poorly chicken!

[lorienlouise]

HI,
My 11 yr old chicken seems to be showing signs of what seems like a obstruction in the throat, she eats something which then sounds like it is stuck, she makes strange movements around her throat moving her head around, not sure she is pooing as normal, naturally the vets are closed during this lockdown so not sure what i can do-she is eating some food, tomatoes are the favourite at the moment! am guessing it slips down more easily
any advise be great

 

[Wyorp Rock]

HI,
My 11 yr old chicken seems to be showing signs of what seems like a obstruction in the throat, she eats something which then sounds like it is stuck, she makes strange movements around her throat moving her head around, not sure she is pooing as normal, naturally the vets are closed during this lockdown so not sure what i can do-she is eating some food, tomatoes are the favourite at the moment! am guessing it slips down more easily
any advise be great

11 years old, you have done well!

Check her crop first thing in the morning before she eats/drinks - it should be empty.
At her age does she still lay any eggs? I would try to get a look at her poop too, feel her abdomen for any bloat or fluid.
She may be having some crop issues - see the article below for accessing and treating crop issues. Often crop issues are a symptom of something else going on like reproductive issues.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

 

[lorienlouise]

Thank you so much for replying and advising, whilst the country is in lockdown I can't take her to vets unless its an emergency, so i'll give the suggestions ago and hopefully this will be the issue instead of anything more serious-she has been through a lot in her long life and come out the other side, so she's obviously a fighter! she hasn't laid eggs for a couple of years now, but she's defiantly earned her retirement over the years! thank you again

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thank you so much for replying and advising, whilst the country is in lockdown I can't take her to vets unless its an emergency, so i'll give the suggestions ago and hopefully this will be the issue instead of anything more serious-she has been through a lot in her long life and come out the other side, so she's obviously a fighter! she hasn't laid eggs for a couple of years now, but she's defiantly earned her retirement over the years! thank you again

Keep us posted.

 

[lorienlouise]

so just to follow on from initial post, i took her to the vets, she has sour crop, cleared her crop but there seems to be a blockage further down, she's had anti bios but they not doing much, I have bought up the subject of euthanising her, vet basically said its up to me.
Anyway bought her home, she's moving about, having dust baths-eating, but i no this will just get stored in her crop now.
Im just struggling with should i get her x-rayed incase there is a foreign object there or not? if its a tumour then i will go ahead with ending her life as i don't want her to suffer, but theres part of me that thinks i should explore what it is stuck in there, obviously i don't want her poked and prodded too much as she is so old..dont want to go without a fight, but can't be selfish-any thoughts on this would be great

 

[Wyorp Rock]

so just to follow on from initial post, i took her to the vets, she has sour crop, cleared her crop but there seems to be a blockage further down, she's had anti bios but they not doing much, I have bought up the subject of euthanising her, vet basically said its up to me.
Anyway bought her home, she's moving about, having dust baths-eating, but i no this will just get stored in her crop now.
Im just struggling with should i get her x-rayed incase there is a foreign object there or not? if its a tumour then i will go ahead with ending her life as i don't want her to suffer, but theres part of me that thinks i should explore what it is stuck in there, obviously i don't want her poked and prodded too much as she is so old..dont want to go without a fight, but can't be selfish-any thoughts on this would be great

I'm glad you were able to see a vet.
Let's get @azygous in here too.

The vet said she had sour crop, cleared it (how?) but there seems to be a blockage further down - tell us more about why/how it's been determined there is a blockage further down - she's not pooping, the crop is still not clearing, etc.?

The vet gave Antibiotics to treat Sour Crop? A Sour Crop is a yeasty/fungal issue and is normally treated with an Antifungal (like Nystatin, Clotrimazole, Miconazole, etc.) What was the name of the antibiotic given?

Moving about, dust bathing, eating...sounds like she's living for an 11 year old hen. Can you get some poop photos?

 

[azygous]

Here's what I suggest. Give her boiled egg, maybe grated carrot to fill her crop. Either remove all food at bedtime or have her sleep in a crate overnight with no access to food and water after dark. Then check her crop in the morning. Also get a photo of her poop and post it. These will tell us a lot, and we can better advise you after we have this info.

Overall, how is she behaving? My old biddies, ages nine through twelve years, mostly lounge like royalty on feed bag cushions all day, only becoming animated when I bring food into the run. Then they behave as normal chickens, as if they are starved and haven't eaten in days. In other words, old chickens just aren't very active, but they still seem to have good appetites.

If this is how your eleven-year old behaves, then it's normal for her advanced years. But sour crop isn't out of the question, either. She might benefit from miconazole for seven days if we determine her crop isn't emptying. She also, due to her age, could have a condition called pendulous crop which can cause yeast to grow since the crop hangs too low for it to completely empty. We'll eventually figure out if that could be an issue in her case.

 

[lorienlouise]

Hi,
thanks for reply, so vet has diagnosed sour crop, they have flushed it out twice now but it has filled up again, I gave her her clavaseptin tabs this morning with some live yogurt-she liked that! but thats a anti bio..she also had baytril and some meloxicam /loxicom-when i picked her up from vets there are some yellow/greenish coloured { and normal brown}poo, so surely something is getting through?
Im not convinced she hasn't eaten something, maybe a foreign object as she just wonders around the garden and peaks at anything...like they do!
So my options are to have an X-ray to see if its something sinister -if that is the case i will have to euthanise as don't want her to go through invasive treatment at her age, or decide its her time and let her go anyway...hard to separate what i want and whats good for her-very torn

 

[lorienlouise]

Just an update, I have been looking around the net a lot and have gone and bought some canesten, some have advised its ok to use this as it clears thrush, so if ok do i put some in a dropper on its own or water it down bit, its very thick!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Just an update, I have been looking around the net a lot and have gone and bought some canesten, some have advised its ok to use this as it clears thrush, so if ok do i put some in a dropper on its own or water it down bit, its very thick!

Ah...your mention of Canesten, are you in the UK?

Yes, you can give her that for Sour Crop treatment, 1/2" of cream twice a day for 7 days.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/