iowacricket
Chirping
I have a sick 1.5yo lavender orpington hen, Maude, and I'm not sure what's wrong with her. My other chickens (one other 1.5yo hen and four 12wo pullets) all seem to be fine.
I first noticed something wrong about a week ago (Monday) when she was moving a little slowly and pecking at food but not really eating it. That night, her crop wasn't as full as it usually is, and the next morning, it hadn't quite emptied. It felt kinda squishy and like it was mostly filled with liquid. Her comb was also a little smaller and much paler than usual. I brought her inside and gave her some coconut oil and a crop massage, she ate some egg yolk and tuna, and her poop was semi-solid and a normal color. I checked her vent for an egg and couldn't feel one.
On Thursday, she was laying down a lot, still not eating much, and her crop was still squishy and not emptying completely, so I made an appointment on Friday for the only vet in the area who will even see chickens (attmitedly doesn't know a lot about chickens). He did an x-ray and there wasn't any fluid in her abdomen or egg stuck. He suspected maybe an impaction, so told us to keep giving her coconut oil and massaging.
It's Sunday now and the oil and massage doesn't seem to be helping. She's still mostly laying down in the run, sometimes with eyes closed, and sometimes she trills, which she never did when she was healthy. Right now, shes actually pretty active, grabbing worms and running away from the other chickens, but she never eats it. Her poop is completely liquid today, almost looks mucus-y. I haven't seen any storms in her poop and I've also never dewormed my chickens. I started her on corid yesterday, just in case.
On Monday, she weighed in at 5.35lb and today, she weighed 5lb, so she's lost weight. The last egg she laid was nine days ago. I'm worried that she's going to go downhill quickly if she doesn't eat soon and I'm just not sure what to do next. Any ideas would be much appreciated!
I first noticed something wrong about a week ago (Monday) when she was moving a little slowly and pecking at food but not really eating it. That night, her crop wasn't as full as it usually is, and the next morning, it hadn't quite emptied. It felt kinda squishy and like it was mostly filled with liquid. Her comb was also a little smaller and much paler than usual. I brought her inside and gave her some coconut oil and a crop massage, she ate some egg yolk and tuna, and her poop was semi-solid and a normal color. I checked her vent for an egg and couldn't feel one.
On Thursday, she was laying down a lot, still not eating much, and her crop was still squishy and not emptying completely, so I made an appointment on Friday for the only vet in the area who will even see chickens (attmitedly doesn't know a lot about chickens). He did an x-ray and there wasn't any fluid in her abdomen or egg stuck. He suspected maybe an impaction, so told us to keep giving her coconut oil and massaging.
It's Sunday now and the oil and massage doesn't seem to be helping. She's still mostly laying down in the run, sometimes with eyes closed, and sometimes she trills, which she never did when she was healthy. Right now, shes actually pretty active, grabbing worms and running away from the other chickens, but she never eats it. Her poop is completely liquid today, almost looks mucus-y. I haven't seen any storms in her poop and I've also never dewormed my chickens. I started her on corid yesterday, just in case.
On Monday, she weighed in at 5.35lb and today, she weighed 5lb, so she's lost weight. The last egg she laid was nine days ago. I'm worried that she's going to go downhill quickly if she doesn't eat soon and I'm just not sure what to do next. Any ideas would be much appreciated!
