- Jun 26, 2014
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My neighbor's chickens do not get out much, if ever, and their water quality/living conditions are messy, so I was not surprised when one hen named Gerda got sick.
Gerda was about a five year old Barred Rock hen, who started acting lethargic. She had very watery poop, just white urates, when she did poop. It seemed that she had sour crop. I emptied her crop every day, trying home remedies like red wine and olive oil, but nothing seemed to help. I gave her Epsom Salt water continuously. It was useless though; she got worse and worse, and eventually just sat around with her eyes almost shut. She died in her sleep one night.
Then, about two weeks ago, one of her sisters, Ginger, started to show similar symptoms. Ginger was a three year old ISA Brown hen. I treated her for sour crop for about four days, giving her Greek yogurt and Epsom salt water mixed together. Ginger sat around with her tail down, acting different. But when I let her outside, she was fine, digging around like a regular chicken. But then, her sour crop seemed to clear up. Her crop was NOT firm enough to be impacted, but felt like a normal crop consistency, although it wasnt draining. However, though the sour crop was gone, she still seemed a bit lethargic. I kept massaging the cdop and abdomen each day, giving her the yogurt/Epsom salt mixture, and for a day or two she seemed to be improving--but only when I let her out. I saw her poop two or three times, but they were all on the same day, when I had just started treating for sour crop. But I began to suspect something wrong with her elsewhere, now that the sour crop was gone and she still wasn't doing great. I felt her abdomen. It was normal, except for a strange lump. I thought for a moment that she was egg bound, but she looked nothing like the one egg bound chicken I've seen and cured: Ginger's abdomen seemed swollen and her crop enlarged, but only because of the way Ginger usually stood, whereas the egg bound hen walked awkwardly with her vent wide, as if trying to poop. I figured Ginger couldn't be egg bound, since she'd seemed sick for over a week and couldn't have lived that long while egg bound, and my gentle pushing didn't get the egg out. Ginger didn't seem to be getting worse, but she wasn't improving terribly well either. I had to leave town for three days. I hoped that the time away would help her crop drain, but no such luck. The day after I got back, I went to treat Ginger again, but she had died.
I don't know if this was peritonitis, vent gleet, internal parasites, or something else. It happened a few years ago with a chicken Gerda's age, too. Now that three hens have died from this, I don't know what to do. If many of you have seen this or know what it is, please help!
Gerda was about a five year old Barred Rock hen, who started acting lethargic. She had very watery poop, just white urates, when she did poop. It seemed that she had sour crop. I emptied her crop every day, trying home remedies like red wine and olive oil, but nothing seemed to help. I gave her Epsom Salt water continuously. It was useless though; she got worse and worse, and eventually just sat around with her eyes almost shut. She died in her sleep one night.
Then, about two weeks ago, one of her sisters, Ginger, started to show similar symptoms. Ginger was a three year old ISA Brown hen. I treated her for sour crop for about four days, giving her Greek yogurt and Epsom salt water mixed together. Ginger sat around with her tail down, acting different. But when I let her outside, she was fine, digging around like a regular chicken. But then, her sour crop seemed to clear up. Her crop was NOT firm enough to be impacted, but felt like a normal crop consistency, although it wasnt draining. However, though the sour crop was gone, she still seemed a bit lethargic. I kept massaging the cdop and abdomen each day, giving her the yogurt/Epsom salt mixture, and for a day or two she seemed to be improving--but only when I let her out. I saw her poop two or three times, but they were all on the same day, when I had just started treating for sour crop. But I began to suspect something wrong with her elsewhere, now that the sour crop was gone and she still wasn't doing great. I felt her abdomen. It was normal, except for a strange lump. I thought for a moment that she was egg bound, but she looked nothing like the one egg bound chicken I've seen and cured: Ginger's abdomen seemed swollen and her crop enlarged, but only because of the way Ginger usually stood, whereas the egg bound hen walked awkwardly with her vent wide, as if trying to poop. I figured Ginger couldn't be egg bound, since she'd seemed sick for over a week and couldn't have lived that long while egg bound, and my gentle pushing didn't get the egg out. Ginger didn't seem to be getting worse, but she wasn't improving terribly well either. I had to leave town for three days. I hoped that the time away would help her crop drain, but no such luck. The day after I got back, I went to treat Ginger again, but she had died.
I don't know if this was peritonitis, vent gleet, internal parasites, or something else. It happened a few years ago with a chicken Gerda's age, too. Now that three hens have died from this, I don't know what to do. If many of you have seen this or know what it is, please help!
