Sour crop on the mend, now very wobbly! Help please - UPDATE 2/11/11

[Miss Lydia]

she does have access to grit doesn't she?

 

[Miss Lydia]

be sure to check it out in the morning, if its flat then it's emptying good if not then you still might have a problem, and you'll need to post back and let us know how she's doing... Hope you and her have a good night.

 

[FinsUp]

Ok, washed the bum, dried her and she is now in the garage in a crate with water for the night. I will keep you posted in the morning. I sure hope it isn't egg peritonitis!

 

[ipana]

Sorry to hear about your hen. Sour crop produces a very soft and squishy crop that seems to have a lot of fluid in it. You can actually hear the fluid when you move it quickly. With the sand granule feel, I don't know. It's great that she's pooping. Have you check the link to compare her poop to the pictures with descriptions. If not, look at this link to check:

http://www.chat.allotment.org.uk/index.php?topic=17568.0

As was stated above, the key is whether or not her crop empties overnight. Please post your findings in the morning. We want to help if we can. It's hard when we don't actually see the bird, of course. I'm glad you have her isolated and can monitor her input and output. Personally, I like to feed baby (with meat, not vegetables) if they'll eat it because it has more calories in it and it is easy to digest. Keep us posted.

 

[FinsUp]

This morning she seems perky, only 1 poo last night and not very big. Then again all she ate yesterday was 2 eggs and yogurt. I mixed up a mash of food, yogurt, and canned pumpkin - hopefully to clean her out. She has access to food and clean water, but doesn't seem to be drinking much. The food is very moist, so hopefully that will help. I will monitor her intake and output today in the crate.

Her crop was empty this morning, but sort of like an "after" biggest looser - not flat, but empty. I think she was really stretched out. When there is some more poo to compare, I will let you know. unfortunately right now it looks like the egg peritonitis poo! small bits of solid with lots of white. I know the white is pee, so fluid is getting through. I didn't feel anything that feels like a solid egg down there. I need to check the other hens to see what their bum feels like to compare. I will let you all know.

Thank you all for your responses. I can post pics of her if you think it would help, but since it seems to be an "inside" job - not sure if it would - let me know.

She doesn't seem as wobbly today, but she is locked in a dog crate.

 

[Miss Lydia]

You can put her on antibiotics if you think she has an infection.. Speckled hen has had quiet a few hens have this problem, you might get it cleared up, but evidently it can come back. Do you know when the last time she laid an egg? you might want to post some pic of her so we can see how her crop looks and also of her vent area.. Is she swollen in her vent? you can use vaseline and also feel around inside of her vent to see if you can feel an egg, just be very careful and not break it.. Glad to here she's not a wobbly, maybe let her out in the garage some to see how she is over all. keep us informed. P.S. you never did say if she has access to grit which is very important for her crop to work right.

 

[FinsUp]

Ok, massive poo alert! She just shot this out - 2 pics, 1 with a pyrex bowl for comparison



Close-up

I don't see any blood, but what looks like tiny bits of grass, maybe. Smells awful!

 

[Miss Lydia]

That could be what she has been eating too, you said yogurt, scrambled egg.. kinda what it looks like. look at lower right corner is that a speck of blood? ever thought of cocci? just throwing things out, do your hens free range or have access to the dirt at all?

 

[ipana]

Or, could the coloring be from the pumpkin? I've never fed pumpkin so I don't know.

If her crop was flat, it sounds like she's making progress. You may want to try some baby food (meat) because it has a lot of calories. She probably would be willing to eat it herself. Mine liked the ham and gravy, turkey...but not the chicken. Guess she couldn't eat her siblings! If you don't think she's getting enough water, you could use a feeding tube and inject 10-15 cc directly into her crop. Whatever you do, don't go back to solid food too soon. Her crop needs time to heal itself and perhaps shrink a bit. Otherwise, food will continue to "get caught" and possibly cause problems. If you had a place to keep her isolated, feed the baby food, scrambled eggs, applesauce for 3-4 days before you begin adding a tsp of crumbles to the baby food. She'll need 3-4 jars of baby food per day so it isn't cheap.

Keep us posted.

 

[FinsUp]

That speck was just from the camera - I know it looked like blood, but wasn't. They usually free range in the back yard - so, yes grit all around. Would it be bad to treat for cocci if she doesn't have it? I will get pics of her today for you. Her crop looks big, but doesn't feel large, just stretched out - I couldn't feel much of anything in there this morning.