SultanChicken won’t eat. Crop not changed for nine days with treatment

[Fontaine]

16 mo Sultan hen free ranges last egg 10 days ago. Not egg bound. Vaccinated for mericks. Acting lethargic 8 days ago. I brought her in house and she seems very content inside, not stressed. Her crop did not empty during the night so I started treatment per BYC. No food .She drinks Frequently And since onset I have added hydro hen and a little yougert.I did first the cold coconut oil and messages then the ducolax routines All she passes is clear to a very small amount of green.?grass bits? Her crop is soft, almost more fluid like with many small stones. It’s size has not varied much if at all over 9 days. She was wormed with valdezen 2 mos ago ( no worms Seen) after 2 days of fluids she started acting almost normal.If I take her outside to walk around she mediately walks around and starts packing the ground. But justThis afternoon I wanted to see if she’d eat something and she won’t even look at food even her favorite. She just seems to either want to ?eat sand or just peck at nothing.I read about sour crop but I don’t smell anything nor does anything come up. I’m starting to wonder if there’s an internal problem or is there anything else I can do for her? If I put her outside with the others to run around she won’t eat anything except may be dirt. I can’t see keeping her in here and doing all these massages and softeners with no results after nine days. I’m surprise she has the energy she does. Any ideas? Do you think antibiotics would help?I tried to keep this as brief as I could so I hope it’s clear. Thank you so much.I know this is terrible timing with the holidays coming. How do I post it

 

[Peaches Lee]

Does she have access to grit?

I feel like she has a crop impaction. You could try to encourage her to eat small (tiny) pieces of bread soaked in olive oil.

I know my hen took a considerable time to get over her impaction and it actually made her have a big sort of pendulous crop.

I hope she gets better, my little Sultan hen is just a charm and I'm sure yours is too.

 

[Fontaine]

Thank you for your help. We don't have

Thank you for your help. We dont have the option for a vet but, I have been giving her Calcium and D3 in one water dish and strained garlic oregano water (oregano is a strong antibiotic for chickens) in another dish. She started to eat again and forage like normal over the last few days. We are ecstatic. Waiting for the next egg to drop so we will see what happens.
As for the bronchitis, in our flock of 3, only one chicken sneezes/coughs frequently. She seems to have nasal discharge and is mean most of the time. She has been Moreso lately. She is also the top of the pecking order. Neither of the others show these symptoms, though. All have had the garlic oregano water over the last 2 days.

Cool, thanks very the ID.

I always thought the general recommendations were 4 sf/bird inside and 10 sf/bird outside. Using those numbers, 72 sqft outside should be enough for seven birds and more than enough for four. What numbers do you use? For clutter, it has some stumps and two old fence sections leaning on the side. For predator proofing, it has hardware cloth on all sides and 3' extending out horizontally. I chased a fox away from it a couple of days ago who was stalking the perimeter. I inspect it daily and have yet to notice any evidence where something has tried to get in.

I understand chickens are not dogs. That is just my go-to reference for animals and it is what I have the most experience with. That's why I am on here asking questions of people who have more experience.

I am just trying to find an economical way to bring in two birds other than building a second coop and run.

You can continue to feed them that or switch them to Flock Raiser or All Flock. Just put out a container or two of oyster shell when they hit 18-20 weeks old and you're set for life.

16 mo Sultan hen free ranges last egg 10 days ago. Not egg bound. Vaccinated for mericks. Acting lethargic 8 days ago. I brought her in house and she seems very content inside, not stressed. Her crop did not empty during the night so I started treatment per BYC. No food .She drinks Frequently And since onset I have added hydro hen and a little yougert.I did first the cold coconut oil and messages then the ducolax routines All she passes is clear to a very small amount of green.?grass bits? Her crop is soft, almost more fluid like with many small stones. It’s size has not varied much if at all over 9 days. She was wormed with valdezen 2 mos ago ( no worms Seen) after 2 days of fluids she started acting almost normal.If I take her outside to walk around she mediately walks around and starts packing the ground. But justThis afternoon I wanted to see if she’d eat something and she won’t even look at food even her favorite. She just seems to either want to ?eat sand or just peck at nothing.I read about sour crop but I don’t smell anything nor does anything come up. I’m starting to wonder if there’s an internal problem or is there anything else I can do for her? If I put her outside with the others to run around she won’t eat anything except may be dirt. I can’t see keeping her in here and doing all these massages and softeners with no results after nine days. I’m surprise she has the energy she does. Any ideas? Do you think antibiotics would help?I tried to keep this as brief as I could so I hope it’s clear. Thank you so much.I know this is terrible timing with the holidays coming. How do I post it

 

[Fontaine]

PLEASE HELP. !! I’m getting desperate!!!more insite on Antoinette’s problem. After above post I got her crop to quite small and soft,liquid and more than a few small stones. She still refuses any food at all but yesterday I decided to see what she would do if I let her out with the others hoping she would use the feeder.( I know grain is last to add but at least I could see if she would eat. She spent the afternoon eating dirt,leaves, anything but the yummies ai offered her (boiled chicken, egg, tuna etc) Her crop is full again with junk. So far she is acting ok but I know will go downhill without confinement again and my constant electrolyte and small amounts forced food keeping her alive. Is this a mental thing with no solution? We feed kalmbach 17% layer. Few healthy treats. She has no other sxs of illness. There is no avian vet around. She is so dear to me. I don’t know how to get one of the experts to see this. . Spelling off but “eggsessive” I don’t mean to insult with the spelling but I,m afraid if I look it up I’ll lose my dictation. I am no good at computer.

