Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[robyn8]

Hello, I'm sorry to interrupt your conversations this evening, but I really need your help and expertise with my chicken (the one from the previous post). She's not doing any better. I noticed a hard lump on her crop and wondered if maybe she had sour crop or maybe she was just impacted. Anyway I gave her some mineral oil and some water with a dropper, as DH massaged her crop and she acted like she was in pain! It was especially difficult giving her the water. She even bit me, which she has never done before. Then later, when I tried to check her crop aagain, instead I felt a bone and again she reacted as if she were in pain and bit me. She hasn't had anything to eat other than some lettuce, and only the little bit of water I was able to force down her throat. She's still moving her neck/head from side to side like a snake, but especially tends to lean more towards the left. Please, does anybody have any idea what might be wrong with her? I'd hate to have her put down if she's going to be fine later on; she's only 7 months old. But I don't want her suffering if there is nothing else to do for her!

I'm sorry I have no idea what's wrong with your chicken. If you haven't already I'd post this in the emergencies and injuries forum. Maybe some looking over there can help.

 

[Fun Chicken]

I'm sorry I have no idea what's wrong with your chicken. If you haven't already I'd post this in the emergencies and injuries forum. Maybe some looking over there can help.

Thank you

 

[dyorto]

Sorry I'm no help with insight on your sick chicken either. I hope you are able to get some help.

 

[WalnutHill]

Hello, I'm sorry to interrupt your conversations this evening, but I really need your help and expertise with my chicken (the one from the previous post). She's not doing any better. I noticed a hard lump on her crop and wondered if maybe she had sour crop or maybe she was just impacted. Anyway I gave her some mineral oil and some water with a dropper, as DH massaged her crop and she acted like she was in pain! It was especially difficult giving her the water. She even bit me, which she has never done before. Then later, when I tried to check her crop aagain, instead I felt a bone and again she reacted as if she were in pain and bit me. She hasn't had anything to eat other than some lettuce, and only the little bit of water I was able to force down her throat. She's still moving her neck/head from side to side like a snake, but especially tends to lean more towards the left. Please, does anybody have any idea what might be wrong with her? I'd hate to have her put down if she's going to be fine later on; she's only 7 months old. But I don't want her suffering if there is nothing else to do for her!

I do hope you posted to Emergencies thread and that you were able to get help.

Chickens will eat many non-food things, including weedy straw stems, mice, and sometimes sticks. An impacted or sour crop can indeed cause the symptoms you list. Sour crop will be accompanied by a foul odor from the mouth.

I did crop surgery on a young turkey poult a few years ago, but never an adult bird. If it becomes necessary, it's not too technically challenging to do but be sure your surgical field is prepared and take all food away from her for now. If she's not underweight, a day or so off feed won't harm her.

Shell-less eggs are typically caused by stress or illness, so that's not unexpected.

 

[WalnutHill]

For anyone in the Rochester/Romeo/Lake Orion/Macomb areas, if you have surplus eggs on a regular basis please talk to me.

 

[Fun Chicken]

I do hope you posted to Emergencies thread and that you were able to get help.

Chickens will eat many non-food things, including weedy straw stems, mice, and sometimes sticks.  An impacted or sour crop can indeed cause the symptoms you list.  Sour crop will be accompanied by a foul odor from the mouth.

I did crop surgery on a young turkey poult a few years ago, but never an adult bird.  If it becomes necessary, it's not too technically challenging to do but be sure your surgical field is prepared and take all food away from her for now.  If she's not underweight, a day or so off feed won't harm her.

Shell-less eggs are typically caused by stress or illness, so that's not unexpected.

Thanks. I was just now looking at some of the posts to see if some of them might be similar to my case. There is at least one where a chicken keeps her neck down, and someone suggested she might have "wry neck" a neurological problem caused by a blow to the head, vitamin E deficiency or Marek's disease. My chicken could have been hit on the head with the dish she was under, or she might be vit E deficient. I'm not familiar with Marek's, so I can't tell about that. The way she described the condition, sounds just like my chicken's.

 

[WalnutHill]

Thanks. I was just now looking at some of the posts to see if some of them might be similar to my case. There is at least one where a chicken keeps her neck down, and someone suggested she might have "wry neck" a neurological problem caused by a blow to the head, vitamin E deficiency or Marek's disease. My chicken could have been hit on the head with the dish she was under, or she might be vit E deficient. I'm not familiar with Marek's, so I can't tell about that. The way she described the condition, sounds just like my chicken's.

If she got under the feeder bowl or waterer and found old grain with aflatoxin (mold) on it, which is VERY common, she could be suffering from the toxins. A quiet place, rest and water are the best you can do under most circumstances. If she got into something that made her sick that was in her crop and you worked it down, then she should poop it out today. The effects of the toxins can take a while to dissipate if that was the case.

 

[1muttsfan]

Walnut Hill has given you good advice. Hope your chicken does better.

 

[Fun Chicken]

If she got under the feeder bowl or waterer and found old grain with aflatoxin (mold) on it, which is VERY common, she could be suffering from the toxins.  A quiet place, rest and water are the best you can do under most circumstances.  If she got into something that made her sick that was in her crop and you worked it down, then she should poop it out today.  The effects of the toxins can take a while to dissipate if that was the case.

I don't think that was the case because this dish was used only for greens, and it was completly empty. I feed them everyday, and each time their feeders are pretty much empty (there might be a little bit left, but not much), and also water them daily, washing their water containers each time. Still, I suppose there is always a chance that they'll eat something bad. What worries me most is that she's not eating or drinking much on her own, so I'm going to have to force feed her a little bit. Thanks for your help.

 

[WalnutHill]

I don't think that was the case because this dish was used only for greens, and it was completly empty. I feed them everyday, and each time their feeders are pretty much empty (there might be a little bit left, but not much), and also water them daily, washing their water containers each time. Still, I suppose there is always a chance that they'll eat something bad. What worries me most is that she's not eating or drinking much on her own, so I'm going to have to force feed her a little bit. Thanks for your help.

Do they get greens daily all winter, or were they fortunate enough to get a "spring cleaning" from a garden bed? Chickens can't vomit, so what goes in must come out (the crop can be suctioned but that's not generally a DIY, and inverting the bird to clear the crop up the throat often leads to aspiration and suffocation).

Veggie oil is a good thing to grease the skids. Oil from a tuna can along with a little tuna is something they go crazy for and what I use if I end up with a glutton.

I hope it's just some digestive upset and things get back to normal for her.