Liquid filled crop?

[JeffandLori]

I noticed one of my hens (approx 1.5-1.75 year old ISA Brown) was acting a bit lethargic. She looked fat and healthy, but moving slow. I noticed some tapeworms in the poop recently so gave them Equimax 10 days ago and today was time for the second dose.

This evening she wasn't coming out of the coop but sitting in a dark corner. So I picked her up and tried to feel her crop and it felt "squishy" like a water balloon. The more I massaged it, you could hear it gurgling. I was even able to force some brown liquid up. When I put her down, she kind of stood there with her beak pointed up.

If you go to grab her, she has all the energy in the world, but other than that she just kind of sits in the coop by herself.

They have free choice grit and oyster shells right next to the feed so they can get them if they want.

Is it possible there's a blockage downstream and if so...now what?

 

[JeffandLori]

eta, sounds like "sour crop" so tomorrow I'll squirt some warm water down her throat, turn her upside down and see what I can massage out. Then maybe give her some yogurt.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

This evening she wasn't coming out of the coop but sitting in a dark corner. So I picked her up and tried to feel her crop and it felt "squishy" like a water balloon. The more I massaged it, you could hear it gurgling. I was even able to force some brown liquid up. When I put her down, she kind of stood there with her beak pointed up.

I noticed some tapeworms in the poop recently so gave them Equimax 10 days ago and today was time for the second dose.

eta, sounds like "sour crop" so tomorrow I'll squirt some warm water down her throat, turn her upside down and see what I can massage out. Then maybe give her some yogurt.

Could be from the Tapeworm infestation. I'd give her the follow up dose of the Equimax.
Re-check her crop first thing in the morning before she's had anything to eat/drink. If the crop has not emptied, then begin treating her according to the article linked below.

Please don't turn her upside down and try to vomit her, you risk her aspirating, choking and dying. Your forcing brown liquid up and her standing with her beak pointed up shows that she may have already aspirated a little when you did that. Chickens do not have a gag reflex, what you press up can easily go into the trachea.

After you have checked her crop in the morning and it's determined that she does have a crop problem and you feel it is sour, then do provide her with fresh water and food free choice. Begin treating with a yeast or antifungal cream like Miconazole or Clotrimazole. Both of these can be found in stores like Walmart.

Photos of her and her poop are welcome too. Keep us posted.


https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

 

[JeffandLori]

Thank you. She seemed a bit better this morning and slightly more active. Did seem to drink a lot of water. Her crop felt somewhat empty, so I'm going to keep an eye on her today. If she's still funky, then it's a trip to Walgreens.

I saw one little poop when she was walking around and while it was small- thimble sized, it looked normal.

 

[JeffandLori]

Well, after all that she seems to be doing better. I think massaging the crop a couple times a day did it. She's eating fine, part of the "pack" when I go out to give them their afternoon treat, is up on the perches at night with the rest of them rather than huddled in a corner. When watching her during the day her head movements are pretty close to back to being "jerky" and "snappy" like normal.

The afternoon treat is where I take a red solo cup, fill it about 3/4 with a 50/50 mix of layer crumbles and scratch grains, then mix in about two heaping teaspoons of finely ground egg shells, then add water until it's somewhere between a paste and a slurry. Not only do the go nuts for this, every afternoon around 5:00 they are crowded up to the area of the pen closest to the back door waiting. It's like they have a clock.

Thx

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Glad to hear she's doing better!