Starving chicken: a true mystery

[ChickNanny13]

 

[Kathy Golla]

@lisasea
Any update?

 

[Hamiam]

More answers to questions:

• She's not as droopy as she looks in these pictures. I had to put her on a slippery countertop (thoroughly sanitized afterward) to get her in the light, and so she wasn't properly balanced. When she has her "bad days" she looks like this, but most days she's upright and running around.
• Her crop is never full and is really hard to find at all. When she's had a good night and gobbled lots of stuff up, it maybe gets to the size of golf ball (probably a pinch smaller). My other chickens' crops are much bigger, fuller, and firmer when I check them all at bedtime for comparison.
• She drinks a ton of water, so her crop is sometimes squishy like a water balloon, but it seems to be directly correlated to water consumption. Sometimes she'll drink for minutes on end. I have seen it sway a bit and jiggle when she does that in the past, but now it's never even visible. I'll run this pendulum theory by the vet too. It's a good one.
• No changes to her stance or how wide her legs are apart.
• The rest of her abdomen is really boney due to the weight loss. Her keel bone is pretty sharp to the touch, and the bones on her backside buried in her butt fluff are also visible when you poke around. She used to be much more voluptuous...
• Our dog Primo is one of the flock and our girls grew up around him. Poor guy seems to be at the bottom of the pecking order, but he's living proof that you don't need to go get a fancy livestock guardian dog from a catalog. An 11 year old rescued pitbull will scare off hawks and raccoons just fine...and teach your chooks new tricks

How is your girl doing?

 

[lisasea]

Ok, a few updates for you folks!

• I haven't been able to get the vet on the phone, so no updates from her just yet.
• I'm starting to think it's crop related, but am not 100% sure it's pendulous crop. It's really hard to tell if her crop is emptying over night because she rarely has much in it when I put her away at night. When I do feel food in it, I've been massaging it and do feel it change in shape and size when I do that. I also made her a crop bra out of a sock (another tutorial I found on this site) and actually think it had the opposite effect and kept her food from flowing down, despite it being pretty loose. This was the first morning that I felt pretty confident that her crop didn't empty over night.
• What else do we know about crops? Hers seems so small compared to the others when I check them all. Is there such a thing as constricted crop? When she does eat, it fills up and is hard, but it's not much bigger than a big marble. But it's so hard that I feel like there wouldn't be room for more feed in there. It does get squishier/smaller when I massage it.
• She seems to enjoy the 20% protein grower feed I got her on your recommendation. She's eating more, but it's just not enough. We also started to give her NutriDrench by mouth yesterday. No noticeable improvements but we're hopeful. We also gave her some bread soaked in olive oil, as recommended to loosen things up, and she was really into that. While all this sounds positive, she'll only eat little bits at a time and is still loosing weight.
• Her posture isn't as bad as it looks in the previous photos, but it also isn't right. Her tail is up and she stands level, but her neck is always pulled in, like what'd you'd do to give yourself a double chin. She doesn't look puffed out, just like she's trying to mimic a turtle. She walks around like that all day.
• I think we can officially weed out a social hierarchy thing. I did an experiment where I blocked the feeder in the morning so I could check her crop knowing she hadn't eaten, and when I opened it back up she pushed her way into the feeder and just stood there looking at the feed while everyone had to wait to get in. I've also seen her snatching leaves and bugs out of the other girls' mouths, and she's pecking the lower rung girls just like the good ol days. Everything points to her still being at the top. I also had her dine with our most easy going (and hungry) hen, and she just walked around while the other hen went nuts on the feed.
• She seems to be losing about 100grams a week and is now down to a dangerous 980grams. Not at all good enough for an orpington
• She's also acting a bit more lethargic than normal, but in the past this lasts a few days and then she comes back. Hoping this is the case again.

Will update as soon as I know more!

 

[BantyChooks]

I am sorry if this has been mentioned already, but have you checked her mouth for something like a string around the tongue? Doesn't really match up all the way, but nothing else matches.

 

[lisasea]

I am sorry if this has been mentioned already, but have you checked her mouth for something like a string around the tongue? Doesn't really match up all the way, but nothing else matches.

A fine idea, but alas, not the problem here. We've been feeding her a lot of vet prescribed antibiotics and now the NutriDrench, so we get a close look at her mouth every day. I'll shine a light down there for good measure during our next NurtiDrench feeding though.

 

[azygous]

Thanks for updating the thread. Glad the patient is still hanging in there.

It certainly sounds like an impacted crop. It can be a very small obstruction, such as a foreign object. You'd be surprised what can end up in a chicken's crop. It would be a good idea to keep a close watch on the crop, monitoring it evening and morning. Note how hard it feels, the size, and whether it changes in any way from day to day.

I would introduce some oil into the crop and massage it, focusing on trying to break up the hard lump. But be gentle in case the object is metal and could injure tissue.

It's premature to plan on surgery, but it may be necessary if the solid object remains unchanged. Crop surgery is not complicated, and you could even do it yourself if it came down to it. No sutures are required.

 

[ChickNanny13]

You're doing great keeping us updated, hope she gets past whatever her issue is

 

[micstrachan]

Thank you for the update! I am hopeful the information you have received helps your girl. Great job on the patience and tenacity!

 

[staceyj]

I'm curious if tube feeding would be helpful temporarily.