Thought she had impacted crop til I turned her over...

[RachelleM1986]

So I noticed the night before last night that one of my hens (8 months old) was acting sluggish and keeping to herself. I picked her up and immediately noticed her crop was pretty darned full and hard. I did a quick check-over looking for any bugs, but she didn't have any lice or mites. No stuck eggs either. I decided that perhaps she'd just eaten too much, and gave her the night to rest, hoping she'd get better.

The next day (yesterday) she hadn't improved. I made sure she drank water, saw her do it a few times; I also made sure she didn't drink too much at once because I know that water in an impacted crop can cause sour crop. The blockage didn't go down, so I tried massaging her crop yesterday afternoon, attempting to mash up the blockage a bit.

This morning she still hadn't improved. She hasn't eaten anything more, her crop is still the same size. When she walks, she's wobbly and stumbles often. I did some quick research and decided that I'd mix a little olive oil in some warm water, syringe some into her beak, and tip her upside down and massage her to make her upchuck the blockage out. So I got all set up, got out to the coop, and tipped her upside down - and noticed her vent looks TERRIBLE. It did NOT look like this the other day. I did some more research, but the only 2 things I could come up with by typing in "swollen vent" is prolapsed vent or vent gleet. Her vent isn't bald though, she still has all her feathers there and none are soggy, just crusted poo; and prolapsed vent looks more, well, SWOLLEN than what she has. Or at least I think so...but I've never seen prolapsed vent in person.

I have a flock of 40 chickens, all get locked up at night and free range during the day. Everyone has 24/7 access to layer pellets, they get sprouted fodder in the mornings, and clean, fresh water twice a day (I'm a stickler about that). No other chickens are sick.


This is how she rests.


This is how I found her vent when I flipped her over.


This is her vent after I cleaned it off a little bit. I checked again and she doesn't have any eggs stuck in her.


This is the size of her crop, between my fingers. Size still hasn't changed and it's still quite hard.

What do I do??? Am I able to treat her for impacted crop still and hope that fixes her? Could an impacted crop cause her vent problems? She's so young and I don't want to cull her if I can help her!!!

 

[Pyxis]

Treat her for impacted crop. What you're seeing is green diarrhea that she's passing now because she hasn't managed to get any food down in a few days. Poultry poop is green from bile when they haven't eaten anything to turn it another color. Go ahead with the impacted crop treatment ASAP so she can get some food into her. A vent prolapse is not this and trust me, you'd know it when you see it because it's not a pretty thing.

 

[FlaChickenMama]

@Pyxis I have a rooster I am having the same problem with. I massaged his crop & got the blockage to his throat, but could not get him to throw it up. He keeps holding his head to the left side. I have to help him eat & drink. I'm putting vitamins in his water in case it's wry neck, but I don't know what else to do for him. His poop is green with bile. Please help! What else can I do?

 

[Pyxis]

@Pyxis I have a rooster I am having the same problem with. I massaged his crop & got the blockage to his throat, but could not get him to throw it up. He keeps holding his head to the left side. I have to help him eat & drink. I'm putting vitamins in his water in case it's wry neck, but I don't know what else to do for him. His poop is green with bile. Please help! What else can I do?

Are you sure this is a crop impaction? Did the crop feel solid and hard for more than a day without going down? Have you tried using a little bit of vegetable oil? This usually helps. This type of thing can take a while to soften, so usually going at it several times a day by using a little bit of water or vegetable oil down the throat followed by massaging helps loosen it up. Do you know what he got into? Could he have swallowed long grass or twine or something similar? Sometimes if the crop is impacted badly enough the contents actually have to be surgically removed. I can link you to a thread on here that shows it being done but that's a last ditch effort and it's really a better idea to let a professional do it if you have a vet in your area that will see chickens.

 

[Toddrick]

It does look to me like it needs surgery or she will die soon. That thing is baseball sized.

 

[FlaChickenMama]

@Pyxis Thank you so much for answering & helping me. I am not sure it's crop, but I thought I'd start there. Any other ideas as to what would make him hold his head to the side? I will try the vegetable oil & keep watching him. He very well could have gotten long grass. They all free range during the day & there is an area in the yard with long grass. This is how he is holding his head.

 

[Pyxis]

That doesn't look like a crop impaction to me, that looks more like wry neck or an injury. Did you see the picture above with the chicken with the very full, hard crop? Does his crop look anything like that or does it feel really solid? With his head like that he may be unable to eat which could cause the green poop, not a crop impaction. Have you seen him eating at all in the last few days? Definitely get him on vitamins for wry neck, but it can take a long time to see improvement in wry neck. In the meantime feel his crop and see if it is solid and hard.

 

[FlaChickenMama]

@Pyxis I did see the picture & it looks nothing like that. This morning it felt hard, but it was nowhere near as large as that hens. He has eaten his food today mixed with water, because I have been hand feeding him. I have no idea if he ate yesterday, because I was at work & came home to him like that. He has been acting weird for about a week. Sleeping during the day & when I check on them at night, he is wide awake. He has looked at me kind of sideways for maybe 4 days, but would straighten back up. As of yesterday, he could not straighten back up. I will continue feeding him & giving him water to see if he passes a normal stool. I'll continue the vitamins & be patient. Thank you for your advice & help!

 

[Pyxis]

Sounds like a plan! I have successfully treated wry neck using Poultry Nutri-Drench vitamins that I bought at a feed store, so you might pick that up and give it a try since I know it works. Also watch his crop - the normal progression of things is that it will fill up during the day, then empty out overnight as long as no food is offered, so in the morning it should be empty. If you check him in the morning and his crop is empty, you will know he is not impacted because it is emptying normally.

 

[FlaChickenMama]

@Pyxis I will definitely pick up that brand of vitamin tomorrow & watch his crop! Thank you! )