Rooster Gasping With Fruity Breath and Squishy Crop

[speckledhen]

At the local feed store, a packet of copper sulfate was only $4.95, but I know about money constraints, trust me. No food for a couple days and you could put some unfiltered ACV in the water if you can't get the other stuff, only about a couple teaspoons to a gallon. Then fresh water and plain no-sugar yogurt for a day, then add mild stuff like scrambled eggs with the yogurt, all the while massaging the crop carefully. I've lost hens to sour crop when it got bad really fast, one from throwing up and aspirating something.

 

[OlyChickenGuy]

Put Bo back to bed after the last post in an isolated part of the coop. He can still see everyone else, but he can't get any food, but has access to water. I set him on the ground to sleep since I didn't want him falling off the perch anymore, and the ground is softened by some shredded paper that one of the hens got to while trying to make a nest, but didn't soil the paper. The other chickens eat the newspaper I put down sometimes, but Bo and the two older hens seem to have grown out of the habit.

Right now when I checked on Bo he was bright-eyed and alert, and he's cooing to me to let me know that he's ready to wake up ( my chickens don't tend to "wake up" until I roll the curtain up from the coop ). He's almost back to his wonderful little self! Hee~ He's talking with Bowser, and it sounds like they're standing right next to the divide, exchanging squeaks and whines.

A couple minutes later... opened the coop, and Bo's acting as he normally would. He's bright, he's alert, and the whole floor is covered in oily dung. Just gave him some water and he pecked at it, but seems to be more interested in wondering why he's separated from his flock, and why the little runt gets the girls!



That being said, what is "ACV"? Another thing to look for at a feed store? The nearest feed store to me is a few miles off of any bus routes, and my bike isn't in the best conditions for long travel, but I have many, many grocery stores, organic outlets, speciality spice stores, etc. within reach. I live in what I would call a "hippie town" - everything is about locally grown, organic, go-green kind of stuff. We even have an abundance of energy healing places, albeit I've never been to any of them... but just to give an idea of what's around and might be available. Also, house mates said they do not have copper sulfate.

My "cure-all" for my chickens is plain yogurt ( no sugar, like you said ), a pinch of crushed garlic, plenty of vinegar, and then plain rolled oats for texture since they like eating the mush better when it has texture. It's worked wonders for me in the past, and it's all stuff I can get on food stamps ( albeit, my food stamps are exhausted this month, too ) or the food bank... I might be able to ask the local Gospel Mission for help. A lot of people around here own farms, and I'm pretty well-known as "the guy with a chicken on his bike" by now... Might be time to cash in some favours!

 

[OlyChickenGuy]

UPDATE: Bo's doing worse as of right now. Fed him some more oil a few hours ago, then massaged his crop. Sloshes and sounds like a water balloon when patted. His vent area and belly were covered in oily stool, so I washed that off. He refuses to sit down, but just stands all puffed up with his eyes closed. Still shows some interest in the hens when they come over to see what's going on. He's shivering, so I brought him inside ( I live in a little shed outside without heat ), and wrapped him up in a towel. Hoping that'll help him out.

One other disconcerting thing is that he's kind of gurgling when he breathes. It was worse earlier, and he was doing the gaping thing again, but this time when I massaged his crop, no gas came out. His breath doesn't smell sweet anymore. Asked some friends for copper sulfate, keeping my fingers crossed I can get some. My friends know how much Bo means to me.

I am so worried! I hope he'll be just fine, and this is just another one of those "first time experiencing it" things, but Bo means so much to me. Why'd this have to happen on Easter weekend when no vets are open?? Going to call my vet tomorrow if Bo isn't showing significant improvement. In the mean time, going to be up all night worrying over his every last little movement and noise, I'm sure.

 

[OlyChickenGuy]

Been waiting for Bo to pass some stool for awhile. He finally did. It's a bright, pastel green almost a grassy colour and textured like broccoli or alphalpha, and when smeared it had a consistency of kiwi fruits, but I'm pretty sure he hasn't gotten into any of that - he HAS, however, just been let out to eat some grass within the past week or so. I've read that sometimes sour crop can be caused by over-eating grass, or eating it wrong? Also... we DO have a kiwi tree in the backyard, but it shouldn't have any fruit on it, and my chickens don't tend to go all the way over there. There was also some more sticky uric acid surrounding the stool.

