces of bread they were elated--so was I as I finally found something they went bonkers for. But in retrospect they weren't ready for anything more than a couple bites. I will be very careful and accomodate their needs in food size and unchokable run bedding, and be sure to inspect their crops frequently. Raw egg yolk seems to be a great treat for them, and I believe it was critical in helping her get through this.
If anybody has a recommendation for good run bedding in winter, or an activity similar to tearing down a hay bale, I would love to hear it! We do chopped leaves and yard waste through the chipper for run bedding, but being winter it's not an option at this time to add more of that if we remove the hay. There is hay bedding in the run because the birds tear through scratch-filled hay bales as a winter boredom buster (it is a covered run and doesn't get wet). They don't have any issues with consuming hay, but for these two new birds coming out of quarantine I would like to remove it from the run, and will need a substitute bedding and boredom-buster activity that is safe for the new birds. What about a compost pile? Our run has .5" hardware cloth, would a mouse fit through that?
I appeciate all the feedback and help! Thanks.
