Okay I just had a hen die with impacted crop (I think). Now this morning my rooster was last to come out of coop and he was hopping kinda and flapping his wings jerking his head side to side. It seems like I read something on BYC about this but now I cant find it. Is there something wrong?
Please give more info to help the experienced folks figure it out such as: What makes you think she had an impacted crop? Typical Diet? What do stools look like? Runny, color? Any blood in it? Last time de-wormed? Are they drinking and eating well? Conditions they live in such as weather, how much space per chicken, etc? Any respiratory problems? (can make them shake their heads) Any odd breathing such as gaping? Age? How many birds do you have? How long you have them? Any new chickens added recently? Are the hens laying eggs currently? Are they vaccinated for Mareks Disease? Giving vitamin supplements and electrolytes may help for now until you know. If not eating well try some scrambled egg. Any other background info would help! I am not an expert myself so hope someone will see this!
Because on of the experienced folks on here said so is all I know. She had a squishy crop. a Little scratch and purina layer.... Was feeding crumbles but just switch to pellets 2 weeks ago normal long time on the wormer 4 months probably drinking well but since i changed to pellets they dont eat as much. been cold as an ice cube. about 550 square feet for 12 birds do guess the seem to be breathing fine the roo is 1 1/2 12 9 months no had 5 laying was getting 4 or 5 a day this it got like an ice cube now i am getting about 2 but n ow i have 4 laying no vaccines
How long ago did you switch to the pellets? I a wondering if the pellets are bad and that's they are not eating as much and possibly why the hen got a sour crop. It is also not a good idea to feed layer to the rooster as it has a bit too much calcium. You should check to see if they are losing weight. One way to check if they are eating enough is to see if their crop is full at night. You may have to get a different feed if it is bad--start by smelling it and checking it carefully to see if moldy or sour smelling. If not sure offer them some oatmeal and scrambled egg and see if they eat well. Yogurt is also a great thing to give them to add probiotics to their gut if they ate something bad. This may not be what is wrong, just one possibility to rule out. Another is internal or external parasites (such as gape-worm or bad lice/mites) which can cause shaking of the head. Another is a vitamin deficiency which is why I recommended a vitamin supplement--especially with B vitamins (no iron). Please--hope somene else sees your thread.
Billy , how suddenly did the roo's behavior come on? Is it worse now? Can he walk at all? Has he come in contact with new chickens? Can you describe the behavior more?
