NEED HELP ASAP--hen w/impacted crop...HOW TO GET OLIVE OIL DOWN HER?

[waghmg]

Thanks for your help.

Her comb is light red/pink. Has been that way though seems to fluctuate in color to a little redder here and there.

Her crop first thing this morning is still not emptied. No huge but definitely not empty. Yesterday afternoon it was soft and is still medium soft this morning. I have yet to smell anything from her breath

Yesterday afternoon my daughter took her outside and she really perked up. She is very interested in her crumbles more than anything. She WILL NOT EAT YOGURT, SCRAMBLED EGGS or anything like that. She will eat softened crumbles to a point but actually prefers the dried and I must admit I have let her have some of those. Her poops vary from a runny to liquid.

She is such a picky chicken and will not drink water out of the small container I keep in her crate. She will drink and drink from the dog's water bowl we keep outside though...strange. So we're trying to take her out every so often do drink or bring it in for her to drink from. She I add anything to the water?

What do you think of this plan?: Soften crumbles w/water and probiotic capsule in since I can't get her to eat yogurt. She is pretty thin. I hate to withhold food. Should I start olive oil again?

Anything else you'd recommend?

Thanks again.

 

[waghmg]

Hen not that much improved although did discover by accident she LOVES crumbles pounded into powder so she ate that for quite a while this morning. Her crop seemed firm first thing but then after she ate it softened up. Just trying to feed her as much as she's willing to eat. She's very picky.

NEED ADVICE ON THIS: I'm trying everything and yesterday a person at an Animal Health supply suggested I could try tetracycline just to see if that would help her. Any thoughts on this?

Got it but haven't started it. Not sure if I should. Could it make things worse?

Just FYI, as may have been mentioned before, have no access to an avian vet so that's not an option. Too bad more vets don't learn about chickens since more and more people are keeping them.

More and more beginning to believe I'm just waiting for her to die.... :```(

 

[artsyrobin]

gonna send you a friends email, she has helped me through alot of chicken crisis- it hasn't reached the hopeless stage, since she is interested in eating- sometimes you need to offer them food in your hand before they understand its food....

 

[hrmalexandra]

Please update with any info/insight - I'm dealing with this too!

 

[waghmg]

hrmalexandra,

Wish I had more to tell you. Still trying to save my girl but nothing really new.....

Wish you the best.

 

[waghmg]

Another question:

I've neglected to mention the sick hen I've been writing about has a build-up of poop on her feathers below her vent. Should I do anything w/this? Been that way for a couple of days. Hope that's not making her worse.

Thanks for the advice anyone!

 

[artsyrobin]

ok, this might be an issue- clip her feathers around her vent where it is pasted up- then post a pic of her vent- look close and see if there are any mites or specks walking around and the color of the skin- this may be part of the problem- let us know what you see

 

[waghmg]

Hi, thx for that.

I had cut part of it off... will do some more tomorrow. Not sure she'd be up to a butt soaking right now. But...NO I DID NOT see anything crawling around. I did dust w/poultry dust in that area last Friday. The vent looked pink and was not blocked. just poop on the feathers below it.

Do you think this is just because she has been inactive in a dog crate? She's only had it really bad for a couple of days.

 

[coldupnorth]

I plan on following this too. I've got a BO that I suspect has impacted crop so this is useful information.

Hope your hen is doing good.

 

[artsyrobin]

sounds like you have her covered on that- probably trim her feathers to help her keep clean- how was her crop tonite, and is she drinking and eating?


if you do a forum search for sour crop there is alot of info out there- something i have discovered since have chickens is the wealth of info on byc...

try these thread for starts-
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/618217/sour-crop-and-no-yogurt
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/620257/crop-impaction