One Sick Hen Advise Please

[Redline]

She's a Wyandott almost 26 weeks old. Yesterday she showed signs of lethargy, stayed in the nest all day didn't lay, stayed all night. Today she has the watery diarriah and was just hanging by the waterer when I got home this evening.
Checked for eggs her abdomen feels empty, checked her oviduct nothing there. When I picked her up fluid just ran from her mouth.
Removed her from the flock in the garage with a heat lamp. She doesn't seem distressed. Feathers are fluffed out. Drinking water. I don't know if she has eaten anything or not. She just acts like she doesn't feel good. No coughing or wheezing, her eyes seem fine. I think it's intestinal.
any ideas, do I just wait and see. All the other birds seem fine.

 

[PunkinPeep]

Possibly a crop problem. Have you felt of her crop? Is it hard? Or does she stink? For sure, in the morning, check her crop (after she hasn't eaten all night) and if it's still full or has something hard in it, you know that's the problem and can do a search here for treatment. It sounds to me like she has a blockage possibly.

Disclaimer: Not an expert.

 

[sammi]

I agree..sounds like a crop problem..they will drink to "fill up"..
best to check in the morning before she eats or drinks..it should be empty..
if not..there's a problem..
but quick action is needed..otherwise she'll starve to death..
very serious situation.
she may need to go a vet and have surgery to remove the mass..
sometimes a crop tube to remove contents can help..
try and feel for any lump, doughy mass, or grainy feeling..

here's a link for information and treatment::

http://happyhenhouse.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=faq&action=display&thread=9963

more info and more about crop tubing:

http://happyhenhouse.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=natural&action=display&thread=5257

you might want to get some poultry or chick vitamins and electrolytes for the water..or give by drops on beak..
Poly-vi-sol liquid baby vitamins, Enfamil brand no iron..2-3 drops on beak once a day for 5 days then taper off..

 

[Redline]

I Don't Know What A Crop Problem Is Help Me Out Here

 

[PunkinPeep]

The crop is located on the right side of the breast, a little high, toward the 'collar bone area.' After they've eaten, in the evening, the crop should be full - kind of bulging, like a ping pong ball is in their shirt pocket. But in the morning it should be empty because they digest the food during the night.

Sometimes they'll get a blockage in there - a long piece of grass, some large grains or rocks that won't go through right.....something blocks off the pathway. That would explain her water coming out of her mouth, if it goes to the crop but the pathway is bocked.

There are ways of dealing with this. But you just need to feel around. For comparison, try feeling the same area on one of your other birds. After they've eaten, you'll feel the bulge.

 

[Redline]

I went out to the garage and felt her she squaked. I can't tell right now but how can I deal with this you said there are ways.

 

[PunkinPeep]

Did you feel her crop? You said she squawked. Like she was in pain? I should have said to feel gently.

If you were able to feel it now, then you need to see if it's still bulging in the morning.

I don't have experience with impacted crop personally, but there are some good threads here at BYC. I'll see if i can find you info.

 

[PunkinPeep]

The second link that sammi provided has some information, but sour crop and impacted crop are different, so that might get a little confusing.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=212502
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=229187

These two threads have advice from Threehorses (Nathalie), who is very knowledgeable on this stuff.

As Sammi said, the important thing right now, in addition to helping her empty her crop, is to make sure she doesn't starve. So Nathalie gives helpful hints for helping her to absorb food and also get the impaction moving along. If she is impacted, and the food doesn't move out of her crop, it will start rotting there, and that can make her sick also.

Be sure to check her first thing in the morning before she has a chance to eat anything. You might even go and wake her up early in the morning to be sure.

 

[sammi]

the first link covers several crop problems..including impacted, and sour..

the crop tubing will help empty the crop..
tubing from an aquarium store can be used...file the edge to make sure it's very smooth...and you'll need a needle-less syringe to attach to the tube to pull out the fluid.


the important thing is to check the crop in the morning and see if it's still bulging and full...
if it's empty...and feels sorta flat like a flap of skin or empty balloon...then there is a different problem..
so keep us updated..

try to keep calm and read all the info..

 

[Redline]

She didn't make it through the night. I shouldn't have waited so long to find out what was wrong. I thought she was just nesting and maybe having a hard time laying. I feel like a negligent mother.
Thanks for the suggestions at least I learned something that wasn't in my chicken book.