Please help!! Second chicken with this weird issue and we had to cull the other one!

[ChickInnMama]

I just posted about my hen Charlotte last week, we thought maybe she needed to be dewormed but now she is showing signs of whatever our little hen Evelyn had and we ended up having to cull her because she was slowly starving. No one could seem to pinpoint what it was and everyone else seemed fine but now another one of my hens is showing the same signs...

They start off by starting to eat a ton of grass, they won’t really touch their feed. The get a build up of grass in their crop which never fully empties, then it turns to what seems like sour crop where they have all liquid in there with whatever bit of grass won’t come out, it stinks (you can smell it when they open their beak) and then Evelyn got impacted again and we couldn’t get hers to empty. We were using a little oil and massaging Evelyn’s crop every few hours and we thought maybe that is what threw her into sour crop like symptoms? maybe it threw her pH off? So we didn’t do that with Charlotte, but we also have just started trying to massage her crop because the poor thing is molting right now and already stressed and picking her up (we’re using a towel to try to help make it a little less painful) and trying to massage it seems like it just really stresses her out. We have Charlotte and the other little hen Josephine in their run (those are the two that shared a coop and run with Evelyn, then we’ve let them free range in our backyard together with the girls from the other coop) and I thought that if Charlotte couldn’t get to grass then she would hopefully be able to empty her crop, but that didn’t happen and this morning when I let them out of the coop there was still a little grass in there (it’s not impacted and hard, but there is stuff in there not emptying), I had to run to an appointment and when I got home just a few hours later and went to massage it now it feels full of liquid (I have seen her drinking a ton of water) and when I massage it and she opens her beak it smells rotten like Evelyn’s did. I turned her upside down very gently and massaged and sure enough brown liquid came out, I can also feel what feels like little tiny marbles in there which in my research for Evelyn I found out is little yeast balls? When I turned her upside down and some liquid came out there was still a ton left in there. This is just SO weird, I have no idea what is making them want to only eat grass, Evelyn was only pooping out grass all binded together and at first Charlotte was pooping like that but not all the time, then it went to diarrhea for her. What could this be? I just am at a loss and I do not want to lose another hen. We culled Evelyn and it was awful, we can’t do that again. The only thing I changed is that I started adding Recover 911 to their water yesterday. I figured she could use the boost to her immune system, I got it on amazon and it says to use it when they are under a ton of stress (we are in Florida and we just had Milton go over us a few weeks ago, she lost a flockmate, she’s molting, and she’s our hen that has an what could be an ear canker that we cannot seem to get rid of), or when they’re isolating (which she was) or when they have severe diarrhea or pasty butt (which she did). It has vitamins, probiotics and herbs in it. Did I throw off her pH by giving that to them? When we culled Evelyn I cut open her crop to see if something else was in there, but it was just FULL of grass all clumped together and it smelled like a sewer. I don’t know what to do. Please anyone who has had chickens a long time and/or has had this issue…. any advice is welcome! Thank you SO much!

 

[Debbie292d]

Related posts for reference:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/can-you-deworm-a-chicken-while-they’re-molting-i-have-one-with-running-poop.1643721/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/lost-a-hen-a-week-ago-and-now-another-hen-is-pooping-grass-too…-any-ideas.1642586/

I have seen her drinking a ton of water) and when I massage it and she opens her beak it smells rotten like Evelyn’s did. I turned her upside down very gently and massaged and sure enough brown liquid came out, I can also feel what feels like little tiny marbles in there which in my research for Evelyn I found out is little yeast balls

Never turn a chicken upside down, especially after she drinks. When you tip her back up, all that water mixed with feed and possible bacteria could aspirate her and/or cause pneumonia.

Massaging their crop, in some cases, can cause more harm than good.

You're saying they are barely touching their feed, and all they eat is grass. This is why the crop issues. They will become weak and sick if they are only eating grass and treats. Try make mash from it by wetting it into the consistency of oatmeal. If they still won't eat that, there's something wrong with your feed.

Sometimes, just changing feed will get them to eat better. Nothing wrong with that brand at all. Here's ours:
Every chick/chicken here gets Kalmback's Flock Maker crumbles, then since that lacks enough calcium for laying hens, they get a dish of oyster shell. Their only "treat" is Kalmback's Henhouse Reserve, garden vegetables in season, and occasionally scrambled eggs when we have too many.

