My hen is breathing really heavy and has a hard crop! PLEASE HELP!!

[iluvpeeps]

My one year old hen has been wheezing for a few days now. She has a purplish color under her earlobes and her crop is really hard. Today when I was closing them up for the night I hadn't collected the eggs yet. When I stuck my hand in the bottom portion of the coop I felt my a hen who hadn't gone up to bed with the other chickens. She had been breathing heavily for a few days and I saw her going into the bottom portion of the coop earlier that afternoon and I thought she went to lay an egg. I went and got my neighbor who helps me with the chickens. We checked out my hen (Omlette) and are positive that something is wrong with her. She is one out of my first three hens that I ever hatched. I just recently hatched a new batch of chickens and they started laying eggs about a month ago. Earlier in the year two of the new chickens died. I don't know why but the ones that died were a rooster and a hen. I hadn't noticed anything about the rooster but on the day before the hens death I noticed that she went and sat in an opening in a wood pile. She stayed there until I found her dead the next morning. When I pulled her out she didn't feel stuck at all. Oh, and I have 2 roosters and 6 hens (Including Omlette). Please help!!!

 

[chickenzoo]

If her crop is hard it is either impacted or has shut down due to illness. If she has been wheezing then she may be sick. Tylan 50 cattle med is used for respitory illness... If she is just panting then that might just be pain..Move her by herself in a carrier...keep her warm. For the impacted crop you need her to drink some mineral oil, olive oil or veggie oil. A little apple cider vinegar too. Massage the crop until it softens. Keep giving a poultry vitamin for energy. If after a few times and there is no reduction of size..crop surgery may be needed.

 

[iluvpeeps]

She made it through the night! Thank you so much for your help. I'm going to start giving her the Tylan and oils right away. Oh, and doI still need to isolate her if she just stays in the bottom portion of the coop?

 

[iluvpeeps]

I put some apple cider vinegar and olive oil in some shot glasses and fed her through an eyedropper. I fed her while my neighbor massaged her crop and it felt softer than it was yesterday. As I feed her the olive oil it got softer (she didn't like the apple cider vinegar but I mixed with the olive oil and then she liked it). I'm going to get the Tylan 50 from a feed store soon and I'll check on her again when I get back from school.

 

[chickenzoo]

If you ever taste straight apple cider vinager you'll know why she don't like it..lol glad she's doing a little better.

 

[iluvpeeps]

I just saw that her comb is bleeding i put Neosporin on it and she's still breathing heavy. Oh and the place that I live in is going through a heat wave so should I still try to keep her extra warm because it was 91 degrees today.

 

[chickenzoo]

You just don't want her to get chilled, so if it's warm where you are...just keep her comfortable.

 

[rockingbearanch]

Apple cider vinegar should be diluted in water. It is an acid and if you were to drink it straight you can get a chemical burn inside your GI system. For myself I drink one spoon in a tall glass of water and give the chickens the same. There used to be a reasonably good video on youtube of a crop surgery. I took mine to the vet once and will do it myself next time. I found her crop issues were genetic and passed to the next gen.

 

[iluvpeeps]

She actually came out of the coop today but she's still breathing heavy.

 

[chickenzoo]

Did you get any Tylan in her yet? Did you feel her bottom for any bloating feeling? Sometimes they pant when in pain.... Any other symptoms....
If you listen to her chest under a wing, do you hear any wheezing ? Did you check her for a stuck egg also? Trying to cover all the bases....humm