Lethargic Hen - Running Out of Ideas

Summary: I have a 7.5 month old Cream Legbar, Henrietta (Heni). She sits on the ground all day napping or stands with her feathers puffed out. She eats a little and drinks a little mostly with my assistance. She will move around when disturbed and looks ok, but then eventually goes back to laying on the ground. She's currently on Tylan (in her water) and a stronger dose of SafeGuard (0.7 mL) in my ICU in the house (Kansas has brought on winter). Her crop is impacted, peach pit sized.

Long story: We started noticing Heni just standing in the run during the day sometime in the first week of December. She is at the bottom of the pecking order and normally spends her day dodging the other 4 ladies and pecking around the run. When I would let them out for some supervised free ranging, she would do her normal activities but with more naps / sunbathing.

On Saturday, I placed her in the run by herself so she wouldn't worry about being bullied, and she consumed A LOT of water but wasnt eating. I noticed her squirting out a mostly clear stuff with some bright green poop. The rest of my flock is normal.

On Sunday, I placed her in a crate in the run. What I noticed was her not moving and laying on the ground. I couldn't get her to eat any wetted mash and her crop was empty. I offered her some scrambled eggs and she ate 2 small bites. I checked her for external parasites and didnt see anything. I took her to the vet and she consumed even more water that day (felt like she spent a full 5 minutes just drinking). At one point, the nurse moved Heni and she spit up water twice. They offered her some mealworms and she ate a bunch of it. They ran a fecal test and didnt notice anything (specifically discussed if it could be Coccidiosis). We went ahead with injecting 0.13 mL Enroflox twice a day for 5 days and SafeGuard, pea sized, dewormer for 3 days. She was at 2.9 lbs.

Monday morning I found her at the bottom of the coop and not on the roost bars. Her crop was not empty. She wasnt eating and I got worried so I offered her treats thinking that something was better than nothing since I didnt see her consume any feed for 3 days.

Tuesday morning I found her again at the bottom of the coop and with a non-empy crop. I regretted immediately the treats since I felt the minced carrots. She didnt consume any grit the day before or even since then.

Wednesday morning she wasnt at the bottom of the coop (yay!) and she ate a little with my help... please dont judge, but I sat there with her and dipped her pellets in water and only when they were slightly wet and small sized... she would eat so I did that until she gave up. I also started coconut oil and crop massages.

Thursday more improvement from her eating with my assistance.

Friday, Enroflox is done. Crop still impacted and no real improvement to her fluffed up feather stance and constant napping on the floor. The doc ran another fecal, all good. We went ahead with an xray, also all good. She is not egg bound (has not laid yet), said everything else was ok. She was at 3 lbs. Doc recommend Tylan since its broad spectrum and recommended another round of SafeGuard but at 0.7 mL for 5 days. I brought her into the house since the weather dropped today. She doesnt seem stressed at all being away from her flockmates but is still laying on the ground napping and not moving.

Background: Heni was a "failure to thrive chick" and spent time away from her flockmates since we didnt know what was going on. She had trouble walking (on leg splayed out to the side). I looked a lot into Mareks but ruled it out at the time and believed it was a nutritional deficiency. I order her from MPC and noticed a reviewer said their Cream Legbar also didnt make it so I wonder if it was related. She made it out of that slump and has been the sweetest little thing since. She had a respiratory issue a few months back but I blame myself since I mowed too close to the coop and it kicked up a lot of dust.

Currently, I dont know what could be the underlying issue. I'm thinking of doing a molasses flush for her crop tomorrow. Then after her Tylan round is done, try Corrid as a last ditch effort. She's ONLY getting her pellets, slightly wetted to her liking. I have grit and oyster shells free choice in her little ICU.

@EggSighted4Life, as condensed as I can get with what's going on
@aart and @casportpony, same chicken, same issue, just condensed instead of all the messages throughout over several days
As a classical homeopath, try to get Carbo veg in a 30 C, put 3 pellets in 8 oz of water and let her drink some. A sip is a dose, you can give it 4X a day. Offer the cup then take it away. Too much will make her worse. So a sip at a time.
 
