Romie is ill

[Christine S]

Hello All

I have a RIR that is about a year and a half. Lately she has gotten very thin and now her comb is limp and pale...she seems week and lethargic. She is eating, but not much.

Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks

C

 

[peterlund]

She still laying? A friend of mine had a similar issue and her bird was dehydrated. Lots and lots of water, with a wee bit of sugar got her girl all better. Good luck!

 

[rcentner]

Has she been laying at all recently?
Check for mites/lice, they usually collect around the vent?
diarrhea?
Check inside her mouth, look for anything odd...you could see plaque or maybe gapeworms in her throat?
Dewormed at all?

Scramble her up some eggs and feed her some eggs and yogurt for her digestive tract.

how does her crop feel? empty? full? hard?

any odd smell to her?

 

[dawnchick]

Quote:
Good advice. Most all chickens pick up some mites or lice and some worms. Could be any number of problems, but these are probably the most likely if you don't routinely treat as prevention.

 

[Christine S]

She isn't laying. I noticed her crop this morning was full and squishy. She is still lethargic just slowly walking around the yard picking here and there, but not really eating.

I was just reading about sour crop, which sounds about right with exception of the smell. How do you treat sour crop naturally at home? Or can you?

 

[rcentner]

there are lots of posts on here about sour crop which seems to be a secondary problem when they get an impacted crop. Basically stuff like grass or hay/straw get stuck in there and after time it ferments causing the crop to be "sour". You can treat by giving mineral oil to break up anything still in the crop (or vegetable oil), massage the oil in the crop. If you have impacted crop that is all you really need to do (it only took 2 days of oil and massage to help my hen) but once it becomes sour there is more to it. I think that requires not feeding them so the crop empties and then yogurt to get the natural bacteria and acidity back where it belongs. Apple cidar vinegar in the water will help get the acidity back in the crop.

do some searching on here about that as I could be wrong or missing parts..I have only dealt with impaction, not sour crop (yet). Sand can also cause a bit of a blockage too if they eat a lot of it. If they don't have grit out for them to eat then it is easier for the impaction to happen. Good luck!

edit:
If she has been a regular layer and suddenly is not laying, I would be concerned about a problem with her laying like egg bound, feel her pelvis and see if you can feel and egg stuck in there. Chickens exhibit a lot of problems in the same way so you will want to thoroughly check her out and see if you can see where the problem is