Sad chicken, not eating

[Shamiira]

We have a lavender Orpington who’s been just sad/depressed acting. I’m hoping y’all can help me out.

There’s no respiratory things going on at all.

She lays an egg a few times a week.

I can’t feel an egg at all.

Her crop feels like a small sandy stress ball.

She’s just sad, slow and quiet. Not really hanging out with the others. Not really eating. I could only get her to eat a few bites of scrambled egg.

She occasionally opens her mouth like readjusting her crop but hasn’t eaten.

I tried giving her some epsom salt and warm water soaks just in case she is egg bound and I don’t know where I’m feeling for an egg.

Any thoughts?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

She’s just sad, slow and quiet. Not really hanging out with the others. Not really eating. I could only get her to eat a few bites of scrambled egg.

She occasionally opens her mouth like readjusting her crop but hasn’t eaten.

I tried giving her some epsom salt and warm water soaks just in case she is egg bound and I don’t know where I’m feeling for an egg.

Any thoughts?

We have a lavender Orpington who’s been just sad/depressed acting. I’m hoping y’all can help me out.

There’s no respiratory things going on at all.

She lays an egg a few times a week.

I can’t feel an egg at all.

Her crop feels like a small sandy stress ball.

If she's activity laying eggs and poop, then she's not egg bound. I wouldn't feel for an egg.
If she likes a good soaking, it won't hurt her, but if it stresses her. Stop that activity as well.

Her crop - when are you feeling of the crop? Check it first thing in the morning before she's had anything to eat/drink. If it's not flat/empty, then address that symptom (article below).

Check her over for lice/mites and consider getting a fecal float to determine if worms are part of the problem.

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

 

[Shamiira]

If she's activity laying eggs and poop, then she's not egg bound. I wouldn't feel for an egg.
If she likes a good soaking, it won't hurt her, but if it stresses her. Stop that activity as well.

Her crop - when are you feeling of the crop? Check it first thing in the morning before she's had anything to eat/drink. If it's not flat/empty, then address that symptom (article below).

Check her over for lice/mites and consider getting a fecal float to determine if worms are part of the problem.

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

She doesn’t mind the soaking at all. She just sits there and half falls asleep.

I’ve felt her crop many different times of day. It’s very small and feels like one of those rocky stress balls. Is that not how it should feel? I can’t get her to eat very much at all so it doesn’t really change in size between night and morning. She ate a few bites of scrambled egg and a few pieces of watermelon yesterday.

I checked her over for parasites and did not find anything wrong in that regard. I forgot to mention that I dewormed all of them on Wednesday as well and still no change.

Thank you for your input!

 

[Shamiira]

If she's activity laying eggs and poop, then she's not egg bound. I wouldn't feel for an egg.
If she likes a good soaking, it won't hurt her, but if it stresses her. Stop that activity as well.

Her crop - when are you feeling of the crop? Check it first thing in the morning before she's had anything to eat/drink. If it's not flat/empty, then address that symptom (article below).

Check her over for lice/mites and consider getting a fecal float to determine if worms are part of the problem.

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

I followed all the instructions for impacted crop and she still has a bit of a sand bag feeling crop and is still not interested in eating anything other than dirt … I’m not sure what’s going on with her at this point.

Any other thought?

 

[Shamiira]

I followed all the instructions for impacted crop and she still has a bit of a sand bag feeling crop and is still not interested in eating anything other than dirt … I’m not sure what’s going on with her at this point.

Any other thought?

Her crop deflated to almost non existent after the impacted crop directions and we moved on to sour crop treatment with miconazole. Several hours later and her crop is all rocky feeling again … I sadly don’t know what to do for her anymore. She’s only 2 years old.

I’ll continue the miconazole twice a day for 7 days and hopefully she feels better and starts eating soon.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

If you're feeling of the crop at different times of the day and she's been eating/drinking, you're going to feel food/water and material in the crop.

To get an accurate gauge of crop function, check first thing in the morning before she's had anything to eat/drink is best.

 

[Shamiira]

If you're feeling of the crop at different times of the day and she's been eating/drinking, you're going to feel food/water and material in the crop.

To get an accurate gauge of crop function, check first thing in the morning before she's had anything to eat/drink is best.

After another really good crop massage we are able to feel an oddly shaped object that feels too large to pass and I feel this is causing her problems. We are deciding whether to attempt surgery ourselves or put her out of her misery.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

After another really good crop massage we are able to feel an oddly shaped object that feels too large to pass and I feel this is causing her problems. We are deciding whether to attempt surgery ourselves or put her out of her misery.

Oh dear, that doesn't sound very good.

Is vet care an option?

Some folks do perform surgery and are quite successful at it. If that's something you are going to do, I'll try to find the instructions that @azygous has about crop surgery.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Here's her instructions. I've never performed crop surgery. Thankfully I've always been able to clear a crop with other methods.

You may want to do an onsite search about crop surgery as well as read up or watch some videos before taking steps to do surgery. While it does seem to be straightforward, there are risks of course and surgery should be the last resort after you've exhausted all other avenues of treatment/attempts of clearing the crop. It's also recommended seeking vet care if at all possible.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/emergency-crop-surgery-question.1607576/post-27944019