thinking some kind of crop issue...please help!

[BierHuhn]

I’m glad she ate. But I still would suggest not giving her food for a FULL 24 hours. It insures the crop is emptying. You wouldn’t want to cause a bigger problem. If we wont drink, everyone time you go to massage her, dip her beak in the water a few times. Make sure she’s swallows. If you do decide to orally give her water, let me know and I can tell you how. I am giving antibiotics to my chicken right now and it’s not very hard. My mom was too afraid to do it though. But it’s honestly not scary or hard. It’s also pretty lucky that when a chicken is sick, they are usually calmer. It makes giving the medicine/water much easier. Let me know what you decide to do. Best wishes!!!

-Chatty

im glad she ate too. i know they can survive not eating for a little, but keeping her in the garage, alone has me feeling extra bad for her and if she's feeling well enough to eat, especially something that could help her issue somewhat, i feel it may be good to do, so thats what i did . i had checked on her again at 1am and she drank a couple sips of the acv water! this morning she is doing much better. her crop is smaller and more on the hard side imo, my husband says not so much hard, but empty. i appreciate your offer for help. i saw a video last night on how to administer orally, so i think i have a clue, tho idk if i'll be doing it. tho i do plan to administer some monistat, if she wont eat it mixed in some water soluble food first. this hen only gets so much calmer even when sick when you try to get a hold on her. we shall see! thanks for the help and concern!

 

[BierHuhn]

How is she this morning? If you feel comfortable vomiting, do so this morning. I only like to vomit once in the morning so that during the day they can absorb water and food. The stuff in the crop right now is pretty toxic and they do feel better getting it out of there.

She isn't contagious and doesn't need to be kept separate, however don't let her get to any hard foods the others might be eating. We don't want to slow the crop waiting on the gizzard to grind hard foods, we need food to move as fast as possible. Soft foods today and until the crop moves normally.

If you can get get some Acidified Copper Sulfate today, get that going. It will help to combat a few things along with the sour crop and help greatly. Skip the mineral oil but the vaginal cream can't hurt either.

Keep this program up for a week, she should start to improve in a few days. If not, we may need to try other things like worming or cocci meds.

Keep us posted!

she is seeming much better thanks! i dont feel any more comfortable to vomit her but do i really need to at this point?! is it possible that its not sour crop but maybe was on its way to being soured, or maybe just slow (are those the same thing)?! we havent noticed any bad smell, tho we also havent been close to her mouth. her crop is smaller and more on the hard side this morning...empty according to my husband.

she took a few sips of acv water at about 1am and a little bit ago she was up and about and hungry so i threw her a few dehydrated grubs (i hope that was ok, you had said mealworms, and in my head that was the same thing until i just now realized its not)!

i am concerned about keeping her separated, especially in the garage with no natural light or air in a tiny half coop thing where she'll get zero exercize, but the blood that was on her comb is now dried up and thats still a cause of concern for putting her back with the others. she's also the bottom hen in the first place. theres also no way to have her in the pen with the others and her not have access to their feed. i would love to reintroduce her tmrw before husbands back to work for the week, so im not stuck with the frustrating task alone, but im guessing thats not gonna be able to happen :'(

it seems i cannot get acidifed copper sulfate today, nowhere nearby has it, only copper sulfate crystals. amazon doesnt have it. a place some hours away does and could ship, but is it worth getting in a few days still?! i will pick up some vaginal cream today. can i add it to the water soluble food instead of administering orally?! tho she may not eat it in which case id have to do. thanks again! gonna give her a bit to eat shortly.

 

[BierHuhn]

i gave her a bit of wet layer feed, tho it was more like flour since i did it up in the food processor then sieved it, thinking that might be better. mixed a bit of the mashed hb egg, some of the b.soda etc mix and added a little of her acv water. she ate no problem, but i took it away from her after she had about half of it cuz i dont want to give her too much and idk how much is too much.i figure i'll give her the rest in a couple of hours. probably wont be making it to the store for a while still (for the vaginal cream).

im wondering a couple things tho...are fruit & veggies not water soluble?! can i add some finely chopped or pureed?! what about chopped/ground dried herbs?! i usually add that to their feed/treat mix and if itd be ok id like to give her some still too. and what about seeds if i grind them (i usually give sunflower or chia & flax too)?! should i offer her grit, would that help get stuff moving?! i always have some available out in the pen, tho idk how much they have of it normally, it doesnt seem like much.

and lastly...being she is in garage and has no natural light anyway, should i just keep her in the dark (have the light on currently) and force her to sleep basically?! the only thing she can do in there with the light on is drink water, if she's even doing so.

 

[TwoCrows]

If I need to separate a bird out, I try and keep them within the flock but in a cage. This makes it a lot easier to mix back into the flock. Being gone from the flock, even a few days and they will bully her. Make sure to put out several food and water stations, they cant guard them all. I have found that many times it's the lowest bird in the order that turns up sick because they aren't getting enough sustenance. Some of the lower ranking birds are the thinnest, and often get hungry enough to fill up on oyster shell because of mild bullying.