 

[DobieLover]

@Eggcessive, @azygous, @Wyorp Rock
Her not laying eggs could be due to her starting her molt or because of the shortened days but did you actually insert your finger in her vent to check for egg binding?
Is she molting? Sometimes hens go off their normal feed during molt or try to seek out something in particular to satisfy some need they have during the molt.
Have you felt between her legs to see if it feels very firm or if there is fluid build up?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

What is the time span between feeling her crop at night, then first thing in the morning?

Can you get some photos of her and her poop?

She's active right?

 

[azygous]

What a chicken chooses to consume can give us clues as to what may be going on, if not actually diagnose the problem. It is usually a process of elimination. We do that by coming up with possible explanations and treating the most likely, and when that doesn't improve things, we try treating the next thing on the list of possibilities.

I'm thinking, from the way she shuns food and focuses on picking up grit, that she may have an obstruction. That's very broad and can include, in order of probability, impacted crop, impacted gizzard, stuck egg, or cancer tumors.

First, even though you don't believe she's egg bound, give her a calcium tablet to cover that base. If she has an egg stuck, and often it's two eggs, the calcium (can't hurt) can start to work to give her strong contractions to move the egg(s).

Second, I would do an Epson salts flush to clean out the crop and gizzard. This can be a simple one-dose procedure there she is given the solution to drink on her own or a three-day, twice a day procedure where it's tubed directly into her crop.

After all of the above has been tried, if nothing improves her condition, I would then assume she has cancer tumors interfering with crop and digestive function and maybe reproductive function, as well.

 

[Fontaine]

@Eggcessive, @azygous, @Wyorp Rock
Her not laying eggs could be due to her starting her molt or because of the shortened days but did you actually insert your finger in her vent to check for egg binding?
Is she molting? Sometimes hens go off their normal feed during molt or try to seek out something in particular to satisfy some need they have during the molt.
Have you felt between her legs to see if it feels very firm or if there is fluid build up?

I did insert and check for egg over several days. Also felt for swelling between legs. She hasn’t shown signs of molting. I knew to do this because of the excellent advise you guys give. I see some responses from more experts regarding her crop. I’ll keep all up to date. Reading my thread may help others in same situations.thank you for the prompt response. Pet the dobie for me.

 

[Fontaine]

What is the time span between feeling her crop at night, then first thing in the morning?

Can you get some photos of her and her poop?

She's active right?

12 hours. It gets dark here ( Florida) by 6. She is walking around pecking at the ground and returns to drink water. She seems withdrawn but alert. I can get a pic of her and maybe can find poop on paper towel from when she was inside. She is outside now so would be hard to find. It consisted of water with tiny bits grass. That was from 9 days with basically no real food. At that time when I got crop down to small amount of water and tiny stones.
The beginning of this thread has her timeline if that helps. Thank you so much for responding.

 

[Fontaine]

What a chicken chooses to consume can give us clues as to what may be going on, if not actually diagnose the problem. It is usually a process of elimination. We do that by coming up with possible explanations and treating the most likely, and when that doesn't improve things, we try treating the next thing on the list of possibilities.

I'm thinking, from the way she shuns food and focuses on picking up grit, that she may have an obstruction. That's very broad and can include, in order of probability, impacted crop, impacted gizzard, stuck egg, or cancer tumors.

First, even though you don't believe she's egg bound, give her a calcium tablet to cover that base. If she has an egg stuck, and often it's two eggs, the calcium (can't hurt) can start to work to give her strong contractions to move the egg(s).

Second, I would do an Epson salts flush to clean out the crop and gizzard. This can be a simple one-dose procedure there she is given the solution to drink on her own or a three-day, twice a day procedure where it's tubed directly into her crop.

After all of the above has been tried, if nothing improves her condition, I would then assume she has cancer tumors interfering with crop and digestive function and maybe reproductive function, as well.

Ok I have the calcium citrate and will give now. I will try the one dose Epson salt . Do you think she will drink this on her own? I assume I don’t give her anything else by mouth? Otherwise I will try the tubing. Where do I get tubing? I’ll check for instructions on that if she won’t drink. Many thanks for the info. I’ll post her progress so others can learn.