Took a shower and put Bo on the sink. He just hunched right up and went to sleep. Caught some droppings in the sink. Coated with oil ( no surprise ) with the textured green stool mixed in with soft orange-brown stool ( looks like the "every 8-10 droppings" picture from the poop page ). His comb is also purplish in the back and the back couple points, but this seems to happen whenever he's sedentary for too long - get him outside, or up and moving, and the colour seems to come right back.

 

[naakte]

excessive thirst? fruity sickly sweet breath? these are human symptoms of diabetes, though i do not think a chicken can get diabetes... or can they? 2 years old is pretty young anyway for something like diabetes. Poor Bo I sure hope this is just a little nothing that will pass.

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[OlyChickenGuy]

Yeah, I thought that about the diabetes, but I have been VERY strict on not letting my chickens get ahold of ANY sugar or sugar substitutes. No candy, no jam or jelly, no sweet bread, no sugar-added juice ( though I've let them drink apple juice before - just a little, and I made sure it was nothing BUT apple juice ), etc., etc., etc.... I know dogs and cats can get diabetes, but they're mammals, so that's not too far of a stretch from a human disease. They show the same symptoms as humans, too.

Bo hasn't had excessive thirst after the vet visit, though, and the sickly-sweet smell isn't NEARLY as strong today.

 

[speckledhen]

ACV is apple cider vinegar, the type with "the mother" in it, the sediment. It has lots of vitamins. I even use it as a tea in hot water when I have a bad cold. I don't think a chicken can get diabetes and I'm not really sure of the sour crop at this point, but if it was me, I'd treat it as sour crop, certainly. The excessive water drinking is associated with sour crop, though.

 

[OlyChickenGuy]

Ah man I feel silly now - my house mates buy apple cider vinegar by bulk at the local co-op!! Anyway, talked to my vet today and he said it sounds more like Sour Crop than Crop Stasis, which is what he was thinking initially. After talking events over with him, we figure that a piece of dry cat food wasn't crushed up enough and plugged the crop up. Bo's currently back in with the rest of the flock, behaving as normal, and his crop was empty before I put him back in with normal stool. Doctor told me to look for a certain medicine that would help combat any fungal infections that might be going on, so hopefully everything will be fine! Thanks for everyone's help and good words!

 

[speckledhen]

Copper sulfate does just that, combat fungal infections. Vets are not usually as fast to diagnose chickens as some of our more knowledgeable folks here on BYC, you'll find.

A good avian vet is your best bet, especially if they have chicken experience over experience with exotics.

 

[OlyChickenGuy]

This guy has exotic experience, but he's the best vet I've worked with locally. He really cares about the animals, and he does some amount of charity work, too. First visit I had with him was with a scalped chick, and he put her under anaesthesia, removed necrotic tissue, stitched her up best he could, sent me home with some iodine gel, and she made it - healed up quite well. Unfortunately, house mates let her out and she disappeared - I suspect raccoons or opossums. She was scalped originally by an opossum, I think.

Anyhow, he wants to get Bo on a medicine called "nystatin" which is supposed to clear out the fungal infection. He says he's wary of using copper sulfate since it can be toxic if too much is used, whereas the nystatin won't be harmful if used when it doesn't need to be. He said the other issue might be the way Bo's harness was positioned, since he seems to only have problems on the perch. Bo's going to a different vet on Thursday, and yet another on Friday so I can get some cross opinions on what's going on - all of which do charity care, I just like the main vet I've been talking to best since he seems most knowledgeable and most willing to go as far as he needs to ensure an animal's safety and well-being. Otherwise, the nearest certified avian vet is eighty miles North!!

I still have a friend who's trying to get some copper sulfate for me, though, so whatever gets here first is what I'll use! I'll make sure to keep this updated until Bo is a-okay. Today once I got him off his perch and massaged his crop a little, he was right on with his usual self - interested in food, water, mating the hens, and exploring the world of my room and the yard just outside the door. Such a good boy, and such a trooper - I love him so much!