UPDATE: not swollen crop! lethargic, barely eating, please help!

[HENrietta's House]

I just sat down to do some research, but thought I would start with a post in case someone out there knows what this is right away... The symptoms...

--6 month old barred rock hen
--swollen bulge in front of neck (baseball size) - is that the crop?
--lethargic for last 2-3 days
--loose, dark, watery poop
--being picked on by other hens, therefore bloody comb
--wants to drink often (more than usual?)
--goes for food when we toss it to her, the others don't seem to want her to get to the feeder, but she seemed to be trying
--not sure if she's laying -- we think so, but can't tell her eggs from the others
--lives in 8x8 pen with attached 4x4 henhouse
--free ranges most days

What do we do? I'm going to try to research impacted crop -- that's the only thing I can think of, but have no idea what it even is. Here's our dilemma... we're leaving on vacation tomorrow -- my dad is coming to check on the chickens, but is not a chicken person, so will really only be checking on food/water/eggs.

Thank you to anyone that can help us out!!!

 

[fordmommy]

Is the crop squishy? If it is, it may be "sour crop". I had this problem with in of my pullets a few weeks back. This is the link. Maybe some of the info relates. Keep us posted.



https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=219897

 

[HENrietta's House]

UPDATE: Next time, we'll catch and assess her first. Sorry! Here's what we found when we caught her...

After some more research on this site, we came to the conclusion that it may be impacted crop or pendulous crop since the bulge at the front of her neck/chest "looked" so big. So, out we went, determined to catch the chicken, and give her the suggested remedy (olive oil, massage, flushing the crop). To my surprise, when we caught her (not too tough, since she's been pretty mellow), I couldn't feel her crop at all! It was her neck that was kind of bent forward funny, that made it look like a big bulge sticking out in front.

So... we don't know what is going on! Nothing to massage, the crop felt completely empty. Hmmmm...

She's still pretty lethargic. She comes forward when we toss food to her, but just plays with it and doesn't eat. I'm going to try some soft mash or oatmeal and see if we can get some food in her. Any suggestions? I'm not sure what other symptoms to list other than those above.

Thanks for any help!

 

[fordmommy]

Here's a bump. Sorry to hear that it's not sour crop. Keep us posted.

 

[max101]

What is her poo like?

What are you feeding her?

When was the last time you wormed?

Have you checked for lice or mites?

Also feeding her some yoghurt and putting avc in the water helps with gut problems

Hope everything goes well