Sickly bird, really large crop. . immature eggs, sort of droopy wings. . . Help, please!

[JKRopee]

Afternoon

One of my RIR's (4.5 months old) has been doing great. She just started laying a few days ago a few small but perfect eggs. Yesterday and today I think it was her, anyway, laid eggs with rubbery shells. Now her crop is huge and she is sort of lethargic. She is usually not willing to be held, now she doesn't put up any fuss if I handle her. My GLW's are seriously picking on her and she isn't bothering to run from them. I am not sure what to do. . . advise, anyone?

Oh yea, I did palpate her belly and didn't feel anything egg-like. . .

My 4 other hens appear to be fine. . . eating/pooping. . . although only one of the 4 laid today. Usually it's 3 out of 4 each day.

 

[seminolewind]

Eggs can start off small with a new layer. Does her crop empty overnight? It should. If it doesn't you should confine her and only give her wet things to eat, and massage her crop often to break up the lump if there is any. Does she poop?

 

[JKRopee]

Thanks for getting back to me!

I haven't seen her poop, but will look and see. . . I haven't noticed her crop being so large but I'll check it out in the morning. I did massage it a little bit earlier. I didn't notice any type of lump, dense or hard area but I will keep massaging it.

I am not sure what you mean by feed only wet. I typically just give them laying mash and the occasional watermelon or other fruits, they just travel around the yard eating mostly anything they want. I'm pretty new to keeping hens. . .

Thanks again, I appreciate your help!

 

[JKRopee]

So, we spent some time with her this evening. I noticed her comb was thin and sort of curled over. . . it just didn't look right. She was/is very weak and lethargic. However, her crop was still really big . . . I think she might be dehydrated even though she was still drinking water.

Anyway, while I was holding her I sort of tipped her head down and massaged her crop. . . water just poured out of her mouth. I tipped her back up and then turned her down again, another large amount of water drained out of her mouth. I did this 3 times, giving her (and me) a small break between each tipping. Her crop was considerably smaller after this event. By then, it was dark, I isolated her in our smaller coop and put some water in with her. . .

I don't have any idea what I am doing or what she needs me to do. I am scared I might have hurt her with the tipping/draining routine, but I just didn't know what else to do? When we put her in the little coop, she just sat down in the straw and didn't get on the roost.

I guess we'll see if she survives the night? So, if she does survive, what's next? What would make a hen dehydrated? Could I put some Gatorade in her water without hurting her? I'm thinking it might help with electrolytes, etc.

I'm exhausted. Thanks for any suggestions!

 

[Manningjw]

It sounds like she has sour crop from fluid coming out when you tip her down. Was the fluid or her mouth foul smelling?

I don't see any reason not to give her a bit of Gatorade as it does have sugar and electrolytes that might pep her up a bit more than just water. Some people recommend yogurt as well to help restore some normal flora to her crop/digestive tract. Isolating her and making sure her crop is empty by the morning is probably the best thing to do tonight. If it is not empty then she does have some sort of blockage/sour crop. Often the treatment of massaging it out while tipping the bird down to drain the crop is recommended however you must be very careful and do it for a short time so that the chicken does not aspirate on the contents being drained.

 

[JKRopee]

Thanks for the information. I did not notice any bad smell from the fluid. I also forgot to mention above that she isn't pooping. I have never heard of sour crop but will Google it. Do you know of anything else I could do to help her? She is pretty young . . .

Thanks for getting back to me. .

Joan

 

[Fancychooklady]

Have you searched sour crop at the top of the page? Seems a lot folks on there swear by monistat. I have used canestan a similar product with success . Try some yoghurt and scrambled egg.

 

[ten chicks]

Thanks for the information. I did not notice any bad smell from the fluid. I also forgot to mention above that she isn't pooping. I have never heard of sour crop but will Google it. Do you know of anything else I could do to help her? She is pretty young . . .

Thanks for getting back to me. .

Joan

It is either impacted or sour crop. If impacted,crop will be firm and will not empty overnight/during day. If sour crop,crop will feel squishy and there may be a foul/sour smell coming from beak. Her not pooping is a result of crop issues,this is not good,means she is not eating. Make sure she does not become dehydrated,sounds from your description,that she may be already. If her crop is impacted,try giving her oil and gently massaging her crop. If sour crop,you could try monistat or similar product,cut the 3 tablets(the come with monistat)into 1/3,so you end up with 9,give 1 cut tablet,2 times a day.

Here is a link on Impacted crop,Sour crop and Pendulous crop,to help understand conditions.

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

 

[JKRopee]

I am sorry to say she died overnight. I am just stunned and not sure at all what happened. It was just so fast. . . she was getting around and eating watermelon early yesterday and drinking water. Late afternoon, her crop was really big, and her comb was obviously dry (dehydrated). . . we tipped her and drained a lot of fluid from her crop. She continued to drink water, although not much. We tucked her into the small coop about 9p.m.

I am going to clean out the coops/nest boxes and put in all fresh bedding. The other hens seem fine, so far at least.

What did I miss? I am new to chickens we got our 'original' girls about a 14 months ago, but I am sure no expert.

It's been hot, but they have access to lots of waterer's and big trees for shade.
She was panting some, but it didn't seem unusual at least to me. .
We gave all the girls cold watermelon rinds/chunks to eat to help keep them cool.

I don't want to go thru this again, I am very attached to them. . .

Thanks for suggestions - things I might had done differently. . .

 

[seminolewind]

Sometimes you never know what's wrong. It could have been the heat. It could have been a blockage further down . I'm sorry you lost your hen.