Labored breathing and hard crop

[carleylat1996]

My partner found one of our chickens last night in the coop with very labored breathing. He had just been letting them free range before bed and everyone seemed perfectly fine. We thought she was choking at first but she had calmed down a bit after about an hour and a half. She seems like she is struggling for air, but it’s more of a dry intake than any wetness or rattling. I can’t see anything in her throat, and she ate a few pieces of food from our hands. Her crop felt squishy and moveable. She did shake her head a couple times. She doesn’t have any discharge coming from her mouth or nose. Her poop is watery/runny. Her comb is darker red, but not purple. We tried to give her some vegetable oil mixed with water last night but she won’t let us put a dropper near her mouth.
We kept her isolated in the bathroom overnight with some water and she made it through the night. Her breathing was normal at first with some wheezing, but she is back to the labored breathing and is now also sneezing, but still no discharge. We checked her crop and it hasn’t emptied and is now hard, so I am wondering if she has an impacted crop that is affecting her windpipe. We aren’t sure how to remedy this without surgery. We aren’t willing to do the surgery ourselves due to lack of materials and experience/knowledge, but we are willing to find a vet. We are located in New Hampshire if anyone knows of any vet anywhere that helps chickens. Any advice/thoughts on what this may be and how to help/treat are appreciated.

 

[AGstudy]

I just lost a hen to impacted crop last night...sounds the same.

 

[carleylat1996]

I just lost a hen to impacted crop last night...sounds the same.

How long did it take her to pass? Our girl keeps getting the episodes of breathing/wheezing and then she’ll start acting somewhat normal again. We have given her VetRX and just gave her some dewormer on the off chance it’s gapeworm. I just don’t know when to stop trying..

 

[AGstudy]

Once the difficulty breathing started it was about a day and a half.

 

[Amanda052389]

I lost a chicken last month to this. I believe it was an impacted crop which turned to sour crop. She had runny, green diarrhea. I’m not sure if yours is experiencing that. I found a few YouTube videos that showed how to induce vomiting for a chicken as they cannot do it themselves. I attempted it with my girl with no luck. That was one of the remedies I found for impacted crop. I read recommendations of vegetable oil too which sounds like you’ve done. It’s not easy and I know she refusing it but I’d keep trying that and massaging her crop. I wrap my chickens in a towel to keep them still and calm. Hold her like a football and with that arm gently pry her beak and use the other hand to syringe in if you don’t have help. That’s how I was able to manage it. Keep us updated- I’m hoping you’re able to resolve this. I just lost a chicken a few hours ago to something else and it’s so sad.