Please Help !!! Sick Blue Orpington

[sica]

Can anyone please help me find out what is wrong with my girl. I have called every vet around here, and no one will see here none of them are experienced with chickens( of course that's just my luck). My one Blue Orpington hen I thought she might have had sour crop. Her crop was ballooned out, she's been extremely lathargic, she seems to be off ballance, her tail is drooped down, and she is carring her head low giving her the appearance of almost being hunched over. I took her out of the chicken coop last night as everyone was comming in for the night I noticed she was getting run over. She's been roosting on the ground, and not on the roosts like normal. When I picked her up her head fell forward, and she had a clear liquid looked like water running out of her mouth. I don't know if it had a foul smell or not because of course I have a wonderful summer cold, and can't smell anything right now. I put her in a large dog kennel in my gradge to keep her from food, and the other birds. her crop was down this morning so when I got home from work I gave her a small amount of rice baby cereal which she downed like she was starving. Her crop seems to not be enlarged, but it was only qabout 2 TB that she ate. I did notice that she has a bunch of poop in the cage though wich leads me to wonder if I might not be dealing with sour crop, but something else. Does anyone have any ideas what could be wrong with my lil girl?

 

[hudsonhousechicks]

Oh, I wish I could offer some sound advice but I've yet to deal with a sick chick. I do, however, work at a veterinary office but we rarely see chickens. Well, never. Nobody brings them in although I know I'm bringing mine in if they ever get sick. Your little hen is so pretty. I say, follow your instinct. Find out what you can about sour crop online. maybe some yogurt would help? Anything easy to digest perhaps? I hope some very experienced member answers you soon. Good luck to you. I'm sending good thoughts to your pretty little hen.

 

[JestersEye]

I can't tell you exactly what's wrong with your hen, but it doesn't sound like an impacted or sour crop to me. I would try to get some nutrients into her to keep her strength up, though. Have you tried offering her crushed-up, hard-boiled egg yolks? I'd also give her Nutri-Drench and mix some vitamin/electrolyte powder into her water (or you could use Pedialyte). Have you checked to make sure she isn't egg-bound? I really hope she gets better!

 

[hudsonhousechicks]

I read that you can give a little mineral oil to lubricate things when a chicken has sour crop. I also found this page:
http://1976design.com/blog/archive/2004/04/16/sour-crop/

 

[sica]

I haven't tried to give her hard boiled eggs. I will definately try that. She is hungry. When I put in the rice cereal she gobbled that right up. I will have to get some electrolytes for her tomarrow. I think the only Nutra Drench I have is for my goats. I'm not sure if that will work or not. I was also thinking of trying to give her some yogurt. I think I will run down to Meyers Hatchery in the morning, and see what kind of supplements they have specifically for chickens. Maybe some vitamin E to help give her some energy? I have no clue. How can you tell if they are egg bound?

 

[sica]

Well I gave her some egg yolk today mixed with water, and she gobbled that right up. I will also give her some plain yogurt, and electrolyte water. She is still off balance and tends to fall forward when I put her back into the kennel. I did check her bottom which isn't to easy as she has so many fluffy feather. She does have some poo on the feathers. I felt around, and didn't feel a stuck egg in her abdomen. Could it be stuck further inside? She has been in the kennel for 2 days now, and has not layed an egg.

 

[bella1210]

that is happening to our blue orp hen

 

[sica]

Bella do you have any idea what it is? What are you doing for treatment? Do you think if I took her to a vet for x-rays they'd be able to tell if she has an egg stuck way up inside her? She's still doing ok but getting weaker by the day I don't know how much longer she can hold up, and with this killer heat and humidity we are having it's definately not helping.

Thanks,

Jessica

 

[little blue]

i am bella sister and ours died

but we think she did not have enough grit and her food was stuck she loved grass and we think she got some grass stuck in her