One mystery death, then two more sick?

[The Golden Girl]

Hello!
So last Sunday, I went out to find our 2 year-old partridge rock cochin dead in the run. Horrible mother's day present! I was very attached to her! No sign of damage, or swelling. . . she seemed perfectly fine the day before. I buried her under the maple trees.

So on Thursday, I noticed our 7 year-old barred rock appeared to have sour crop: she was swollen up and liquid poured out of her like a teapot when I just gently tipped her head down. I separated her and started giving her oil with oregano oil and some nystatin in it in case it's yeast. She would only eat little bits of yogurt.

Friday comes around and there's my 7 year-old Auracauna (sp) with her tail down, hiding under the coop. Put her in another pen. No crop swelling or liquid, but there is a small ball in it that doesn't empty. She looks extremely uncomfortable and won't eat or drink. She is doing that "penguin" walk and will barely move. Both birds have infrequent passing, mostly liquid - not really feces. Green. I've tried giving her the same oil/nystatin and I've been attempting to feed her yogurt, meal worms, eggs... anything!

I've got them both in the garage where it is warm and the barred rock seems to be perking up a little and eating little bits, but I just don't know what this could be! Do you think there is a connection? Horrible luck? I have noticed that the barred rock keeps passing whole barley(?) grains from a scratch feed I gave them two weeks ago. Maybe this was the blockage? Neither bird has laid an egg since last summer, so I'm guessing neither is egg bound.

What could this be?

I'm afraid the best I can do for the Auracauna is give her palliative care at this point :-(

 

[Eggcessive]

Well at 7 years old, they are pretty old. None of mine that age are laying, but a few of my 5 and 6 year olds are still laying some. Hens at this age suffer from several different reproductive disorders. Frequently the crop problems and diarrhea are just related issues. Separating themselves and the penguin walk or preferring to lie down may also be signs of internal laying, salpingitis, egg holk peritonitis, and ascites. About all you can do is try to keep them eating, treat any crop problems as you are doing, and when the time comes, put them out their misery. I usually do a necropsy when I lose one, just to see what was going on. Here is a little info on diseases and the symptoms seen in reproductive problems:
http://www.regenbiocorps.com/index.php/poultry-diseases/17-disorders-of-reproductive-systems