Sick hen, standing motionless...help

[Michael Apple]

also if shes not eating it may be the crops too full with fluid. does it feel like a big water balloon? when mine was like that i emptied it and then she ate. to empty it i tucked her under my arm like a rugby ball(thats football to you lol) and tipped her forwards if shes full with fluid it'll just shoot out if not use your other hand to gently massage the crop. Its very important to let her up every 5-6 seconds to breath let her get her barings before doing it again if you need to. otherwise she could choke and asperate. i found it was a bit scary to do first time as i myself am no expert but it helped my girl. i searched it on here before i did it made sure i did it right. be gentle though and dont force anything. good luck and keep us posted x

It works doesn't it? Sometimes the crop gets impacted with grass or pieces of plastic or gravel. I once gently massaged the bird's crop, used a large syringe and injected an ounce of epson salt water solution into a soft piece of aquarium tube that I placed carefully down the hen's throat. If you don't use a tube, the flush can get in the birds lungs. I gave her a break after removing the tube then held her upside down by her legs with her body against mine and watched clumps of liquid and grass come out. If that stuff stays in too long, they get sour crop and then enteritis. Then you have to use antibiotics in the water like Neomycin and BMD soluble. I like to keep crop bound capsules in my cabinet for these instances.

 

[shell3]

yes ive heard the epsom salt solution before thats meant to work well from what ive heard but i was a bit nervous getting the tube down! was it hard to keep it to the left and not near the opening to the lungs? my girl had a lot going on .kept getting infection back. blockage maybe but couldt feel mass or anything. i emptied her crop many times she also had antibiotics. whats the brand name of those capsules? are they good? wouldnt mind getting some for my hen 1st aid kit lol.

 

[Annshens]

Thank you! Her name is Blueberry. I will post with my results. I'm scared to empty her crop but it sounds like that is what I need to do also. I am going to try in the morning.

 

[Annshens]

I bought monistat as was suggested.

 

[Happy Chooks]

I bought monistat as was suggested.

I haven't heard of using monistat.

I would do this:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/692365/sour-crop-treatment/0_50#post_9389873

 

[RonB]

My sick girl sounds like what everyone has described. just standing around motionless and bunched up like shes cold. I just talked to a friend that has been raising chickens for 20 years.

my girl when she poops it is lots and lots of water with a small amount of poop in the middle. Is this what others are seeing ??? my friend says it sound like colibaciliosis.

heres the solution you use. 2 cups unscented bleach to a gallon of water. then for sick birds use two Tablespoons of that solution to a gallon of water.

its worth a try. good luck to all

 

[shell3]

rob b- ive not heard of that but good luck
annshens- when i used that method i broke tablets into 3 pieces 1 piece morning 1 evening til all 3 tabs gone. i crushed them mixed with water and syringed to corner of beak. now i used canesten as thats what we have in england but warning i empty crop before meds.when i did it few hours after it had foamed in there and empting was bad! foam came out her nose eyes! dont know if this is the exact same as monistat but wanted to warn you. maybe read thread for monistat. but id say empty before then leave overnight let meds sit in there to work and if needs empty again leave til late morning. come on blueberry! im routing for you xxx

 

[Happy Chooks]

My sick girl sounds like what everyone has described. just standing around motionless and bunched up like shes cold. I just talked to a friend that has been raising chickens for 20 years.

my girl when she poops it is lots and lots of water with a small amount of poop in the middle. Is this what others are seeing ??? my friend says it sound like colibaciliosis.

heres the solution you use. 2 cups unscented bleach to a gallon of water. then for sick birds use two Tablespoons of that solution to a gallon of water.

its worth a try. good luck to all

How old is your girl? Could be coccidiosis. If it is, you will need to treat her with Corid.

 

[RonB]

How old is your girl? Could be coccidiosis. If it is, you will need to treat her with Corid.

She will be 2 in March. No its not coccidiosis. I treated her with Corid for a week with no results. The symptom of colibaciliosis is when they poop lots and lots of water with a small bit of poop in the middle. this is exactly what is happening with my girl

 

[Jan Galeazzi]

Sorry to hear about your Blueberry passing. I had a similar situation with my Rhode Island Red about a month ago. Lost her appetite, and would just stand - inside or outside - motionless. So distressing. She would drink water, but not eat, and her poo was liquid. I had checked her to see if her crop was full - or there was an egg blockage - but neither was the case. I tried in vain to feed her her favorite treats - like cooked oatmeal, or hardboiled eggs - but she wasn't interested. After about 10 days, I couldn't stand it anymore and took her to the vet. He gave her liquids and nourishment, kept her overnight, but there was really no measurable improvement. He didn't have a conclusive diagnosis without further tests, but seemed to think she had an organ disease or cancer. Sadly we had to choose to euthanize her the next day. Our vet bill was $135 - and we really couldn't afford any futher efforts to treat her. Our other 4 are still fine, and I love having chickens as pets - and finding a forum here on BC to share experiences and advice.