please help I’m freaking out

[Swbertrand1]

It’s been about 3 days that I noticed. I felt her coop it feels a bit squishy but I compared it to the other chickens and they feel the same. She opens and closes her mouth when I hold her liek if she was drinking water. I also notcied She has been opening her mouth to adjust her coop a lot. And I noticed she’s been drinking a lot of water

Make sure it's empty in the morning. That is the key to identifying an impaction...

 

[Hopeful homesteader]

Check that she's got a nice empty crop in the morning, so before she's had a chance to eat or drink - get out there and make sure she emptied overnight.

If she's empty in the morning, the water coming back up could very well just be the chicken trying to cool herself with lots of water. Chickens can only cool themselves by drinking water, panting, and holding their wings away from their bodies.

Because this year in Oregon has been so terrible with heat wave after heat wave, I gave up and put an air conditioner unit in my coop with furnace air-filters over the air-intake areas. The furnace filters have to be changed daily so the coop dirt doesn't kill the A/C, but the pay off is the 100+ chickens sleeping comfortably tonight and every night since I got it- which means I get to sleep!

I've done all the watermelon and cool water possible, deep shade galore - but when the temperatures don't cool off overnight- it's still nearly 80 degrees at midnight here - they just don't get a break and they're doing everything they can - including overdrinking- to stay cool. Obviously in hotter parts of the country people select more heat-tolerant birds. I never thought I'd see heat wave after heat wave up here like this - and I have the birds I have, selected for cool rainy weather ... not ongoing heat.

I used to look for the worst-off birds, usually my bigger, heavier feathered ladies, my older girls - and they'd get a 'motel' for the night in the basement in a crate so they could recover. And that was an OK solution when it was just a couple days over the course of the summer- and when the flock was smaller. So if you're able to give the ones who have the hardest time staying cool a break overnight inside in a cool spot, I recommend taking that step for them.

I believe it was the fires we had last year in the western half of the US that's caused this year's shift in weather, I've never seen that many fires going simultaneously before. It's unfortunate but at the same time necessary, for too long nothing has been allowed to burn coupled with nobody out clearing dry brush it was just an accident waiting to happen. Forests are directly linked to weather and with so much damage now it's interrupting the natural cycle and we'll probably have hotter dryer weather next year too yet not as bad as this year since there will be a lot of new growth established by then.

 

[Shezadandy]

I believe it was the fires we had last year in the western half of the US that's caused this year's shift in weather, I've never seen that many fires going simultaneously before. It's unfortunate but at the same time necessary, for too long nothing has been allowed to burn coupled with nobody out clearing dry brush it was just an accident waiting to happen. Forests are directly linked to weather and with so much damage now it's interrupting the natural cycle and we'll probably have hotter dryer weather next year too yet not as bad as this year since there will be a lot of new growth established by then.

Yes, last year's fires AND this year's fires. Up here February's ice storm didn't help - it destroyed a good many trees- so now there's even more tinder all over the place. Ugh. Well, fingers crossed we return to the normal 'northwest summer' at some point. I'm just glad the same features that make my coop good shelter in the fall/winter/spring allow the chickens' A/C to do its job in these unprecedented temperatures.

 

[Swbertrand1]

It has been hot in Oregon these past few weeks. I’ve been givin them ice packs and cool baths and ice cubes in their water and watermelon.

How's she doing today? How was her crop this morning? Was it empty??

 

[luckysamara199]

How's she doing today? How was her crop this morning? Was it empty??

She looks and feels the same. How do I check for a empty crop?

 

[luckysamara199]

How's she doing today? How was her crop this morning? Was it empty??

This was her this morning

 

[Swbertrand1]

She's perky looking. The crop is on the right-center of the upper chest area just below where the neck meets the body of the bird. When they've eaten and filled the crop, it will be large and round, sometimes almost the size of a tennis ball in mature full-sized birds, likely about the size of a golf ball on your Polish, though it could be any size.

The crop is very important to digestion, so it's imperative that you check it in the morning before she feeds. If it's still full from the night before, you should take the steps outlined above to help break that block, called an Impacted Crop.

I wan under the impression that you knew what the crop was from your reply in post #8 above. Here's a diagram showing where it's located on a chicken. Are you sure you've checked her crop??

How are her symptoms? Is she still vomiting clear liquid?

 

[luckysamara199]

Here is a picture of drizzalls sister

Here is a better picture of drizzalls. Her chest looks way more different than her sister.

 

[Michigan Chicken]

hello, I’m really concerned about my hen. She is Golden buff polish and is 5 months. I noticed a few days ago she started dropping clear liquid from her mouth. I’m really concerned. Is it normal? Is there something I can do about it? Is she sick does anyone know what this is?

Is her belly swollen? I have seen hens do that in the final stages of water belly.

 

[luckysamara199]

Is her belly swollen? I have seen hens do that in the final stages of water belly.

How can I tell if it’s swollen?