Fingers and toes crossed for your little Henrietta! I am treating a hen (now 4 weeks since she showed very ill) and she too has had a crop with a small bit of food which wouldn’t clear, but it finally did clear for the first time a few days ago. I’ve also been through the worming, coccidiosis treatment and antibiotics with her and I do feel for you, it is stressful. I had fecal floats returned as negative for both cocci and worms and a short while later I SAW worms in her droppings, so that was disconcerting.

You’ve had some great advice from members way more knowledgeable than me but I just wanted to stop by and give you my good wishes for both you and your chook. My little lady has shown some improvement against all odds and I hope may recover, so there is hope for your girl too.
 
Sorry, lots if follow up questions but great news, her crop is even smaller this morning. We've gone from peach pit to marble sized!!

@azygous / Carol, since her crop size did decrease this morning, I'm thinking of just going with coconut oil today (didnt do any yesterday). I only did coconut oil Wednesday and Thursday and offered about half a teaspoon. How much would you recommend for a 3 lb chicken if giving it throughout the day? And do you withhold food? Additionally, just for my knowledge, is it ok to offer the stool softener in the evening or does it disturb their sleep? I'll probably go back to the drawing board tomorrow morning if it's not completely empty.

Also, that's an amazing photo. I'll need to take a little deeper look into the throat anatomy to be comfortable doing that. I've been placing her SafeGuard on her tongue and letting her swallow it, should I be doing what was shown above for that too? And how in the world do you hold them still to do that! Lol

@Wyorp Rock We got an Xray yesterday. I would imagine we would see if there was something odd blocking her system, right? The doc did not notice any obstruction. I was thinking she might have this issue because either (1) she needs more grit and hasn't had any all week and/or (2) her good bacteria also got removed from the antibiotic. I did give her yogurt one morning but didnt want to overdue it in case that could contribute to sour crop. Seeing as the crop got smaller this morning, I'll probably at least offer a little yogurt.

@Mick43 What's carbo veg and would this be another option as a stool softener?

@HollyWoozle So glad you shared that with me. It's been SO stressful and it's good to know that she's not the only one on a slow recovery. I hope your little one makes a full recovery soon.
 
You're doing amazing. Almost there. And your knowledge is growing by leaps and bounds. I adore fast learners.

Grit is often a part of the treatment to get a crop and gizzard cleared. Offer separately as you would any food. And, offer her small amounts of her regular food. Avoid only those things high in fiber such as fruit, veggies, and grass or hay. Offer plenty of water since it's needed to flush the system.

I would give her a teaspoon of oil and massage, and see how it goes as far as the crop emptying today.

Anything placed inside the mouth will get swallowed easily. No need to stuff it into the esophagus. That photo shows how a syringe or tube can be inserted into the top of the crop when giving large amounts of liquids. When a chicken is tubed, they usually stay pretty still, especially when the liquids start going down. I think they find the sensation of their crop filling pleasant.
 
She looks like a little bread boule right now and is still fluffed up. She slept on the roost bars last night and hoped up there not long ago this morning and is back to sleeping. Drank a lot this morning and ate a bit. I'm not planning on any treats until she is back to normal and she has free choice grit and oyster shells all the time. Poops are still bright green. I saw this morning another very clear poop with some milky stuff. Any insight on those poops?

My boule
20201212_093316.jpg


Recent poops
20201212_093344.jpg


Under the roost bars from last night
20201212_094342.jpg
 
Usually, green in poop signifies starvation and it's bile causing the green. However, bile is usually floating in a milky mucous. This poop is actually not far from normal poop. It leaves me guessing what, if anything, green she's had to eat these past few days.
I was pretty ecstatic to see all those poops under the roost bars today since I wasnt seeing much under the roost bars in the coop outside. She free ranged on Tuesday and Wednesday but we do not have a lot of green here, only small weeds (henbit and clover) and she usually eats a bit of dirt. Otherwise she has only had mash and water (+ meds).

What is clear poops? I'll try to snap a picture of that next time I see her do it.
 

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