Janet, my 11 yr old is sick!

[NKWood]

I was hoping to get some input. My oldest hen Janet is an Ameracauna and about 11 yrs old. Pretty good age for a bird I guess, but she is my favorite and is sick. I initially thought impacted crop because her crop is a little hard and swollen. I can feel a lot of girt in there. We have been massaging and giving oil and soft foods for a couple of days. She has been pooping more and she seemed a little perkier yesterday, now this morning she is wheezing, has a whistling noise in her lungs and very lethargic. Is it possible that she has some other age related issue? Or some other kind of infection? Do chickens crops just quit working with age? Because her crop doesn't seem all that bad, even though it doesn't empty at night, I have seen worse. Her poop is a little soft and greasy, of course because of what we have been giving her. She seems to be having trouble breathing. I am worried that somehow we got oil in her lungs. I am really bummed about this, she has been such a great, healthy bird. No one else in my flock is sick. I had a sudden death of an 8 yr old hen a few months ago, and I had a hen with an impacted crop I couldn't save early last winter, that's it! I am afraid to do crop surgery on her because she is so frail. I had some penicilin we started this moring in case it's some infection we can't see. Any ideas?

 

[Judy]

I'm sorry this is happening to your favorite, and wish I had something to suggest. You sound like someone who wouldn't be likely to get oil in her lungs. With her age, I am wondering if she has heart failure, or perhaps liver failure, and that is causing the crop to slow and the wheezing. I hope she improves for you.

 

[justbugged]