My hen is making odd "swallowing" gesture is she ill?-please help!

[donnavee]

You might do a search on crop surgery - I have seen instructions on here. As far as restraining her, normally covering or wrapping with a towel works best - they are normally pretty docile when their heads are covered. You can normally get antibiotics from the vet or even the feed stores like TSC. I have given antibiotics with an eye dropper, they can also be given in water.

I agree with you that I think the surgery is worth a try if you are up to it.

 

[donnavee]

I found the post I was talking about:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=229796

You may have to paste it into your browser to see it, but it is very detailed.

 

[donnavee]

Update? Did your hen recover?

 

[fifibreen]

We have not done a surgery to date. Since she is/had been eating and drinking and laying we just kept giving her more time.

We have all the materials if necessary to do the surgery.

So far it seems the problem has subsided. Whatever is in there, she seems to be dealing with it. Her head bobbing was frequent and violent at first, but now is infrequent.

She seems to have light recurrences of head bobbing/swallowing gesture, but nothing as alarming, persistent, and constant before.

I'm not sure if she passed it, or just deals with it, or if she has a defect. For now she seems to be ok.

 

[Brienna]

I know this is an old post, but I was wondering if you found out what it was? My 4 hens started doing this only at night while on the roost. I'm hoping this is just some crop adjustments... Their crops are empty in the morning. Any help would be appreciated

 

[elissamay]

If their crops are empty in the morning, they are likely just adjusting their full crops before going to sleep. If you feel hard crops in the morning, you have a problem.

 

[mrskenmore]

Hi All,

Just wondering if there was a follow up on this as to what happened- I seem to be having a similar issue with my hen. Any help in a follow up would be appreciated

 

[DoeAndGander]

@mrskenmore any luck with your hen? I’m having similar issues with mine. Giving bread and olive oil and crop massage as we speak. Will be checking throat as soon as I have assistance