Sick hen- not eating but drinking a lot, lethargic.

[rdilbarova]

I had this happen before with my hen, looking back she was impacted then it went sour. It took a month to get her through this. Its stressful.

I never heard of this before until I was faced with this, people on here were so helpful and I learned a lot.

There are many things that can be done. They need lots of water. Some will tube feed water. I did a garlic glove in her water for 24 hrs. They need soft foods thats easily digestible, i used her food and put hot water in to soften it. No grains. Yogurt gave my hen sever diahrea, so i put probiotics into the water and food from a probiotic capsule. I also dewormed her, she had worms. In the end I used an anti-fungal cream to get her through this. Some has used Monistate. They can get impacted from eating long grasses, etc. then later it can go sour. That is kind of the short version of what I did. Here is a couple of links that are also helpful in dealing with this.
Deworm her and dust her for mites and lice, even if you don't see them. Use Safequard or valbazen for deworming and sevins dust for the mites and lice. Depending where your located, hopefully you can get these.

There can be many things that can cause:

Impacted or Sour Crop, so to check this, you feel her crop first thing in the morning. It has to be flat. If Impacted it would have a solid mass. If sour it is squishy and can have a stinky smell, not always. Worms can slow down the crop, of course other things can cause this, like long grasses, hay, etc.

http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/04/answers-from-chicken-vet-on-impacted.html
http://www.tillysnest.com/2012/01/crop-issues.html


Deworming

Valbazen dosage on this thread:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/606881/valbazen-de-worming-question

Safeguard:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...er-for-chickens-can-it-be-used-in-their-water
Kathy has good info at the bottom of this thread. #14
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/688579/fowl-pox-what-to-do-with-flock#post_12532231

Thank you for all your help! I will get started on this ASAP.

 

[pwand]

Thank you for all your help! I will get started on this ASAP.

Shes a sick girl. Here is a good link Kathy put together for tube feeding in case you get to this point. The supplies can be purchased cheaply at the vet office. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/805728/go-team-tube-feeding

 

[rdilbarova]

Shes a sick girl.

Here is a good link Kathy put together for tube feeding in case you get to this point. The supplies can be purchased cheaply at the vet office.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/805728/go-team-tube-feeding

See, my big problem is that the only chicken vet near me is 2.5 hours away. I know this because I had to research extensively in the past when my entire flock had an issue.

 

[pwand]

 
See, my big problem is that the only chicken vet near me is 2.5 hours away. I know this because I had to research extensively in the past when my entire flock had an issue.

In that link it is suggested that an aquarium hose with the end heated enough to make it smooth that could be used and a syringe,   its #4 and 5
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/805728/go-team-tube-feeding

 

[rdilbarova]

In that link it is suggested that an aquarium hose with the end heated enough to make it smooth that could be used and a syringe, its #4 and 5
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/805728/go-team-tube-feeding

So, what is the point of this? The video with the tube shows food going into the crop. If her crop is impacted, won't it just sit there?

 

[TwoCrows]

Water helps break down impactions in the crop. And no, food should not be forced into a crop that is impacted. You would only be making matters worse as the crop is not moving. The impaction needs to be broken up before food is added. As for sour crop, if a bird is still able to eat and drink with a sour crop, adding more fluid to a bloated crop is not the answer.

 

[Maplechicken]

I have had over the years similar issues with my chicks, drinking excessive amounts of water and becoming weaker until they stop eating and drinking. The first few I took the vets who prescribed antibiotics but days later they were died. I have now resorted to mixing cereal, (bran flakes, corn flakes) with natural yoghurt. I try and purchase lactose free yoghurt (not made with cows milk) but if none is available I use any. My experience is that the following day the chicken has recovered dramatically feeding and drinking as near normal. I keep feeding the yoghurt mix to them twice a day for a week or so until fully recovered. Just a note, I have also used a puréed mixture of natural yoghurt, grapes, grated carrot and alike and used a syringe to force feed the ones that have stopped eating/drinking which I have had a 50% success rate, however, I now notice the symptoms before they get to this state , This is a lot cheaper and more affective than a trip to the vets. Just sorry I didn't read the threads above earlier. Worth a try!

 

[rdilbarova]

Thanks for the advice guys! I don't know why the notifications didnt pop up, but the hen ended up passing away.
I later got a chick with the same issue and was able to fix the problem with my new experience though.

 

[ilovemy11chicks]

after your hen died ..what did you do when another got sick....you never finished to tell what you actually did ...i have one with the same symptoms and 1 about 6 months ago that past....i thought maybe she was egg bound at the time

 

[rdilbarova]

The issue with the first hen was impacted crop. Also, the hen ate too much and any grit or oil i mixed in her food did not help as it was too late.

The second time this occurred, it was with a very young chick. I isolated her, and gave her grit and oil, as well as free choice of water. Because food does not pass through the crop, the birds are always hungry and eat and fill the crop to a dangerous level. Because it was a baby, I could not cut off food entirely, but I did let it have some in moderation. The problem worked itself out with this treatment. I did not have to vomit the chick. However, i also caught it early, when the crop was not too backed up.