sick chicken

[JewellChicks]

okay I will try that.

 

[JewellChicks]

Well sadly we had to put her down this morning.

She had taken a turn for the worst. Her head was down eyes closed.
We did a necropsy on our own the best we could. Mostly a learning exploitative venture.

We found:
- No egg
- Some yellowing inside her cavity (not sure if it was just fat or something more)
- Large hard white masses on her intestine mostly lower maybe some on upper.
- Lots of grass throughout her digestive system mostly in her lower intestine
- Gizzard had grit, and lots of soft mussy material (but I was feeding her a soft diet).
- No worms
- I may have punctured the gallbladder while I was looking around, but it looked different, the tissue was thinner.

Looks like maybe it was the grass that caused the blockage and her digestive track to slow down. The olive oil then molasses flush may have been too little too late. Or something was not functioning normally because I would think the gizzard would have broke up the grass more, but maybe not.

I was not worried about grit before because the chickens have a lime stone-ish sand in their coop as the floor and go outside in the afternoon were they have access to lots of rocks and dirt. We have been providing oyster shells for their egg production, but maybe we should get some grit as well.

I will take this as a learning experience so I will act sooner and have a better idea what to do if this happens again. I would not want her do die in vein. I was happy to not see any worms so I do not have to worry about the whole flock being infested.

I really appreciate all the help with trying to save the poor girl. It has helped to have some input during this all.

 

[TwoCrows]

Well sadly we had to put her down this morning.

She had taken a turn for the worst. Her head was down eyes closed.
We did a necropsy on our own the best we could. Mostly a learning exploitative venture.

We found:
- No egg
- Some yellowing inside her cavity (not sure if it was just fat or something more)
- Large hard white masses on her intestine mostly lower maybe some on upper.
- Lots of grass throughout her digestive system mostly in her lower intestine
- Gizzard had grit, and lots of soft mussy material (but I was feeding her a soft diet).
- No worms
- I may have punctured the gallbladder while I was looking around, but it looked different, the tissue was thinner.

Looks like maybe it was the grass that caused the blockage and her digestive track to slow down. The olive oil then molasses flush may have been too little too late. Or something was not functioning normally because I would think the gizzard would have broke up the grass more, but maybe not.

I was not worried about grit before because the chickens have a lime stone-ish sand in their coop as the floor and go outside in the afternoon were they have access to lots of rocks and dirt. We have been providing oyster shells for their egg production, but maybe we should get some grit as well.

I will take this as a learning experience so I will act sooner and have a better idea what to do if this happens again. I would not want her do die in vein. I was happy to not see any worms so I do not have to worry about the whole flock being infested.

I really appreciate all the help with trying to save the poor girl. It has helped to have some input during this all.

I am so sorry about your baby.

 

[Ren2014]

So sorry you had to put her down.

 

[JewellChicks]

Thank you for the sympathy. She was a good little hen.

 

[Hannah Bannana]

Hi I just had a question about my hen. We had a 4 rhode island red named chipmunk and she passed away recently from being ill. wasn't really sure what she has passed from. She was a good size bird! The typical "pig" haha when it came to eating bread or cereal for a treat We had 8 birds now down to 7... When she passed her comb turned purple, she lost significant weight! She also lost appetite and had a hard time seeing. Her eyes turned of a dark orange and she was like choking on her own saliva... She wouldn't be able to eat or cluck because she would constantly have saliva coming from her beak. When she finally passed she was all bones and feathers. I am AFRAID

that what she had has passed on to our 8 year old hen Funky.... Would anyone happen to know what she might of had or how we can help or stop it from spreading to our other 3 hens, 3 roosters or maybe or our pet ducks...

 

[chickie farmer]

Hanna, Sorry for your loss. Did she have a large lump in her chest? If she did, then she had an impacted crop. Was she a free range hen? She may have stuffed herself. If so, they are more apt to get an impacted crop because of eating long grass that will coil up and plug the crop where eventually they will starve themselves. The food will not go straight to the stomach. but is stored in a compartment called a crop. The crop may be hard to the touch or feel like shifting sand. To treat this crop, dose the bird slowly with Olive oil. Mineral oil is better if you have it. It is a thinner oil and goes into the crop better. Message the crop or squeeze it gently in hopes that the bird will regurgitate it. Hold her like a football and tilt her downward. After the obstruction is gone, you could feed her wet, soggy mash until it recovers. If the crop keeps filling up, it may be and impacted gizzard which is more fatal.

 

[JewellChicks]

Hi I just had a question about my hen. We had a 4 rhode island red named chipmunk and she passed away recently from being ill. wasn't really sure what she has passed from. She was a good size bird! The typical "pig" haha when it came to eating bread or cereal for a treat We had 8 birds now down to 7... When she passed her comb turned purple, she lost significant weight! She also lost appetite and had a hard time seeing. Her eyes turned of a dark orange and she was like choking on her own saliva... She wouldn't be able to eat or cluck because she would constantly have saliva coming from her beak. When she finally passed she was all bones and feathers. I am AFRAID

that what she had has passed on to our 8 year old hen Funky.... Would anyone happen to know what she might of had or how we can help or stop it from spreading to our other 3 hens, 3 roosters or maybe or our pet ducks...

I am so sorry about your hen. I am not sure what that could have been. The saliva coming from beak sounds like what happened to mine toward the end.
I noticed that in another hen one night when I was tending the flock for scaly mites. She had liquid dripping from her beak and a sour smell coming from her beak. Figured it was sour crop, but I was not sure at the time how to treat it. I researched it that night and went out the probiotics the next day to treat the yeast in the crop. But it had cleared up on its own. The point I am trying to make is that maybe your hen had sour crop and blockage. Do you supply grit to them? I was not because they have access to little stones in the yard. But after the one hen we had to put down and the sour crop scare I figured they may need the good stuff. You may want to try that for your chickens. It is not too pricy. I just filled up a little food dish with some and let them eat it as they see fit.

 

[Sophie1959]

I have a sick girl too and am newbie. Looked her over last evening and she looked fine, clear eyes and nostrils, nothing felt lumpish on her body, didn't see any mites, poo looks normal so far and vent seems to be okay. She's 3-1/2 mos old Barnie and none of the 3 have started laying yet. She's lethargic and sleeping quite a bit although she is pecking at her food. I'm at a loss.

 

[runnermama69]

What u r describing is what I just had happen to a hen 2 weeks ago! Apparently my hen had a sour crop and I never knew it...it got so bad that her entire digestive tract blocked up and she was starving yo death slowly. I took her to a vet. It was too late to help her. I had to put her down The vet said u should check to feel your hens tummies a few times a week in the evening to make sure they r full and check again in the morning to make sure they r empty. That's how u know they r digesting properly. @@ so your hens should feel heavy not light when u pick them up. U should not be feeling their bones either. I would c a vet.