Sour Crop, Very Sick Hen, Please Help

[Blue is my chicken]

I made a post about this already but i wanted to get all the information in one place
original post https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/hen-has-mites.1641718/

Dandelion is a brahma hen and she turned 1 this year

On the 20th I noticed that one of my hens, dandelion, was just sitting by herself sleeping a lot, so I picked her up to check her and realised she was really skinny i took her back to my house and offered her some food and she ate really well, whilst she was eating i checked her over and found around her vent lots of mites

We are treating her for the mites with ivermectin as a spot on she has had 2 treatments 1 week apart and i am planning on doing a 3 treatment to make sure the mites are really gone (i have stopped seeing the mites i am just being careful), i am also spraying her vent area and under her wings with johnson's veterinary anti mite spray (i have also sprayed the coop with this stuff) (link: https://johnsons-vet.com/shop/m044-anti-mite-extra-pack-of-6/ )

I set her up in our (car free) carport in a dog crate with a heat lamp

She has ablib growers pellets (she is normaly on layers pellets but i wanted to give her somthing with more protein) and mealworms

Her whole flock was treated with the same stuff on the 21st

I had been worried about her as i had not had to top up her food once

On the 27th I went out to check on her and i picked her up to get a good look of her, their were no mites visible, but she seemed even skinner than when i had brought her in which concerned me

She is uninterested in food

On the 28th another hen, caremel, seemed ill so i brought her in too be with dandelion, i thought that she might like some company but today i noticed caremel was being mean so i put her back out with the others (she was fine just not liking the weather)

Dandelion also has mucky butt feathers

On the 29th, today, i went out to check on her and she is really tired and if I gentle push on her, like enough to make her move but a healthy hen would just side step, she falls over

She is really tired

Her crop is almost always empty (and by almost i mean just the grit left in there)

I have tried feeding her cat food but she seemed uninterested, i also scrambled her an egg and she didnt want it, so i forced her to eat it by putting it in her beck along with my finger to stop her spitting it out and she ate some of it that way

I have started hand feeding her, wet growers pellets (the same way i fed the egg), i am getting a liquid like poultry nutri drench to feed her but it will not arrive till tomorow

She is really weak and just sits under the heat lamp all the time

She is literaly skin and bones

Thank you

 

[Blue is my chicken]

 

[Blue is my chicken]

@Debbie292d @Miss Lydia @NatJ @nuthatched @Ridgerunner @sourland @woodworm

@coach723 @aart and @Eggcessive this is the new post

anyone else know anything

 

[aart]

Starting a new thread doesn't change the info you already have been given here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/hen-has-mites.1641718/page-3#post-28047691

 

[Blue is my chicken]

Starting a new thread doesn't change the info you already have been given here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/hen-has-mites.1641718/page-3#post-28047691

i know i am just getting all the info lined up
i am very grateful of the information i have been given
also i wanted to change the title but it would not let me on the other thread, that is all

 

[Papaye]

Hi.

Do you know if your hen is still drinking?
If so : I would mix Apple Cider Vinegar in her water - in a PLASTIC waterer - immediately.

I would also rub her, very carefully, with A LOT of food grade Diatomaceous Earth - just in case she is still attacked by mites, and you just don't see them.

• • • • • • •

In case you don't have any food grade DE :
You should still be able to kill mites instantly by washing your hen with Dish Soap - yes - IF you rub it thoroughly, ALL over her body.

(I have understood that just recently :
Indeed : given I have severe allergies AND can not use Dog and Cat Shampoo anymore, I had to wash abandoned kitten with Dish Soap not long ago... and that had killed ALL their fleas, INSTANTLY!)

NEVERTHELESS :
Do NOT wash your hen if you feel she is so weak it could kill her.
Just at least wash her BUTT, then dry her with a hair dryer!

• • • • • • •

...I have saved an acquaintance's dying rooster, in the past, thanks to Apple Cider Vinegar and food grade Diatomaceous Earth - among other things...
Poor boy was attacked by red mites, and was so weak he refused to eat, and had even become blind...
But what I did eventually saved him, and he even ended up recovering his sight.

So... do try my method is you want to, and you don't know what to do better...

Good luck with your hen.

 

[NatJ]

On the 29th, today, i went out to check on her and she is really tired and if I gentle push on her, like enough to make her move but a healthy hen would just side step, she falls over

I do have access to a bird vet if needed

I see that you have treated the mites, offered food and other foods, and made sure the other chickens are not able to bully her. All of those look like good choices.

