Molting hen with crop issues

[guest226]

Oh yes, I know, it's definitely last resort. We have tried EVERYTHING for the past month and no change - from treating sour crop (which I'm not even convinced it ever went sour, but just in case because of no change), to oil and massage, digestive enzymes, stool softener, homeopathic concoctions, removing food, doing soft foods, we do vitamins and electrolytes/probiotics daily...etc. We have literally been through the wringer with her. I do believe this was brought on with her molt, as we did this song and dance last year for 2.5 months including a crop surgery!! Also brought on by the molt! So I think it causes a very very slow crop for her and that of course brings a whole host of issues. So if she doesn't turn a good corner in the next week, we'll try the antibiotics as a last resort.

Yes that sounds reasonable! I’m sorry you’re going through this issue, but since it happened last time with a molt it’s most likely not coincidental, and the molt just impacts your hen especially.

I thought nothing would help for my hen. it was a month long issue and i watched as she deteriorated every day. But i held on to hope and she healed! They’re very resilient

 

[TinaRew]

Yes that sounds reasonable! I’m sorry you’re going through this issue, but since it happened last time with a molt it’s most likely not coincidental, and the molt just impacts your hen especially.

I thought nothing would help for my hen. it was a month long issue and i watched as she deteriorated every day. But i held on to hope and she healed! They’re very resilient

They are very resilient! She got down to probably about 2 pounds last year if I'm remembering correctly, but when she got better she jumped back up to 5lbs in no time again! So even though she's practically all bone now, I hold out hope that things will improve and she'll fatten up in no time!

 

[Winchikn]

I thought I would add one more update about this little hen of mine from the original post.

She made it through last year (though I think she stopped laying in the spring), with a flare of symptoms in the fall during moult. Her cropped stopped emptying properly again, her poops got foul and she stopped making it onto the roost, and for a time her stools became bloody. Given really intense prior interventions that I'm not sure were the reasons for her improvement in 2023, we were much more hands off. I gave her some crop massages in the morning but otherwise let her be. And after a few weeks of her being in poor health, she improved in Nov or Dec last year and has been in pretty good shape since then.
Sadly, her health has deteriorated again over the last few weeks and she now seems to have ascites. I dewormed with Safeguard but sadly that didn't seem to help her out much. Given the potential for Marek's, and the amount of intervention we've put her through in the past, I don't think we'll pursue much treatment.
We got her as a pullet in the fall of 2021 and she and the other 3 we got at that time were just never very healthy hens.

 

[Tookie]

I thought I would add one more update about this little hen of mine from the original post.

She made it through last year (though I think she stopped laying in the spring), with a flare of symptoms in the fall during moult. Her cropped stopped emptying properly again, her poops got foul and she stopped making it onto the roost, and for a time her stools became bloody. Given really intense prior interventions that I'm not sure were the reasons for her improvement in 2023, we were much more hands off. I gave her some crop massages in the morning but otherwise let her be. And after a few weeks of her being in poor health, she improved in Nov or Dec last year and has been in pretty good shape since then.
Sadly, her health has deteriorated again over the last few weeks and she now seems to have ascites. I dewormed with Safeguard but sadly that didn't seem to help her out much. Given the potential for Marek's, and the amount of intervention we've put her through in the past, I don't think we'll pursue much treatment.
We got her as a pullet in the fall of 2021 and she and the other 3 we got at that time were just never very healthy hens.

So sorry she's gotten worse.

 

[Winchikn]

A final update that I took this little hen, named Chai, to the vet to have her euthanized and to get help sending her off to the lab (a 7 hour drive away) for testing. She was a champ til her final day, when fairly advanced ascites was making it hard for her to walk.

Here is the main finding of her necropsy:

"There is severe metastatic adenocarcinoma in this bird, most likely of ovarian origin. There is metastasis to the brain that could explain the neurologic signs. The sciatic nerves were unremarkable. This is a spontaneous disease, unlike Marek's associated lymphoma. There were no histologic lesions in the crop to explain crop stasis. There was no metastasis to this tissue, or evidence of bacterial or fungal ingluvitis."

I had wondered about Mareks and am relieved that is not the case - but this result still doesn't explain why three other young hens of mine fell ill and died around the same time this hen first got sick. I guess I'll never know - but am very glad to now know I can consider getting more or hatching chicks without having to worry about Mareks.

 

[Tookie]

A final update that I took this little hen, named Chai, to the vet to have her euthanized and to get help sending her off to the lab (a 7 hour drive away) for testing. She was a champ til her final day, when fairly advanced ascites was making it hard for her to walk.

Here is the main finding of her necropsy:

"There is severe metastatic adenocarcinoma in this bird, most likely of ovarian origin. There is metastasis to the brain that could explain the neurologic signs. The sciatic nerves were unremarkable. This is a spontaneous disease, unlike Marek's associated lymphoma. There were no histologic lesions in the crop to explain crop stasis. There was no metastasis to this tissue, or evidence of bacterial or fungal ingluvitis."

I had wondered about Mareks and am relieved that is not the case - but this result still doesn't explain why three other young hens of mine fell ill and died around the same time this hen first got sick. I guess I'll never know - but am very glad to now know I can consider getting more or hatching chicks without having to worry about Mareks.

So sorry for your loss.