Mystery Convulsions and Aspiration - Crop or Gizzard Related?

[buffy-the-eggpile-layer]

Two days ago, I was sure my 6 y/o BO was dying. She was having almost seizure-like convulsions, wings down and acting drunk (terrible balance), almost like an extreme bout of involuntary crop adjustments. She then started expelling large amounts of non-smelly fluid, including chunks of watermelon (she'd gouged herself on watermelon a couple days prior), seeds, and whole bugs. This caused her to aspirate, and her breathing became incredibly labored and raspy, as though her lungs were thick with fluid. Her crop was huge and boggy. She continued to have convulsions, let out a bunch of fluid, and aspirate periodically. She could not/would not lay down because it seemed to cause her to vomit and also impaired her breathing further.

Over the course of the day, she deteriorated. Her comb went blue and she would cry out/gasp for breathe. I was certain she would die any moment (see video). Oddly, she was pooping pretty normal looking poops this whole time, though with a few undigested chunks of bugs in it.

I stayed up with her almost all night, thinking she'd pass soon, but eventually went to bed. The next morning, she was sleeping quietly--finally laying down as though collapsed with exhaustion--with much improved breathing (little to no open mouth). Her crop was much smaller. When I roused her with a little mash, she eagerly ate, but could barely stand due to exhaustion (from the day prior). She spent much of the day sleeping but would eat and her poops became completely normal looking.

The next day through today, she is back to walking (with minor balance issues), and will lunge towards food, eat well, drink, and poop well--plenty and firm. Her crop seems to be emptying okay. No breatjong issues whatsoever. However, she occasionally still has those minor crop adjustment convulsions and will leak a stream of odorless fluid out of her mouth, even though there's not much in her crop (I've been rationing her food to make sure everything clears fine). I'd like to put her out with the others, but I'm worried about the persistent vomiting and I worry gorging herself could be possible if not supervised.

Important background on her health:
- She hasn't layed since April
- Vet suspects reproductive tumor due to an abdominal mass that feels more fleshy than hard or watery (this was back in March). However, over the summer I do think she may have some fluid building in her abdomen, too.
- Her abdomen feels more water-filled over the past month, but not as big as it did when she had thr episode a few days ago. Her breathing was only labored during said episode.
- Beyond the episode, she has been eating well, though leading up to it I noticed her poops getting much smaller and harder. But after the episode, her poops are big and healthy looking again.
- As her abdomen grew this summer, her balance has deteriorated, though she still gets around great--will jump on a hen to defend herself, run, jump for treats and push everyone out of the way, etc. She just stumbles or falls over occasionally if doing anything crazy (her right wing/leg seems to be thr unstable side and I think i feel a bit more swelling on that side). She will stand on roost bars in the run, but sleeps in a nesting box.
- the last couple times she's had access to frozen watermelon, she ends up eith an enlarged crop/crop issues. A month ago, she was treated for a stubborn sour crop issue. I think she gorges herself beyond what her system can process and that becomes a tipping point.

Any thoughts on what could be going on or how I can support her is much appreciated. I know if she does have a tumor, it'll eventually take her, but for now, she has such a zeal for life and still loves doing all the things chickens love to do--so I want to support that best I can. Since her crop is emptying okay, is it possible she has an impacted gizzard slowing things up? Is there anything I can give her that will safely help?

(Figuring out how to link video)

Video of her during her aspiration episode:

 

[thecatumbrella]

Your poor girl! If she were mine, I'd obviously get her off the melon and limit any foods that get her hyper-stimulated. Does she have an issue with crumble or pellets? Like you said, she seems happy otherwise, but I wouldn't want her to go through another aspiration episode. If it happened again, I'd cull to end her suffering.

 

[buffy-the-eggpile-layer]

Your poor girl! If she were mine, I'd obviously get her off the melon and limit any foods that get her hyper-stimulated. Does she have an issue with crumble or pellets? Like you said, she seems happy otherwise, but I wouldn't want her to go through another aspiration episode. If it happened again, I'd cull to end her suffering.