 

[BierHuhn]

If I need to separate a bird out, I try and keep them within the flock but in a cage. This makes it a lot easier to mix back into the flock. Being gone from the flock, even a few days and they will bully her. Make sure to put out several food and water stations, they cant guard them all. I have found that many times it's the lowest bird in the order that turns up sick because they aren't getting enough sustenance. Some of the lower ranking birds are the thinnest, and often get hungry enough to fill up on oyster shell because of mild bullying.

last time i had to separate her, i made a make-shift cage in the pen. i dont remember why but we didnt end up using it. we could make one again, i just wonder if its a good idea in the sense that, being she's on a water soluble diet, she wont have really have anything in her to keep her warm thru the night. its been getting to between 30-40 degrees overnight in the coop. it could be worse/colder i guess but it concerns me still. plus me getting up before the automatic coop door opens to put her in the cage right away (so she doesnt get to any food) is highly unlikely (i dont sleep well). so, as troublesome it may be to keep her in garage and reintroduce her in time, idk that its not the better option. :-/

yeah, she definitely gets less. when i bring them their feed/treat mix (twice a day), i bring 3 bowls and spend a little time putting a bowl back in front of her, tho the top hen always comes right over to take over. theyre all about the same size tho. still, im sure she's more likely to get sick as she's not getting as much. sigh.

did you read my other (last) post, with some other questions i had?! if you could please. thanks!

 

[TwoCrows]

You could keep her in the garage at night for warmth, out with the flock during the day? If nothing else, carry her out to the flock for a few hours a day just so they dont forget her.

If you grind up food for her, she can eat pretty much anything. You just want to avoid any food that is stiff and will need to stop by the gizzard for hours on end. So yes, if you put food in the blender and really chop it down to a fine consistency, it should move through her quick enough.

Sometimes it helps to baby the lower ranking birds a bit. I always sneak extra to my lowest and if she is getting bullied by a particular bird, I will separate the bully out a couple hours before roosting time so this lower bird gets a chance to fill her crop before bedtime. Its a bit more work, but it helps her to be more healthy and thats what matters.

 

[BierHuhn]

You could keep her in the garage at night for warmth, out with the flock during the day? If nothing else, carry her out to the flock for a few hours a day just so they dont forget her.

If you grind up food for her, she can eat pretty much anything. You just want to avoid any food that is stiff and will need to stop by the gizzard for hours on end. So yes, if you put food in the blender and really chop it down to a fine consistency, it should move through her quick enough.

Sometimes it helps to baby the lower ranking birds a bit. I always sneak extra to my lowest and if she is getting bullied by a particular bird, I will separate the bully out a couple hours before roosting time so this lower bird gets a chance to fill her crop before bedtime. Its a bit more work, but it helps her to be more healthy and thats what matters.

that does sound like a good idea...except for all the work it will be (the making a cage and bringing back and forth in the cold and rain and possibly snow, not so much the food blending). she's already been separated for over 24hrs. how long until they forget her do you think?! a couple of days (as you said earlier)?!

gonna be heading to the store shortly, finally. so i will attempt the monistat, when i give her a bit more food in a few hours. i just gave her some of the same as earlier but added a little pureed fruit mix, a bit of chopped garlic, a bit of probiotics and some drops of nutri-drench. she really seems so much better. are we sure she really needs the monistat?! id prefer not to give it, but if she really needs it. how will i know for sure when she's ready to get back to normal life?!

 

[TwoCrows]

If you finely chop up some apples, they are natures yeast buster. Remember, an apple a day keeps the chicken doctor away.

You don't have to use the monistat if you aren't comfortable using it. She may not have a horribly yeasty crop yet, but its on its way to getting there. The monistat will help prevent more yeast from growing. You might order some Acidified Copper Sulfate and have it on hand for the future. All chicken feed contains this copper as a supplement, you are only adding more to the diet. It is a wonderful product for slow and sour crops. I get mine from Twin Cities Poultry, they usually ship same day, priority mail.

https://www.twincitypoultrysupplies.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=340

After about 2 or 3 days, the flock will see a missing bird as someone to attack upon returning.

Her recovery time depends on why she has a sour crop in the first place. If these simple tricks don't fix her after a weeks time, she may need to be wormed or some Corid run through her for a Coccidiosis outbreak.

 

[BierHuhn]

If you finely chop up some apples, they are natures yeast buster. Remember, an apple a day keeps the chicken doctor away.

You don't have to use the monistat if you aren't comfortable using it. She may not have a horribly yeasty crop yet, but its on its way to getting there. The monistat will help prevent more yeast from growing. You might order some Acidified Copper Sulfate and have it on hand for the future. All chicken feed contains this copper as a supplement, you are only adding more to the diet. It is a wonderful product for slow and sour crops. I get mine from Twin Cities Poultry, they usually ship same day, priority mail.

https://www.twincitypoultrysupplies.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=340

After about 2 or 3 days, the flock will see a missing bird as someone to attack upon returning.

Her recovery time depends on why she has a sour crop in the first place. If these simple tricks don't fix her after a weeks time, she may need to be wormed or some Corid run through her for a Coccidiosis outbreak.

i saw your comment just before heading out the door. i couldnt buy the monistat or anything similar after looking at the ingredients. i will reconsider it if this happens again or gets worse tho. ha! yeah, was thinking to add some apple to her next feeding. thanks for the link, tho i think i may get it from a more local resource, we'll see.

well, i didnt get to doing the work to get her out there today 7 it'll be dark soon. tmrw is supposed to snow tho i have in mind to attempt it still...but it'll already have been 2 days by then. do you think whenever i do get to getting her out there, that the few hours a day she'll be in there will be enough to lessen any bullying when she's ready for full-on reintroduction?! so, regardless of how well she seems to be doing i'm to figure on this diet and her no going back full-time for at least a week (from yesterday)?! that seems too long. especially since she's already wanting out. how do i know when she's "fixed"...she already seems back to normal as far as i can tell.

 

[TwoCrows]

She is "fixed" when her crop is empty in the mornings, at least 2 mornings in a row, empty every morning for evermore.