Sick hen ?

[City Farmer Jim]

Good afternoon all, we have a 2.5 year old hen that is very lethargic and we noticed it 3-4 days ago. Its been colder than normal here in south Texas. She is the only on of our now 10 girl flock. She was attached by a predator a year ish ago but has healed and is one of our best egg dispite having a piece torn out of her vent. I picked her up with relative ease which is abnormal for her. I did a quick check of her, food in her crop, no obvious injuries HOWEVER when I picked her up and for lack of a better term was slobbering. Her lower beak was wet as well as the and pardon me for not knowing the anatomy the red parts blow her beak

 

[The-White-Elephant]

Good afternoon all, we have a 2.5 year old hen that is very lethargic and we noticed it 3-4 days ago. Its been colder than normal here in south Texas. She is the only on of our now 10 girl flock. She was attached by a predator a year ish ago but has healed and is one of our best egg dispite having a piece torn out of her vent. I picked her up with relative ease which is abnormal for her. I did a quick check of her, food in her crop, no obvious injuries HOWEVER when I picked her up and for lack of a better term was slobbering. Her lower beak was wet as well as the and pardon me for not knowing the anatomy the red parts blow her beak

Red parts under beak: Wattles

Do you have pictures? They help A LOT.

 

[City Farmer Jim]

I can but its just damp and clear...she's not "blowing bubbles" more like salivating and very slight at that. She has always been A chicken of her own mind and not always with the flock ...but now much farther from the flock and unwilling to move much...

 

[Eggcessive]

Is she laying eggs? How does her crop feel—empty, partly full, hard, doughy or soft and puffy? Smell her breath when pressing slightly on her crop. Check it in early morning before she eats and drinks to make sure that it is emptying. What does he poop look like? Is she eating and drinking? Here is a picture of where to feel the crop:
https://thisnzlife.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/poultry_jpg5-1.jpg

 

[Myrshine]

Are you able to record a video of it, if possible?

 

[City Farmer Jim]

Sorry this is the best I could get of her right now..I only have a 30 minute lunch break and a 10 minute round trip driive...I'm not a techie kinda guy I took a video BUT BYC doesn't support my video format. SO I'll see what I can do to remedy that. This is FRESH poo because as I reached for her she lightened her load so she could ESCAPE

 

[City Farmer Jim]

Here is an updated on the "Sick Hen" I was able to catch her ...her crop is puffy and empty...I gently massaged it and opened her beak and there was fluid in her throat as I stroked her neck she basically threw up a bunch of tanish fluid. It may have been digested corn..I threw cracked corn at lunch trying to coax her out so I could catch her.

 

[City Farmer Jim]

What is next on the list of things we need to do...new experience for us...

 

[City Farmer Jim]

Good news i think, I have managed to catch the "Sick Hen" after reading several articles on BYC I have massaged her throat and she has released some more fluid. She is doing much much better. Being its the weekend I am going to catch her and if she(her crop)is not normal I will isolate her and give her the recommended "sour crop" treatment. I appreciate your helpful advice and concern for a newbie to sour crop....THANK YOU SO MUCH

 

[Eggcessive]

Do you put out poultry grit for your chickens to take and eat when they need it? It does sound like she may have sour crop. Be careful to not cause her to choke to death by massaging a puffy full crop and turning them upside down. Here is some reading about how to treat sour crop and other crop problems:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/