Lethargic and swollen crop

[kriley0311]

Hi I'm new to BYC! Was hoping I could get a little help with my sick hen. She is about a year old and up until about 3 days ago was laying great eggs. I noticed a few days ago that she was just laying in the spot where they like to lay (the furthest back corner in the coop) fluffed up and would not move even with my grabbing for her. The next morning I isolated her with some water and grain. She ate the feed when it was put in front of her. That evening whe was still just laying in the hutch that she was in. After reading online I thought she might be egg bound so I gave her a warm water bath last night. Doing this my boyfriend noticed that her crop was very large about egg sized (don't know if this is normal or not). I don't think she has been drinking water on her own so I gave her some through a syringe, which she seemed to happily take. I put her back out of isolation with the other 2 birds last night. This morning I checked on her and she was still laying in that one spot and wouldn't even move with the dog outside the fence! I don't really know what else to do. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[SmallFarmChick]

Hmm... I don't know, but someone else should. How about you search, "egg bound" on here.

 

[nurse_turtle]

Use the search function above and research egg-bound or egg-binding. You may need to glove up and lubricate a finger to insert into her vent to feel for an egg. An egg sized crop is normal sized, just be sure to check that it goes down over several hours. You may need to remove food for a few hours to see that the crop empties. There is a condition called sour crop that can make a bird act similarly. You can usually smell a funky smell around the bird's beak if that's the case. She could be laying internally. She could have worms. She could have any number of things. Start simply....

 

[tiny529]

I don't have much advice to offer since I just unsuccessfully dealt with that myself. Good luck and I'll send happy chicken vibes your way!

 

[kriley0311]

we did feel inside for an egg and we did not feel anything. she got up and ate this afternoon and then went back to her corner. for sour crop what would a remedy be?

 

[tiny529]

Here's the remedy that someone on here gave me for sour crop...

Same protocol or all sour crop issues. Separate the hen, 24 hours with no food, only water with 1/4 teaspoon of acidified copper sulfate (comes in powder form usually at the feed store) in a gallon in plastic waterer only. If you can't find that, use 2 tablespoons of organic, unfiltered apple cider vinegar in the plastic gallon waterer, changed daily. Day 2, add only plain yogurt. Day 3, add plain scrambled egg to the yogurt. Each day, massage the crop, several times each day, pushing toward the back of the crop, not upward. Day 4, maybe some soupy oatmeal added to the eggs and yogurt, but NO grains. Hopefully, that will clear it up.

I haven't tried it yet since I don't think my current problem hen has sour crop. The more I'm reading, I also don't think my deceased hen had it. Something that I came across that sounded similar to my deceased girl that I haven't seen mentioned on here is egg peritonitis. It's where the yolk doesn't get encased in the shell and gets all infected and nasty. The site I saw showed it to be a fatal disorder.

Is your hen's abdomen swollen? Mine was... It felt like a full hot water bottle. And she plucked all of her feathers out down there. Also, what does her crop feel like? Hard and gritty? Doughy (like my girl)? Gassy and bloated?

 

[kriley0311]

Crop is now normal sized (couldn't even really tell it was there) saw her drink quite a bit of water, but she is still very lethargic and laying in that one corner. Abdomen was not swollen. Poop was a bit runny/carmel in color some of the time but others had white in it. Don't believe she has laid any eggs. I don't know what's wrong with her. My boyfriend says she's just lazy!:/ I guess I'll keep an eye on her for now before I go with another plan of action unless y'all have any other ideas... These past few days have been the hottest. Could this have something to do with it? The others seem dealing with it fine.

 

[tiny529]

What breed is she? Some breeds seem less heat tolerant than others.

 

[kriley0311]

She is a plymouth I believe. The standard grey white speckled. One of the others is the same breed and she is doing fine. I bought some duramycin 10 today but I'm very hesitant to give it to her. For one I don't even know if she has an infection and Im just not keen on using antibiotics. I'm very lost and out of options. I don't want her to suffer but she is eating. I don't want to have to put her down.

 

[kriley0311]

Really thinking about giving her the anti biotics. Really could use some help on weather or not it is necessary. She is still just laying in the corner. Put food in this evening she didn't get up. I have no clue whats wrong and could really use some more advice.