- Jun 12, 2011
- 5
- 0
- 7
Hi all,
Any help would be appreciated. I'm very new to chickens, just picked up my very first chickens a week ago, so i apologise if this has been discussed many times before.
1) What type of bird , age and weight. Ex bat isa brown. 18 months. now just 1.8kg
2) What is the behavior, exactly. i only just picked up my 2 hens (very first hens) a week ago. i noticed Wednesday that one had a very large and hard crop that wasn't going down. She was also doing bright green poo. i wormed them on Friday (aristopet poultry wormer.) When i checked at lunchtime friday the crop was normal but when i returned 4 hours later is was swelled up like a huge balloon but it was soft and not rock hard like before. Since then it has been swelling, reducing then swelling again- but never down to normal crop size. It's almost like a tiny bit can get through, but not everything. The crop is still big in the morning & there is no bad smell.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms? rock hard crop i guess from when we first got her last Sunday. Soft full crop since Friday
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms? no
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma. no
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation. not sure- ex bat hen.
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all. Normally layer pellets and organic mash with veggie scraps and shell grit. Since Friday i have been giving her small amounts of soaked layer pellets. She is acting like nothing is wrong and is very happy to eat and eat and eat
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc. Green and runny. Today it was slightly more yellow than green and slightly more solid
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
1. olive oil and massage every 2 hours since friday night (except for when chooks are in bed)
2. went to vet on Saturday- given antibiotics and anti inflammitory. Also given 4x antibiotics and anti inflam to give once a day for the next four days
3. today i started to mix in some probiotic in with the layer pellets and put ACV in the drinking water. Only giving small, supervised amounts
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet? Already been to a vet but i'm not convinced they know what they're doing. I would like to know:
1. the wormer seemed to have worked the first time- could it be possible that they needed more of it? it says on the pack just to give for up to 8 hours so that's all i did.
2. should i go to the vet and insist they flush out the crop? I'm confused as to if it is sour crop since it's not sour. There is no way i'm capable of making her regurgitate myself as she's far too wriggly and being my first chooks i'm not competent enough.
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use: until today i put straw and shavings in. Today i removed the shavings and put in towels in their roost.
I'm very concerned as she has no fat left on her at all. I imagine this problem has been going on a while without anyone noticing.
My apologies if this is sour crop with has been discussed a million times before- i'm just concerned as it does seem to very slowly empty out and there is no sour smell.
Thank you very much for taking the time to read this.
Any help would be appreciated. I'm very new to chickens, just picked up my very first chickens a week ago, so i apologise if this has been discussed many times before.
1) What type of bird , age and weight. Ex bat isa brown. 18 months. now just 1.8kg

2) What is the behavior, exactly. i only just picked up my 2 hens (very first hens) a week ago. i noticed Wednesday that one had a very large and hard crop that wasn't going down. She was also doing bright green poo. i wormed them on Friday (aristopet poultry wormer.) When i checked at lunchtime friday the crop was normal but when i returned 4 hours later is was swelled up like a huge balloon but it was soft and not rock hard like before. Since then it has been swelling, reducing then swelling again- but never down to normal crop size. It's almost like a tiny bit can get through, but not everything. The crop is still big in the morning & there is no bad smell.
3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms? rock hard crop i guess from when we first got her last Sunday. Soft full crop since Friday
4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms? no
5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma. no
6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation. not sure- ex bat hen.
7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all. Normally layer pellets and organic mash with veggie scraps and shell grit. Since Friday i have been giving her small amounts of soaked layer pellets. She is acting like nothing is wrong and is very happy to eat and eat and eat
8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc. Green and runny. Today it was slightly more yellow than green and slightly more solid
9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
1. olive oil and massage every 2 hours since friday night (except for when chooks are in bed)
2. went to vet on Saturday- given antibiotics and anti inflammitory. Also given 4x antibiotics and anti inflam to give once a day for the next four days
3. today i started to mix in some probiotic in with the layer pellets and put ACV in the drinking water. Only giving small, supervised amounts
10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet? Already been to a vet but i'm not convinced they know what they're doing. I would like to know:
1. the wormer seemed to have worked the first time- could it be possible that they needed more of it? it says on the pack just to give for up to 8 hours so that's all i did.
2. should i go to the vet and insist they flush out the crop? I'm confused as to if it is sour crop since it's not sour. There is no way i'm capable of making her regurgitate myself as she's far too wriggly and being my first chooks i'm not competent enough.
11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
12) Describe the housing/bedding in use: until today i put straw and shavings in. Today i removed the shavings and put in towels in their roost.
I'm very concerned as she has no fat left on her at all. I imagine this problem has been going on a while without anyone noticing.
My apologies if this is sour crop with has been discussed a million times before- i'm just concerned as it does seem to very slowly empty out and there is no sour smell.
Thank you very much for taking the time to read this.