UPDATE Don't Use Hay/Grass Bales for your Chickens (Possible Tumor?)

[riversanctuary]

I'd stop all the other meds because you have no idea what you're treating.

I think your right. I did that yesterday. I felt her crop and it is pretty hard. What am I looking for when we look into her crop will I be able to do anything?

 

[riversanctuary]

Have you checked her crop? It is located on her right side, at the base of the neck. Does it feel overly full, tight, like a hard ball? Squishy like a water balloon? Or as if it is empty, nothing there? The neck wiggling you are describing is something chickens often do if they need to adjust their crop. In a healthy bird, they do this once in a while, but if the crop is blocked or soured, the chicken may do this often as there is a problem and they are trying to work it out.
If it is a crop problem, it needs addressed quickly, or she may starve.

Other reasons for this behavior are respiratory distress... does she have any labored breathing, bubbling, discharge from her nostrils, nose, or mouth? Can you peek inside her mouth and throat with a flashlight and see if she has any growths or obstructions, discolorations, etc?

Her crop feels overly tight like a hard ball!

 

[riversanctuary]

The poop check was a very good idea. Trouble is, it's very difficult to find a good avian vet with chicken experience.
I know we sometimes grasp at straws but I can't think of anything that could cause her condition that could be treated with antibiotics.
My first thought was gapeworm.
A chicken not doing well can be further compromised by giving medication that doesn't treat the problem.

Did the fecal sample turn anything up?

I'm new at this forum stuff I might of answered you already, but figured out how to answer the quote. The fecal sample was normal! I stopped the medication and am waiting for my neighbor who said she might come to help me look in her throat.
Her crop feels hard like a ball! She is not doing well!!!

 

[katbriar]

If it's hard and stays hard it may be impacted. You can check her first thing in the morning to see if it had emptied (which it should have done over night). If it's still hard she probably has eaten something like long strands of hay which are jammed up and cannot pass on to the gizzard to be ground up.

I have never treated an impacted crop but many threads on here where people discuss it.

Good luck with her!

 

[riversanctuary]

If it's hard and stays hard it may be impacted. You can check her first thing in the morning to see if it had emptied (which it should have done over night). If it's still hard she probably has eaten something like long strands of hay which are jammed up and cannot pass on to the gizzard to be ground up.

I have never treated an impacted crop but many threads on here where people discuss it.

Good luck with her!

She has been like this for over a week. I have had a couple of bales of hay in their coop should I remove them? I thought you could use hay for chickens no one ever told me that there would be a problem.

Thank you for your words of encouragement I am pretty upset! It's so hard not to be able to do something.

 

[heartsizedfarm]

Don't frighten yourself. While you're waiting to see if the crop empties itself overnight just read and research and don't forget to watch that cool video on the impacted crop surgery. Fascinating! Then in the morning if its still like a hard ball you'll have decided on some treatment plans that might well work for you. Hang in there!

 

[riversanctuary]

Don't frighten yourself. While you're waiting to see if the crop empties itself overnight just read and research and don't forget to watch that cool video on the impacted crop surgery. Fascinating! Then in the morning if its still like a hard ball you'll have decided on some treatment plans that might well work for you. Hang in there!

Thank you so much!! I am pretty upset which I know sounds ridiculous, but I'm attached to these girls. I read on the thread about the crop being compacted I will take the bale of hay out and try doing what they said.

 

[heartsizedfarm]

Not at all ridiculous to be worried and caring. Perfectly normal.

 

[katbriar]

Thank you so much!! I am pretty upset which I know sounds ridiculous, but I'm attached to these girls. I read on the thread about the crop being compacted I will take the bale of hay out and try doing what they said.

Many people use hay without any issues. I don't know if some chickens are just a little silly and eat too much of it or what.

Don't feel bad, they're chickens and they do goofy stuff and have unfortunate things happen to them despite the best efforts of their keepers.

We're all learning as we go!

Hang in there and best to you and your girlie.

 

[riversanctuary]

Many people use hay without any issues. I don't know if some chickens are just a little silly and eat too much of it or what.

Don't feel bad, they're chickens and they do goofy stuff and have unfortunate things happen to them despite the best efforts of their keepers.

We're all learning as we go!

Hang in there and best to you and your girlie.

Got as much of the hay out. Tried to massage her along with holding her upside down. No luck she does east the sardines in olive oil. I hope my vet can do something tomorrow because I am not sure what to do anymore.