Sick Hen

[JewellChicks]

okay I look forward to those links tomorrow.

 

[JewellChicks]

This morning I made some scrambled eggs and yogurt for her and headed out too the coop.

She was slightly more difficult to catch, a little bit livelier.

Her crop was not completely empty, not as big as last night, but still kind of full.

I tried to give her the scrambled eggs and yogurt by hand but she was not really going for it. And with her corp kind of full I did not want to push it at this point.

Her food container of cat food and chicken food was slightly less full, but I think the other chickens can get to some of that food, so they could have ate it.

It looks like watery poop is on the floor of her cage, I had put DE and paper down on the dirt floor and it was kind of wet. It also smells like sour poop. I found one small solid poop and when I examined it it seemed to have some grass or other fiber type.

I left the container of eggs and yogurt for her if she wanted it.

She just kind of just stands there.

Do you think she has some sort of blockage?

Someone said something about Epson salt and water in another thread, should I try that?

 

[Eggcessive]

If you are seeing some fiber in her poop she could have a blockage along the digestive tract. Mineral oil is sometime used to move things through the GI tract and epsom salts would work too. Here are the links for EYP and internal laying:
http://www.chickenvet.co.uk/health-and-common-diseases/egg-laying-issues/index.aspx
http://www.avianweb.com/eggyolkperitonitis.html
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/79443/tell-me-about-your-internal-layers

 

[JewellChicks]

Thank you.

Well the egg yok peritonitis & internal laying looks like it will mean death for the little girl. Hopefully that is not what it is, but I will keep that in mind. Thanks for the information I will continue to research that.

For now I give her some olive oil. I did not have mineral oil on hand and I saw on another thread that olive oil would work and gives some nutrition. She can use all he nutrition she can get right now. I gave her about 1 mL of olive oil (I was not sure on quantity), and I see you can give it up to 4 times a day max. I massaged her crop and her abdomen.

I also gave her a little water by hand. When I put her back in her cage she drank a little bit more water.

Many of the bugs on her are dead now, just stuck in her powder covered feathers.

Still not much solid poop just smelly wetness.

Her shoot still looks fine.

I plan on continuing the olive oil treatment. Maybe more sevin dust tonight. I will give her some more liquid food. I had a hard time with the scrambled eggs, too chunky to drip on the side of her beak and have her eat. Maybe the poached egg yolk and yogurt will be her next meal. Any other ideas of easy to feed and digest food? She is so skinny.

Is 1ml of olive oil 4 times a day a good dose?

 

[Eggcessive]

5 ml of olive oil is routinely given once daily for crop problems. Here are 2 good sites with info on crop problems:
http://www.tillysnest.com/2012/01/crop-issues.htmlc
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/04/answers-from-chicken-vet-on-impacted.html

 

[JewellChicks]

The tilly's nest link went to a post that was not longer there, but I checked out the other and did a little looking around.

Looks like the Epsom salts might be the most effective, but Molasses sounds a little heather. I do not have black strap molasses

Eggcessive had indicated that grass in the poop suggests blockage along the digestive track and later that the olive oil is for crop problems. I am wondering if I should stop with the olive oil and move to the Epsom salts.

What about also making a food mixture with olive oil, molasses? or better yet I found a recipe for a cleansing Mash of apple sauce, 1 egg yolk, 1 tsp black strap molasses and 1/4 cup yogurt. Maybe I should feed her that along with one of the cleans Epsom Salt or molasses.

Any ideas or input?

 

[ten chicks]

I would separate her and bring her inside(if you have not already done this)you have to monitor her. Check her crop at night,should be full(after eating all day)check in the morning(before eating)should be empty. Does her crop feel squishy/water filled or hard as in an impacted crop?

Also look at vent gleet just to rule it out. Here is a link explaining vent gleet.

http://www.tillysnest.com/2012/12/vent-gleet-prevention-and-treatment.html

 

[Eggcessive]

That is odd about the TillysNest link--it worked fine yesterday and for the last year, but today is gone--maybe they are re-doing it. The epsom salts are more harsh than molasses, so you could try your recipe with molasses. For a simple epsom salt flush try 1/2 teaspoonful in 1 ounce of water--mix well, and give a few sips once then again in 12 hours, and stop. Flushes make me nervous, but in the event of a poisoning or blockage they can be useful. Here is an excerpt for Damerow's recipe for flushes: http://books.google.com/books?id=Gx...m salt or molasses flush for chickens&f=false

 

[JewellChicks]

I would separate her and bring her inside(if you have not already done this)you have to monitor her. Check her crop at night,should be full(after eating all day)check in the morning(before eating)should be empty. Does her crop feel squishy/water filled or hard as in an impacted crop?

Also look at vent gleet just to rule it out. Here is a link explaining vent gleet.

http://www.tillysnest.com/2012/12/vent-gleet-prevention-and-treatment.html

I have separated her and I was thinking of bringing her in side. But I do not have a good cage to keep her in. Do you think it would be okay to keep her in a larger cat crate type cage. She does not move much anyway so she might be okay.

I have been checking her crop. As far as I can tell she is not eating on her own so I have been hand feeding her. I was feeding her the yolk of a poached or fried egg mixed with about a tsp of yogurt and just a dab of honey, then following with water (2x a day until crop is somewhat full). I am thinking of moving to the the other recipe I mentioned in my other post (apple sauce, yogurt, molasses, egg yolk). Regarding her crop. It does not fully empty in the morning, but it is reduced from what it is at night. So looks like some movement, but very slow. I am careful to not over feed her, but she needs some nutrition, I am afraid she may die of starvation she is so skinny.

Also it does not feel hard, kind of swishy, but I have been feeding her watery things in case it is blockage, I do not want to add it it. I figure some of the liquid food may slip by any blockage and give her nutrition. It might be worms, I wormed her but I guess worms can slow down the digestive movement.

 

[JewellChicks]

That is odd about the TillysNest link--it worked fine yesterday and for the last year, but today is gone--maybe they are re-doing it. The epsom salts are more harsh than molasses, so you could try your recipe with molasses. For a simple epsom salt flush try 1/2 teaspoonful in 1 ounce of water--mix well, and give a few sips once then again in 12 hours, and stop. Flushes make me nervous, but in the event of a poisoning or blockage they can be useful. Here is an excerpt for Damerow's recipe for flushes: http://books.google.com/books?id=Gx...m salt or molasses flush for chickens&f=false

Sorry I miss spoke, the link worked, but it just said "Sorry, the page you were looking for in this blog does not exist" but I poked around there anyway.

I will check out the flushes link. I will see what I think after I check it out but right now I am thinking I will go with the molasses one... they say to alow them access to the molasses water for 8 hours. I don't think she will drink it on her own. Should I maybe give her a few mls a few times a day for 8 hours?