Molting chicken trying to poop

[Chicken poppy]

I always provide grit (crushed granite) regardless if mine are free roaming or cooped.
Possible they may find grit on their own, but a bag will last a long time. I just scatter it free choice in a few areas of the run or you can place it in a container attached to a post of your run or coop. I get grit at stores like TSC.

PND is Poultry Nutri-Drench

Next time i go to TSC i’ll try to remember to pick some up.

Ah okay, got it!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Re-check first thing before she's had anything to eat/drink.

Squishy is not empty, but if she'd already had the opportunity to eat/drink, then that may be normal.

Focus on your hens eating their nutritionally balanced feed for most of the day.

 

[SmiYa0126]

There was a post here a couple of months back where a chicken owner gave her hen a couple of Epsom salt baths and it helped the hen poop a huge pile! Hen was better after that. Since it's cold you will need to dry her completely.

See if coconut oil works first, keep an eye and make sure she has cecal poo.

 

[SmiYa0126]

How is she?

 

[Chicken poppy]

There was a post here a couple of months back where a chicken owner gave her hen a couple of Epsom salt baths and it helped the hen poop a huge pile! Hen was better after that. Since it's cold you will need to dry her completely.

See if coconut oil works first, keep an eye and make sure she has cecal poo.

I think i will have to try that.. How much Epsom salt do i add to water? (Like a ratio)

She isn’t doing that great, she tried pooping and after 5 minutes the only bit that came out was less then a dime size..


Will it be okay to do a bath for her even though she lost a bunch of feathers and has many large skin spots? (from her molt) just wondering if it could irritate her skin

 

[Chicken poppy]

She doesn’t seem any better overall. She isn’t eating/drinking as much as she normally would, or as much as anyone else for sure.

Normally, by the time shes in bed, she has a bigger more full crop then anyone. She goes nuts over any food, to.

But now, her crop is a lot smaller and squishier, and she isn’t eating much, and is very picky about what she eats (which is not like her at all)

 

[Chicken poppy]

Update: she pooped a big one! Slightly bigger then a normal poop. Unfortunately i didn’t take a picture, but it had a lot of stuff in it, and it was liquidy. Some grass was in there for sure. I think this is a good sign, so i’ll wait to do a soak.

She pooped another one, small, but liquid. (Not as small as before though! Just smaller then a normal poop.)

Anyway, im super happy. She seems still a bit off, but if she still seems bad and isn’t eating here soon, i’ll give her a soak.

 

[Chicken poppy]

Nutri drench I give both options in case people don't have nutri drench.

I figured that might be the case so i wanted to ask to be sure. Thank you!

 

[Chicken poppy]

Photos of her poop when you can.

Re-check her crop first thing in the morning to see if it's emptied.

Do provide grit for your birds.

A direct dose of PND won't hurt her for a couple of days. Dose is 1cc per 3 pounds of weight.

If she's heavily molting, then I would not give her a soaking unless it's absolutely necessary.
You can give her coconut oil twice a day for a few days to help get things moving.
When my hens are in molt, they don't seem to eat a lot and are standoffish.

For the grit: I free range them, do i need to separately provide it? And if so, what would i buy?

Sorry, whats PND?

Okay, i will definitely wait on a soak then. I wouldn’t want it to be to warm on her skin or something.

I appreciate all this advice! Thanks so much. I will be sure to do these in the morning and provide frequent updates.

 

[Chicken poppy]

Update: They have been down off the rods, so i assume they have eaten a bit (though their in their coop and not outside in the yard)

However, i checked Isbe’s and Rizo’s crop (their of similar size and same age, for comparison)

Rizo’s was squishy, it did seem empty.

Isbe’s was much fuller so i imagine she has been eating more.

Another same aged chicken, though, their crop felt about the same as Rizo’s, just a bit more full.

Just wanted to do a side-by-side.

Im going to give her a few small chunks of coconut oil and some Nutri drench and we’ll just see how everything goes.

I might end up taking her inside and see if i can see her poop again just to be sure.


Rizo is currently eating some scratch, and shes moving around more then yesterday.