Sick pullet : (

[Nats Chickens]

Hi guys, I have a sick pullet. She is 19 weeks old on wensday and is a RIRXRIW with black leakage. She used to by very friendly, following me everywhere, begging for food and pats. She isn't laying eggs yet. I recently noticed that she was getting rather thin, a little over half the size of our next biggest chicken, who is about 1 and a half kilos and turning 2 this Christmas eve. The sick pullets name is Sherbet and she definatly has diarea and is not interested in food. When I offer her treats she picks them up and drops them. She sits in a bush or stands all by herself, her feathers are neat and shiny and she is not missing any. Her comb and wattles are bright red and her crop is full and mushy at the moment. She is not curious or interested in what I am doing like she normally is. What could be wrong with her?

 

[micstrachan]

Hi there. Poor girl. If she is not eating, yet her crop is full and mushy, she may have sour crop.
@azygous is very knowledgeable about crop issues. You can also search them on the forum. Does she have bad breath?

 

[Nats Chickens]

I am not sure. I will go out and sniff it now....

 

[Nats Chickens]

Nope. Her breath is surprisingly non smelly. Normally it smell like wet chicken food. But there is almost no smell.

 

[Nats Chickens]

I have her in an old guinea pig hutch by herself with food and water. She just stands there half asleep.

 

[Nats Chickens]

I syringe feed her a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar and she ate 2 bites of yogurt. Is that good?

 

[azygous]

If your sick girl has sour crop, yogurt is good, but the ACV can aggravate the condition.

She needs an anti-yeast treatment to cure the sour crop. Sour crop more often than not has no bad odor, so don't go by that. It's most likely sour crop if she has a full, spongy crop in the morning before she is given any food.

This article I wrote on crop disorders will help you to diagnose and treat a crop disorder. https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

 

[Nats Chickens]

This morning she is starving, so I am going to see if she will eat some yogurt. She is more active, but that may be food motivation.

 

[Nats Chickens]

She is way better today. I only feed her yogurt yesterday and her crop was empty this morning! I gave her steamed and smashed apple with a bit of yogurt for breakfast. Will give her a chopped hard boiled egg for lunch. So happy she's almost better!

 

[Nats Chickens]

Sherbet is not sick with sour crop. Her crop fills and empties normally, but she will not eat hard foods, so I soak her food for her. She has diarea, and isn't eating properly, she looks healthy, and is averagly active, her feathers are clean and shiny. But she is not herself. What is wrong with her?!