Given how you describe her current condition, she is obviously in bad shape.
If the problem is just that she is not eating, then feeding her would fix the problem (might have to try tube feeding or something of the sort.)

But if she actually has a different problem, and the not-eating is just a symptom, then this is probably a case for a vet, or she may already be past the point of no return. I just don't know enough to say what it is likely to be.

@Debbie292d @Miss Lydia @NatJ @nuthatched @Ridgerunner @sourland @woodworm

@coach723 @aart and @Eggcessive this is the new post

anyone else know anything

I do not know much about illnesses or injuries in chickens, so it's not usually worth tagging me in threads like this. (Obvious example: my answer above. I just don't know enough to be useful here.)

 

[Blue is my chicken]

I see that you have treated the mites, offered food and other foods, and made sure the other chickens are not able to bully her. All of those look like good choices.

Given how you describe her current condition, she is obviously in bad shape.
If the problem is just that she is not eating, then feeding her would fix the problem (might have to try tube feeding or something of the sort.)

But if she actually has a different problem, and the not-eating is just a symptom, then this is probably a case for a vet, or she may already be past the point of no return. I just don't know enough to say what it is likely to be.


I do not know much about illnesses or injuries in chickens, so it's not usually worth tagging me in threads like this. (Obvious example: my answer above. I just don't know enough to be useful here.)

I didn't know who to tag so I tagged some people I thought might know something

Hi.

Do you know if your hen is still drinking?
If so : I would mix Apple Cider Vinegar in her water - in a PLASTIC waterer - immediately.

I would also rub her, very carefully, with A LOT of food grade Diatomaceous Earth - just in case she is still attacked by mites, and you just don't see them.

• • • • • • •

In case you don't have any food grade DE :
You should still be able to kill mites instantly by washing your hen with Dish Soap - yes - IF you rub it thoroughly, ALL over her body.

(I have understood that just recently :
Indeed : given I have severe allergies AND can not use Dog and Cat Shampoo anymore, I had to wash abandoned kitten with Dish Soap not long ago... and that had killed ALL their fleas, INSTANTLY!)

NEVERTHELESS :
Do NOT wash your hen if you feel she is so weak it could kill her.
Just at least wash her BUTT, then dry her with a hair dryer!

• • • • • • •

...I have saved an acquaintance's dying rooster, in the past, thanks to Apple Cider Vinegar and food grade Diatomaceous Earth - among other things...
Poor boy was attacked by red mites, and was so weak he refused to eat, and had even become blind...
But what I did eventually saved him, and he even ended up recovering his sight.

So... do try my method is you want to, and you don't know what to do better...

Good luck with your hen.

I am not sure if she is drinking I have been worried that she isn't, can I hand feed some apple cider vinegar
I don't have any DE but I could get some?
I don't think she could cope with a bath but I will wash her butt (tomorrow as it is night time in england)

Amazing that you saved him, I will definitely try your method, if she does not improve soon or if she gets worse we will take her to the vet and see if they can help

Thank you

 

[Papaye]

can I hand feed some apple cider vinegar

Yes, you can.
Do think to mix the ACV with water, and do be careful so it doesn't get in her wind pipe.

I don't have any DE but I could get some?

They should sell it at stores where you buy your chickens' food...(?)

I don't think she could cope with a bath but I will wash her butt (tomorrow as it is night time in england)

You do what you think is right.

When I had got the (dying) rooster, I had washed him in my bathroom before putting him outside and treating him with DE...
He was so, so weak... but I was very careful with him, and entirely dried him with my hair dryer... (That's how I could see he was infested by mites and lice!)

But you really do what you feel you need to...

(Nevertheless : allow me to specify even though she is so weak, I would still wash the hen with Dish Water IF I did not find any food grade DE...!)

At least, wash her butt; indeed : you will do her good...

(tomorrow as it is night time in england)

(Same in France...)

Amazing that you saved him, I will definitely try your method, if she does not improve soon or if she gets worse we will take her to the vet and see if they can help

You are already doing a good job taking care of her.

Whatever happens, you are not at fault.

Good luck!

Thank you

You are welcome.

I sincerely hope your hen will get better!

 

[Papaye]

Also...

You can get some wartermelon for your hen : if she does eat it, she probably won't eat a lot (of it)... but it will still be good for her.

If they have stopped selling watermelon in your area, then give her some other soft and hydrating fruits, such as sufficiently ripe melons and pears.
...Even bananas would work...!