I ferment grains occasionally in quart jars. Mine smells a little yeasty/fruity, never sour or moldy. The latter would make them sick. This gives them good pre and probiotics. If I take time off from doing this, I'll put probiotics in their water about once a week.

Every couple of weeks I give them vitamin water, either Poultry Cell or NutraDrench.

I think these issues are related to what they're eating, or lack thereof.

 

[ChickInnMama]

Oh my goodness, I’ve never thought of it being because of their feed! They’ve been on the same brand for a long time, I will definitely switch it up starting tomorrow! Thank you for the information, there is sooo many different things that people say to do and I’ve seen where people said (or watched them on YouTube) to tip them carefully upside down but not backwards and gently massage to get the excess water out of their crop. I was finally able to find an avian vet in our area and we have an appointment for tomorrow at 2 pm. I wish I had been thinking to get Evelyn in to see the vet, we really thought we could treat her and she would get well and we definitely never considered her feed being the issue. I also read to take them off feed and water for 24 hours if they get sour crop (I saw that response on another post here on BYC) so I have Charlotte in a crate inside my bathroom with a low light but no food or drink for now. Is that correct? Thank you so much for getting back to me!

 

[ChicNmom]

There was a lot of info in your post. If they are still impacted with grass, the sour crop won't go away until the contents can move through. Then they will only have watery diarrhea since solids can't move through.
Do they have access to grit?
If their gizzard could be impacted with grass you could try a molasses flush to get things moving. 1 tsp molasse in 1/4 cup of water. Hopefully they will drink it on their own. If they still have a watery crop you can soak the molasses into a piece of bread and feed it to them and skip the extra water.

I also had a hen that ate a bunch of straw and had an impacted crop. The thing that finally worked was digestive enzymes that contain cellulase along with frequent crop massage.

 

[ChickInnMama]

There was a lot of info in your post. If they are still impacted with grass, the sour crop won't go away until the contents can move through. Then they will only have watery diarrhea since solids can't move through.
Do they have access to grit?
If their gizzard could be impacted with grass you could try a molasses flush to get things moving. 1 tsp molasse in 1/4 cup of water. Hopefully they will drink it on their own. If they still have a watery crop you can soak the molasses into a piece of bread and feed it to them and skip the extra water.

I also had a hen that ate a bunch of straw and had an impacted crop. The thing that finally worked was digestive enzymes that contain cellulose along with frequent crop massage.

Thank you! I try to give as much info as possible because so often I see people have to ask questions and then you have to wait again for them to see your answer to their question before you can get some help I’ll try the molasses!

 

[ChicNmom]

I fixed my post. The enzyme I mentioned should have said cellulase. It helps break down fibrous foods and reduces fermentation and is usually included with many enzyme formulas.

 

[ChickInnMama]

I fixed my post. The enzyme I mentioned should have said cellulase. It helps break down fibrous foods and reduces fermentation and is usually included with many enzyme formulas.

Is there a specific one for chickens/poultry that you buy? I googled it and there are a ton of choices thank you!

 

[ChicNmom]

Is there a specific one for chickens/poultry that you buy? I googled it and there are a ton of choices thank you!

No, any human brand will do.
I gave 1 pill daily by opening her beak and pushing it back so she would swallow it.

 

[ChickInnMama]

The vet put Charlotte on an antibiotic (actually, she gave me enough for all 7 of my hens) just in case the underlying cause is Cossidious (I know I’m spelling that wrong?)… she also put her on an anti-inflammatory to try to help everything settle down. But she is still really squishy and won’t eat, she drinks water like it’s going out of style so I put it in for a bit and then take it back out. I have ACV in her water, my question now is should I also give her monistat? Because we aren’t actually treating her sour crop? And I don’t want it to get worse? I did order digestive enzymes with cellulase in them and they will be here today, I thought I’d give her one of those a day too. I have been trying to massage her crop for about 5 mins every few hours but she hates it, I think it hurts because she’s molting and she is definitely molting around that area. So would Monistat also be a good idea?