Slightly Lethargic Chick - Should I be Concerned?

[bluemtnwmn]

I wish I knew the correct answer to your Monistat question. I suspect it would be fine but I'd hate to be wrong. If it were my chick I would probably try it with a dose scaled down to match the size of the chick.

 

[CalBickieMomma]

I wish I knew the correct answer to your Monistat question. I suspect it would be fine but I'd hate to be wrong. If it were my chick I would probably try it with a dose scaled down to match the size of the chick.

I got some of the Monistat cream and gave her some (the original post said 2 ml for a hen, so I probably gave my Junie less than .125 ml (I had to smear it on the side of her beak then try to get a little more into her mouth when she swallowed the stuff on her). I gave it to her at 5 pm (it’s now 8:30 pm) and she’s doing about the same. I’m assuming it’ll take a little time for it to kick in.

She happily eats some grit when I give it to her, but I try not to let her have too much in case it could clog her up (though the fact she has been pooping is good - hoping this means she doesn’t have an obstruction, even though the poop isn’t a lot (probably because she isn’t really eating right now)). I also gave her some Nutri Drench (just stuck her beak in it a few times).

Anyway, I’ll keep massaging the gas bubbles out of her crop and give her a little more Monistat around 10 or 11 pm. Thank you for commentin! I appreciate everyone reaching out .

- Jenna

 

[Aunt Angus]

What all is she eating besides pellets? Sour crop is really unlikely. Chicken feed is perfectly formulated to be digestible.

And poop pics would help.

 

[CalBickieMomma]

What all is she eating besides pellets? Sour crop is really unlikely. Chicken feed is perfectly formulated to be digestible.

And poop pics would help.

I have been mostly keeping the chick starter from her, but before she started getting sick, she and the others had chick starter, water with Nutri Drench (then later electrolytes), and I tried giving them a little bit of watermelon, apple, and banana (but they didn't seem too keen on those). I also use Eco Flakes (wood shavings) in their brooder, so my fear is she ingested a small piece and it's not moving through her system. Yet, she's still pooping (but I'm wondering if that's because I've been helping move things along in her crop.

I haven't let her have chick starter for the past few days, but did give her a little this morning. The only thing she's really interested in eating is the chicken grit (which I broke down for her), and the chick starter. I have also been giving her a little Monistat (since I'm leaning towards sour crop - her crop becomes puffy and mostly filled with gas because when I massage it, I can feel the air bubbles popping and releasing, but if you think it might be something else, please let me know). However, right after I get her to swallow some of the Monistat, her crop puffs up a lot and I have to work the air bubbles out (I'm wondering if that is a normal reaction when treating a yeast buildup with Miconazole Nitrate (the ingredient found in Monistat) - it agitates the yeast before getting to work on killing them.

She seems a little better today, but its very up and down - one minute she's walking around, pecking at stuff, and the next she's sleeping again. She has been drinking water and pooping pretty regularly (seems more so today than yesterday). I'll attach a couple pictures of her poop from Tuesday and yesterday (yesterday she had more watery, pale green/white poop, but today she's had more reddish/orange poop - I'm wondering if that's from the Nutri Drench and grit (some of the grit pieces are pinkish red)). And sorry, the poop is on a patterned fabric, so hopefully you can see it well enough.

I don't have any pictures of today's poop, but if I get a chance I'll snap some later and add them to this thread.

I'm mostly worried she has a blockage of some sort, but since she's been pooping, I've been taking that as a good sign. I've also been massaging her crop a lot (probably once every hour or more during the day, then every couple hours or so during the night, so not sure if her crop would empty on its own). I've read on other posts that castor oil helps with possible blockages. I don't have castor oil, but I have some olive oil I could try to get her to take.

Any ideas or advice would be so great. Thank you so much!

- Jenna

 

[Aunt Angus]

Does she have access to grit?

 

[CalBickieMomma]

Does she have access to grit?

Yes, and she seems to like that. I put a little dish of chick starter in with her and she has been enthusiastically eating that (though not a ton). She‘s still on and off lethargic, but will do normal chicken things (like stretch out her leg and wing together, or clean her wing feathers with her beak).

Im still keeping an eye on her crop and I do my best to work the bubbles out if it‘s too puffy (but it doesn’t seem to be any worse). I might stop giving her the Monistat, especially if her crop doesn’t puff up too much after eating her chick starter. Maybe she‘s just gassy and the bloating feeling is making her feel under the weather. It’s almost like she has chicken mono - tired a lot and functioning more slowly than normal, but functioning.

I also took a picture of her latest poop (she pooped in her food dish, of course). That’s attached.

Thank you so much for all your help!

- Jenna

 

[CalBickieMomma]

Does she have access to grit?

Here is Junie's latest poop. The first picture I included a penny so you can see the size. The second picture is after I wiped it up. She has had orangish stringy/snotty stuff in her poop today, but I read somewhere that that isn't something to be too concerned over with chicks.

Her crop swelled up again after she ate some of her chick starter. I added some ACV to her water dispenser and have been working the gas build-up out of her crop. She's still lethargic and she's been scratching at her ears/ear patches after I get the gas out (maybe the the gas build up is irritating her ears or throat?).

I'm still leaning on the idea that she has sour crop - can't find any other disorder in chicks/chickens that has symptoms of bloating in the crop (and it makes sense that a yeast infection would cause fermentation in there).

I can just keep adding ACV to her water instead of administering the Monistat, but I'm really concerned that the bubbly crop hasn't improved over the past few days. I just managed to get about .25 mL of hard-boiled egg yolk blended with olive oil into her (hoping to give her a bit of a nutrition boost and maybe, if there is a blockage, the olive oil can help move things along).

Anyway, sorry for the bombardment of questions/feedback. I just want to make sure I'm doing everything I can to help her.

- Jenna

 

[Aunt Angus]

Two new questions:

1) Have you tried any OTC yeast infection meds yet? I couldn't find mention of it in previous posts.

2) Does that look like blood in the 2nd poop pic? It's hard to tell color on my phone.

 

[Justso]

Two new questions:

1) Have you tried any OTC yeast infection meds yet? I couldn't find mention of it in previous posts.

2) Does that look like blood in the 2nd poop pic? It's hard to tell color on my phone.

I was wondering the same thing. If that's the case you need to treat for coccidiosis.

 

[CalBickieMomma]

I was wondering the same thing. If that's the case you need to treat for coccidiosis.

I want to say it isn't blood, but it's hard to tell if it's just the orange stuff or blood in with it. I had an obligation this evening, so I just got back in and some of her latest poop doesn't have any of that orange/red in it. The original looked more like the picture of the poop I found online that stated the orange stuff was intestinal lining and normal.

She's pretty weak right now - looks like she's worse - and now I'm afraid whatever is wrong with her, I won't be able to fix. I just gave her about .25 ml of Nutri Drench, but I'm afraid to give her any more of the Monistat (I'd given her some last night, then two times today, but it doesn't seem to be helping or I'm not able to give her enough to make a difference).

I'm ordering some Corid powder from Amazon - I don't think the local feed store carries it and I don't want to waste another day. Hopefully she'll pull through. Not being able to help my baby is the worst feeling . Thanks again for all your help!

- Jenna