Lots of symptoms. What is the consensus of what we are dealing with?

[lavenderhengal]

Hi there. I just posted this question under someone else's post re Amoxicilin without realizing it, so I think perhaps I should start fresh here to ask this question.

Hoping I can get some ideas from this amazing group. I've never had a sick hen in all my 5 years of chicken keeping. The six girls live a luxurious lifestyle, I guess. But now one of them has mixed symptoms. Can someone here piece together what is going on and suggest treatment?

Chippy is 3 years old. Tough, savvy, independent, lovely Speckled Sussex. Free-range outside in my yard with manicured lawn all day. Lots of fresh kale torn into tiny pieces, meal worms, constant access to Kalmbach feed and organic pellets, some cracked corn, organic yogurt, scrambled eggs: not all at once, but this is their diet most days. They are well-fed and have a good life. 10 x 10 super clean coop with shavings cleaned every day, six friendly hens, no stress. Safely locked inside at night. Covered run when it rains. Lots of fresh water dishes everywhere.

This week Chippy got uncharacteristically mopey and stood alone and sad, even isolating herself out in the rain. I brought her inside to observe and analyze her. Her crop felt gritty and full, about golf ball sized. I compared it to everyone else's crops and it was fuller and had a gritty feeling, as if there were little stones in it. No other symptoms. Perfect breathing. Pooping a bit loose. So, based on this, I treated her with coconut oil and massage for several days thinking she was impacted in her crop, plus frequent water. After a few days of this, she is feeling better and she ate the coconut oil herself and drank water with ACV happily this morning without my forcing it on her. So better than yesterday. Yay!
But last night she "laid" maybe two no-shell eggs and what looks like a lash egg, maybe. Lots of fluid all around. Luckily she is on a dog's wee wee pad in her nylon dog kennel and it captured all the mess.

So, my question is what is this group of symptoms? I have studied many posts on this site. I end up with tons of info but this constellation of symptoms makes me wonder what info I should be implementing. Her appetite is still reduced. I put her back outside to cheer her up with her girlfriends and she just drank some water and went to nap in the shrubs area. So her energy is low, but she also hasn't eaten much in three days because I was trying to empty her crop for three days.

How is the crop situation related to the shell-less eggs? Does she have a need for medicine such as an antibiotic? Or Corid? Or what would you all do in this situation? How is a shell-less egg related to impacted crop?

Many thanks for all your advice you might share.

 

[MysteryChicken]

@azygous
@Eggcessive

 

[azygous]

Disclaimer: not a diagnosis. Only a vet can do that.

Your hen, from my own experience with such symptoms, probably has low blood calcium and is not forming shells on her eggs. Shell-less eggs are very hard to pass and often become stuck, causing the next egg to crowd behind it, compounding the issue since she would only have calcium for one of the eggs.

The obstruction of these eggs will cause the crop to slow and often will cause crop issues that also need to be treated. This is where you are.

The solution is to give her calcium citrate daily for several days to a week to bring up her blood calcium. Pop the entire giant tablet into her beak. Get this at the store where you find human vitamins.

 

[Anon112]

I'm not an expert, but I feel like someone posted about treats that can inhibit calcium absorption. I wonder if scaling back to just their regular feed, oyster shell, and fresh water might be a good idea (plus the suggestion above of a calcium supplement).

 

[lavenderhengal]

Disclaimer: not a diagnosis. Only a vet can do that.

Your hen, from my own experience with such symptoms, probably has low blood calcium and is not forming shells on her eggs. Shell-less eggs are very hard to pass and often become stuck, causing the next egg to crowd behind it, compounding the issue since she would only have calcium for one of the eggs.

The obstruction of these eggs will cause the crop to slow and often will cause crop issues that also need to be treated. This is where you are.

The solution is to give her calcium citrate daily for several days to a week to bring up her blood calcium. Pop the entire giant tablet into her beak. Get this at the store where you find human vitamins. View attachment 4146684

Thank you. I have the calcium +D3 pills and they are HUGE. I will attempt a dosage right now. I wonder if these giant pills can be ground up with a pestle and mortar and put into yogurt or hardened coconut oil so as not to traumatize the hen?

 

[lavenderhengal]

I'm not an expert, but I feel like someone posted about treats that can inhibit calcium absorption. I wonder if scaling back to just their regular feed, oyster shell, and fresh water might be a good idea (plus the suggestion above of a calcium supplement).

Which treats do you believe might impede calcium absorption? I did not see that post and would love to learn about it. Kale is rich in calcium. Meal worms are a problem? Scrambled eggs? Yogurt? They do not get any strange treats. Just normal healthy ones. But I am intrigued by this concept. Feel free to expand on this topic.

 

[Lovelee]

Thank you. I have the calcium +D3 pills and they are HUGE. I will attempt a dosage right now. I wonder if these giant pills can be ground up with a pestle and mortar and put into yogurt or hardened coconut oil so as not to traumatize the hen?

We have given ours chicken worming pills and they don't have any issues. My husband holds them and I open the mouth and push it in towards the back and it's gone.

 

[thecatumbrella]

I open the mouth and push it in towards the back and it's gone.

OP, look up how to pill a chicken on YouTube. If you use a proper technique, it's exactly how Lovelee said. My husband and I had to treat a new layer that was struggling with soft shell eggs. The calcium pills are huge, but if you have a large fowl chicken, they can definitely handle it with the proper placement.

 

[Anon112]

Which treats do you believe might impede calcium absorption? I did not see that post and would love to learn about it. Kale is rich in calcium. Meal worms are a problem? Scrambled eggs? Yogurt? They do not get any strange treats. Just normal healthy ones. But I am intrigued by this concept. Feel free to expand on this topic.

Here's a thread on the topic: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/foods-that-interfere-with-calcium-absorbtion.640740/

Here's an article on the topic: https://morningchores.com/calcium-deficiency-in-chickens/

Something my chicken vet told me once is that if chickens fill up too much on treats (fruits, etc), then they might not eat enough of their feed and might therefore end up short on calcium and some other things they need to stay healthy. And I know it's something that people are split on, but I've come around to believing that except for rare times, it's not good to give milk products (including yogurt).

I assume your chickens have access to oyster shell?

 

[MysteryChicken]

Thank you. I have the calcium +D3 pills and they are HUGE. I will attempt a dosage right now. I wonder if these giant pills can be ground up with a pestle and mortar and put into yogurt or hardened coconut oil so as not to traumatize the hen?

Just pop it into her mouth she can swallow it. Grinding it down won't have the same results. She'll get less of the dosage if you do it that way.