please please please help.

[eliss18]

Hi All, i posted this earlier but hopefully someone will read it this time.

A couple of weeks ago we noticed one of the my hens was hiding behind the bushes keeping to herself. She was not eating and her crop was very much enlarged and if we massaged it at all she would vomit alot of liquid and bit of grass up. We took her to the vet the next day and it turns out she had a yeaste bacterial infection in her stomach. she was put on antibiotics and later probioitics after the antibiotic treatment was finished. She seems to come right very quickly and was back to eating her usual diet and was very happy for quite a few days. Her crop went down in size and all was well.

The other day it seemed to come back, he stomach was swollen again and she was vomiting and not interested in food or water. We put her back on antibiotics and her stomach has once again gone down so we have taken her off them. she is still not eating or drinking so we have been feeeding her probiotic yoghurt through a syringe and water. which passes through quite quicly as sooon as we feed her.

she seems interested in food at times and then other times had no interest in it. she is still very quiet and still but is still sleeeping up with my other chook and hanging around her. We keep bringing her inside and sitting her in our laps for an hour or so at a time and she is quite happy to go to sleep.

I dont really know whats going on? what it could possibly be or if we are doing the right thing.

I suspect her stomach may just be feeeing slightly delicate after the past couple of weeks and she may be a bit traumatised from that but I really don't know. if anyone has any advice or suggestions it would be very much appreciated. thankyou so much for your time

 

[Break an Egg]

Does she have a full crop even though she is only passing the yogurt?

If her crop is swollen and doesn't go down, she may have an impacted crop. Try giving her some bread soaked in veg oil and then massaging her crop to help the blockage go down.

 

[eliss18]

her crop has gone right down over the past few days and is only full when i feeed her yoghurt. she just has no interest in food anymore.

 

[Break an Egg]

Try also giving her some boiled egg with the yogurt. Otherwise, I don't know what the problem is, maybe someone else will come along and know what's going on.

 

[PunkinPeep]

If i'm understanding you correctly, you're dealing with a sour crop. Check out this link to some very specific instructions on how to deal with that.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=378303&p=1

I'm concerned that the antibiotics may be working against you at this point. I'm not sure. But they have a bad habit of making long term problems if you can't get those good gut flora restored.

 

[Jenski]

Crop stasis can be caused by two very different things:

1) Impaction (food packing into crop until it is too full, often consists of hay or large plant material)
2) Sour crop, where for whatever reason the crop stops moving food through and things just sit and ferment

If she does have sour crop, it can be a) caused directly by eating something bad, like moldy food, toxic plants, or other things that upset the digestive system; or b) the symptom of a larger health issue going on with your hen.

I say all this because treatments for impaction can be different than treatments for sour crop. I would not start feeding oil, bread, etc. until I was sure of the type of crop issue. Sour crop can be complicated by the addition of more foods that can sit and ferment.


What is she being fed? Is she able to get ahold of food she should not be eating, like compost heaps, etc? Old, stale puddles of water? How often is your food and water changed? Does the feed have a stale, musty or sour odor? These are just a few things you might look at first to see if you can't eliminate the first possibility.

Take a look at your hen's physical condition. (Post a photo here if you can, too.) Does she have patchy white areas on her face and/or around her mouth? These can be signs of fungal infection, and are worth checking for with sour crop.

Do note that the link in the post above also contains treatments for coccidiosis, which may or may not be involved at all in your case.


[Also - - did your vet give you an ANTIBIOTIC or an ANTIFUNGAL for your hen?]

 

[eliss18]

no white patches. it is possible she could have eaten something mouldy etc as they have access to our entire backyard.

her crop isnt big anymore. theres barely anything in it. and everything passes through very quickly as soon as i feed her basic sugarfree yoghurt and water.
she is currently sitting in her bed with my other hen quite happily.

her crest is quite pale and has been for a few days. her condition doesnt seem to be worsening. perhaps slightly getting better but then not so much.
her feathers are fine she is just very thin. when i do feed her yoghurt she is quite happy to take it.

i have taken her off the antiobiotics 2 days ago now.

 

[sourland]

Perhaps an impacted or "sour" crop-several threads on that topic on this site. I'm leaning towards the possibility of sour crop + hardware disease. She may have ingested a foreign object: metal, glass, large stone that is causing an internal impaction. Antibiotics would cause a temporary cessation of symptoms in that situation. Good luck! To me this sounds like more than only a crop problem.