Shivering chicken

[The Chicken Fan]

I have a Barred Rock that is 9 months old. I found her today in the nesting box shivering. She is molting and it is in the low 50s. It is rainy and windy. I have had weather like this before but have never seen her shake like this. She did have sour crop, a virus, and was egg bound and survived it all. Her crop though has never gone back to normal. I'm afraid she may have eaten something that is just stuck in her crop. It's always puffy but she eats and drinks fine. Now that she has begun molting, I've noticed she isn't as full of energy as she used to be. She lays down a lot because her crop weighs a ton. But the shivering is definitely new to me. What can I do to help her?

 

[The Chicken Fan]

Thank you for all the advice! And I will do occasional updates as the days go by.

 

[TwoCrows]

Little update: her crop is looking fantastic. She's having so much fun and running everywhere! Thank you so much for all the advice! It definitely saved her 

This is FANTASTIC news!!! I just love a happy ending!

Keep us posted as she progresses. Doing the happy dance for her!

 

[TwoCrows]

You need to get her into a crop bra before it gets too far stretched. Once the crop becomes pendulous, it never shrinks back to it's original state. And it's ability to push food out of it becomes impossible. The bird doesn't get enough nutrition, yeasts grow in the crop making the bird sicker.

Here is a great place to get a crop bra. They make these to fit, so it can take several weeks to get them in. http://crazykfarm.mybigcommerce.com/birdy-bra-crop-supporter-chest-protector/

She is probably shivering because she is not getting enough food going through her. If you are handy with a sewing machine and have some thick material, you might whip one of these bras up yourself. I have used them on slow and sour crops with great success. The constant pressure pushes the food out of the crop at a constant proper rate.

For now, you need to get her warmed up. I would bring her inside for a bit. Have you ever vomited a bird? She might feel incredibly better if you got all or most of that out of her. There is a safe way to do this without aspirating the bird, but you must be careful in doing it.

You are going to hold her like a football in one arm, support her at the crop with the other hand and you are going to lean her forward. This next part is where you MUST do this exactly as I say....once the gunk starts to come out the beak, you must count to 2 only. No longer so they don't aspirate, and then stand her back up. Even 1 second is good. Give her a moment to catch her breath and do it again for only 2 seconds. Chickens can't hold their breath very long, only a second or two. Keep vomiting her until you get as much as you can out. Do this once a day only, and it is best done first thing in the morning when all that gunk is toxic. During the day she needs to absorb food and water. If you are not comfortable doing this, then don't. But it helps them greatly if you can.

Withhold all hard foods like grains, greens, anything the gizzard needs to grind. Water soluble foods only. I like to keep them on damp layer feed only. No sweet things either that might cause more yeast to grow. No free ranging for a while either. I would put probiotics in her water to help replace the good bacteria that has dwindled in her crop. A yeasty crop is a slow crop.

If the crop is not too stretched out, it may return to it's original size in a few weeks to a month.

Start by getting her warmed up for now and vomited if you can. Get her into a crop bra, probitiotics in the water and on a soft foods/water soluble diet. No hard grains or free ranging.

Keep us posted!

 

[The Chicken Fan]

Okay. So how do I measure her for a crop bra? I've never even heard of one, but this could be just the thing she needs. I looked at some pictures and saw it fastened on the shoulders and under the wings? Also it says it takes about 5 days to ship; so what should I try to make something before it gets here?

I have vomited her before and can do it again. After I vomit her should I feed her some moist chicken feed and yogurt?

Thanks so much for the help!

 

[TwoCrows]

Okay. So how do I measure her for a crop bra? I've never even heard of one, but this could be just the thing she needs. I looked at some pictures and saw it fastened on the shoulders and under the wings? Also it says it takes about 5 days to ship; so what should I try to make something before it gets here?

I have vomited her before and can do it again. After I vomit her should I feed her some moist chicken feed and yogurt?

Thanks so much for the help!

A 4 x 4 inch will be sufficient for the average large breed bird. You are only concerned with covering the crop. I ordered a 4 x 5 for this bird and I felt it was too big.


She is an Australorp. (excuse the purple feet. LOL Blu-kote) Anyway, I restitched this one back down to 4 x 4 inches and it worked much better. Everyone, including myself, had to wait abouto 2 weeks to get this bra. So be prepared to wait a bit. That is why I suggested if you could make a temporary one, do so to keep your bird feeling as best she can. Yes, there are straps attached to the pad and two of them come under the wings and two go over the wings in a criss cross pattern over the back and tied off.

Yes, I would first get her vomited to get all that toxic gunk out of there and then see if you can get her to eat some yogurt, hard boiled eggs are easy to digest and are wonderful protein and full of B vitamins. Warm grits or oatmeal is fine as long as it is cooked down soft. Just get her to eat something. She is no doubt cold because she is loosing weight due to the crop not sending enough food down the pipe.

Keep us posted on her condition!!

 

[The Chicken Fan]

Okay. So I will order a 4x4 and hope it gets here quickly! As for making one, I'm not great but I'm sure I can come up with something! I will definitely keep you posted.

 

[TwoCrows]

Excellent!!

 

[The Chicken Fan]

So I tried to vomit her and she fought me. I would almost have it but she kept swallowing it right back up. I didn't want to go for too long and suffocate her. Tips?

 

[TwoCrows]

At this point, I would wait until tomorrow morning. Over night the gunk will get very liquidy and will come out very easily. And sometimes it can be hard to get anything out if it is thick. But mornings I have found, the gunk is very loose and it comes out even if they give you a hard time. Morning vomitings are important to get all the yeasts and bacteria ridden stuff out of there. During the day, especially this late in the day, you do want them to digest as much as they can. So give it another try in the morning.

Let us know how she did and is doing tomorrow for sure!