Something stuck in her throat??? Please help!!!

[dancesWchickens]

Hi, something is happening with one of my adult Araucana hens and I really need some advice...have read all the links and nothing seems to describe her symptoms. She stopped eating 2 days ago, and when I try to hand feed her crumbs she looks like she wants to peck but just gapes. Her crop is empty but otherwise she looks and acts just fine. She is NOT gasping or breathing through her mouth, which are the symptoms of gapeworm, right? She only gapes when she wants to peck something. We looked down her throat but there is nothing we can see that looks out of the ordinary as far down as we could see....could she have eaten something that is stuck down there? There is something that feels crunchy (?) in her throat but I think that might be her superior trachea....when I massage that part she gapes. There is no vet in my city that sees chickens and I'm sure won't last too long without eating...

 

[Chicken Woman]

try giving her some olive oil through a dropper and see if that will help grease up what is in there

 

[speckledhen]

I agree with the oil. Perhaps if there is something in there, it will ease it on down. Try a couple of cc's.

 

[dancesWchickens]

Thank you so much, speckledhen and chickenwoman: I think the olive oil helped...I gave it to her, then massaged her throat. A few minutes later, she ate half a dozen grapes! Yay! Hopefully whatever it was has slipped on down there.

 

[speckledhen]

Excellent news! For future reference, it doesn't have to be olive oil, can be any veg oil. I use extra virgin olive oil with my birds because we cook with it and it's very nutritious, improves circulation, etc.

 

[dancesWchickens]

OK, I think my chicken still needs help...Today she's not staying with the rest of the flock - a really bad sign!! I can't find a match for her symptoms on any illness chart and there is no vet around here that sees poultry.

It's been a couple of days since I first noticed symptoms and she's still not eating very much. She looks hungry, but only eats a few bites of grape (after which she gapes) and sips of water. She's sitting here on my lap and she's not wheezing or struggling for breath at all. She had bad breath a few days ago but not today. She's alert and bright eyed but subdued, and still vocalizes. If I had to guess I would say she has a sore throat, but I can't see anything in there at all - no pus, worm, patches, nothing - it's just pink. My friend the ER doctor took a look in her mouth and said that as far as he could tell her throat looks ok. But he's not a vet....the chicken's losing weight from not eating: the skin around her eyes is getting looser....I'm so worried! She's not pooping very much so I have no idea what it looks like. Please, if you have any wisdom or advice please pass it along...

 

[Backyard Buddies]

I'm sorry to hear about your girl.

It may be a bit far for you, but there's an avian vet here in Orange County:

Dr. Joel Pasco
http://www.allcreaturescarecottage.com/

Perhaps if you called them they could recommend someone down your way.

 

[speckledhen]

How about her crop? Is it gassy feeling, like a half filled water balloon? Or hard/impacted? That's the only other thing I can think of causing her to lose weight. Wish I could be more help.

 

[dancesWchickens]

Her crop is completely empty, but I'm with you - I keep thinking she ate something bad though because she had really stinky breath a few days ago. I made her eat some plain (homemade) yogurt today along with the few grapes she pecked. I'll try to collect some fecal samples and send them off to a lab; maybe she has some weird worms or something. btw, thanks for the OC vet ref; I'll call on Monday.

 

[dlhunicorn]

because she had really stinky breath a few days ago

she might have candiasis (thrush) with the placques in her throat and not yet in her beak? Read about it here:
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/27/candidiasis-moniliasis-thrush​