I want to thank EVERYONE who commented on the "sick chicken" threads--I found my beloved "And Waffles" (as in chicken "and waffles") lethargic, looked swollen on one side, not eating, isolated, not walking. We lost her 2 sisters back to back a few weeks ago-they're only 2. Rest of the herd is fine. The wormer was backordered and no one had it in town, so I read the advice of "massage the croup, use some olive oil".
First of all, she STUNK to high Heaven. Like, stench of DEATH in my bathroom where we had her. She would not eat, would not take any interest. So for the three days I kept her in there, I'd walk in, pick her up, massage, massage, massage, tell her olive oil was yummy on rice or oatmeal or whatever I was trying to feed her, and tell her she needed to get better. She even had her own radio. She liked classic rock-heh. Day three's end, the smell was ridiculous but she was standing a little bit. I put her on the side of the connected coups that the chickens rarely venture in to but she liked, and just hoped for the best, and bleached down my bathroom from the smell.
Next morning, I didn't see her until I found her curled up in the coop. She was awake but not moving. I petted her, told her to hang in there, and sadly went to work.
I came home ten hours later, to find And Waffles with the herd. Next morning, she was eating. Now, she oddly lets us pick her up after her ordeal, and devours anything in sight.
No idea if it was the olive oil, the massage, or the vacation, but all of your advice worked and And Waffles is a happy fat chicken again.