Thank you for your response--and sorry for the delay in my reply (I'd been traveling).

She did fully recover from her aspiration, somehow. So long as only give her feed (as a mash so she gets water and food) in smaller portions throughout the day, she seems to move everything through and no longer has the seizure-like spasms.

However, even though she eats well and is pooping, she continues to get skinnier while her abdomen gets bigger and firmer (now like a tight drum). I feel so sorry for her because she still so clearly wants to be a chicken doing chicken things and has not given up despite being unwell for so long.

Her appetite is great, and while her poops are well-formed, they've taken on a green tint. Usually my really sick hens go this route due to starvation, but in her case, she's eating well and poops are solid, so I'm not sure what to make of it. I wonder if her body is simply not processing/absorbing food as it should, hence the off color and the fact shes not gaining despite eating. I've attached a picture for reference.

I dont want to cull her yet because she is alert and excited/happy to greet me and eat. But I feel so helpless. I thought ablut getting her drained, but her abdomen has become so hard it doesnt seem fluid-y.

 

[Cinnaminute]

I'm not the most experienced, but I do have a hen that will have crop issues. Twice last year and three times this year her crop swelled up. Massive crop. Swayed when she walked. And she'd spend 80% of the day standing around in discomfort, twisting her neck strangely to adjust her crop. And the very first episode she had, she did have fluid pour out of her beak on one occasion, while bending over for mash.

None of the regular treatments for crop impaction and sour crop helped. Coconut oil, miconazole, nystatin, massages, olive oil, etc. I'd even cage her so all she could eat is her feed and still it'd take her 2-3 weeks before her crop emptied. (She did get pity walks outside in their run to see her friends and get sun, of course).

It seemed she just wasn't eating grit as she should? Or maybe something genetic? Unfortunately she is quite zealous for green plants. One time, she got into a potted hosta. *sigh*

Anyway, this year she had a bad episode that lasted nearly a month. And then, two weeks later, it happened again! I was worried about it happening so close back to back and she was losing weight. So I gave her Spring Valley Advanced Digestive Enzymes that I got from Walmart per a reddit post I found. Sprinkled about half a tablet on half a slice of ripe papaya (seeds removed) and a glop of applesauce for 2 days. And her crop fully emptied in those 2 days. I've never seen such a quick recovery before. And she's been going strong since.

I'm not sure where you're located so I don't know if this is useful. But the digestive enzymes (cellulase) are great at breaking down stuff like grass and hay in their system, if you're worried for a clog somewhere in the gizzard or crop. It's also good to isolate them for a couple days. No access to anything except water and feed. And the papaya with their meds.

Lastly, I've had two hens go off lay and also get a swollen belly. In my experience with both, I recommend putting her on Milk thistle in case of a failing liver, if her belly starts to swell up too much. My most recent girl began to randomly swell rapidly, you could feel how squishy she was from between her legs up to her vent. One milk thistle tablet a day for a few days completely got rid of her swelling. Her comb went from floppy, faded, and a bit purple to red, plump, and standing tall again. I kept her on it for about 3 weeks straight. Now she gets about 2 tablets a week since I have no idea how long she can be on it (which reminds me, I need to ask about that on here). I used the 175mg tablets, which is about 80% silymarin.

I wish you and her the best! And try to withhold treats for about 1-2 weeks if you can. Maybe just hard boiled eggs or scrambled. Something easy for her to digest. If it's hot, I put them in the fridge to get them really cold. I wouldn't worry about milk thistle for now. Just mentioning in case her swelling gets worse. But definitely some cellulase may work wonders.

P.S. Firmness in the abdomen reminds me of internal laying, especially with the lack of eggs. So I recommend not trying to drain it. I've done draining on a hen that had ascites, she felt like a water balloon, though sometimes it would get firm. But there's a tightness to it. You can tell. For internal laying, there are hormonal implants. In the US, I don't think there are any vets that will give them. But other countries have that option.