Update on sick hens…ongoing problems?

[PesterJay]

These hens I have been treating…this red hen with crop issues and this barred rock with wry neck…haven’t seemed to make much improvement. On the red hen I paused the miconazole treatment after a week of doses to give her a rest. I started it again a couple days ago and have seen no improvement. Her breath doesn’t smell sour now but her crop is just so big and never goes down. When I rub it, it feels full of air and I can work quite a bit out of it but then it just puffs up again. Is it possible it’s not sour crop? If so, what other options are out there?

This barred rock hen is still having her neck seize up now and again. I’ve been giving her Vitamin E with Selenium for several days now. Am I supposed to expect improvements by now or just keep-a-going?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I paused the cortizole treatment after a week of doses to give her a rest. I started it again a couple days ago and have seen no improvement. Her breath doesn’t smell sour now but her crop is just so big and never goes down. When I rub it, it feels full of air and I can work quite a bit out of it but then it just puffs up again. Is it possible it’s not sour crop? If so, what other options are out there?

This barred rock hen is still having her neck seize up now and again. I’ve been giving her Vitamin E with Selenium for several days now. Am I supposed to expect improvements by now or just keep-a-going?

What is Cortizole?

What do you feed, including treats?
Do you provide grit for your hens?

Do these hens have light 24/7? If they do, then they will be up eating/drinking at all hours, so you'll have to remove food/water for several hours so you can check crop function. Checking the crop during the day when they have been eating - you're going to feel food/water in the crop.

I don't see a Barred Rock in the photos. I see a red colored hen that may be a RIR or production red, hard to tell. I also see a Buff Orpington.
Are there photos of the Barred Rock you are concerned about?

You're giving vitamin E with Selenium, how much Vitamin E?
For the symptom of Wry Neck, give 400IU Vitamin E daily along with 1/4 tablet B-Complex. Not sure how much selenium you are giving, but it should only be a very tiny amount. A bit of egg or tuna will be sufficient for the uptake of E.

As for expectations, it all depends on the what has cause the Wry Neck. Wry Neck is a neurological symptom = common causes are disease like Marek's, sometimes vitamin/nutritional deficiencies, head trauma and possibly genetics.
Not every condition is immediately remedied with vitamin therapy or a quick easy fix. Continue with the treatment for a few weeks to see if she improves.

 

[PesterJay]

Ok I thought I was getting a handle on drug names but was way off. I edited it to be miconazole…

I feed dumor layer feed and they rarely get treats. I need to provide grit for the TLC hens. Hadn’t thought of that. All the others are free range so I assumed they found what grit they needed.

I can take pics of the barred rock tomorrow. I don’t know what caused the wry neck. She’s the only one that’s come down with it in the last several months. I noticed something going wrong a month or so ago but thought maybe she favored one eye. I hadn’t found anything on the amounts of E and selenium to give so I’ve been giving more than that. Maybe it’s making her worse?

The hens I’m tending have more light than the flock just cuz of lights on the barn. The hens that are with the red always have empty crops in the morning but this red is a big eater and drinker. She’ll drink a ton of water and then throw up on her own. She’s still very active but has not been laying.

 

[Razzlefrazzle]

I'd try acidified copper sulfate for the hen with crop issues if you haven't yet. 1/4 teaspoon per gallon as the only water for three days. Only mix and serve with plastic (no metal) and do be careful to get the dosage right because more can be toxic.

Also add some extra probiotics to her food to help introduce good bacteria that will keep the yeast in check. Either a probiotic supplement for chickens or something like plain yogurt or buttermilk should help.

Finally I'd considered whether this hen's crop issue could be due to another issue that slows down and interferes with digestion. Easily addressed issues are a heavy worm load if you haven't dewormed recently and moldy feed/old food scraps that she could be finding.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

The hens that are with the red always have empty crops in the morning but this red is a big eater and drinker. She’ll drink a ton of water and then throw up on her own. She’s still very active but has not been laying.

I'm not quite sure I'm understanding.
If the crops are empty in the morning, then why would you need to treat for Sour Crop?

Some hens are big eaters/drinkers and it's not too uncommon when they have filled their crop that some water may spill out if they bend over.

Determine if she's in a hurry trying to get her fill due to competition with the other hens and you need to provide additional water/feed stations or if she's just a glutton. Some are gluttons.

For the one with Wry Neck, again, Wry Neck is the name of a symptom. There are many causes, all you can do is continue to offer supportive care and vitamin therapy. Hopefully she will improve. If you lose her, then getting a necropsy through your state lab will give you the best answers as to the cause.

You're giving vitamin E with Selenium, how much Vitamin E?
For the symptom of Wry Neck, give 400IU Vitamin E daily along with 1/4 tablet B-Complex. Not sure how much selenium you are giving, but it should only be a very tiny amount. A bit of egg or tuna will be sufficient for the uptake of E.

As for expectations, it all depends on the what has cause the Wry Neck. Wry Neck is a neurological symptom = common causes are disease like Marek's, sometimes vitamin/nutritional deficiencies, head trauma and possibly genetics.
Not every condition is immediately remedied with vitamin therapy or a quick easy fix. Continue with the treatment for a few weeks to see if she improves.

 

[PesterJay]

If the crops are empty in the morning, then why would you need to treat for Sour Crop?

Sorry about the confusion. To make it clear, this production red has two buff Orpingtons with her. It’s those two whose crops are always empty in the morning. This red’s crop is always enlarged.

As far as the treatment for this barred rock, I hadn’t seen the amounts before you mentioned them. I changed it today and hope she’ll start coming around.
I have a heat lamp on her to keep her water thawed but she has a way to get away from the heat.
This is how she looks when she’s not having a “seizure”.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

This red’s crop is always enlarged.

Is the light in the barn on all the time, including at night?

 

[PesterJay]

Is the light in the barn on all the time, including at night?

It has been on at night for the last week. This crop issue has been going on for a month.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

If it's been going on for a month, then she'd be fairly sick by now.

It's hard to gauge function when a bird has access to food/water 24/7 and is eating at all hours.

The best way would be to cage her at dusk when they normally go to sleep with no food/water or light, then check the crop the next morning to see if it's emptied.
Some birds eat a lot more or have fuller crops at night than others. I had a hen that was a tiny little thing and she looked like she had a grapefruit in her crop every night. By morning it was flat.

 

[PesterJay]

Ok I'll try that. I have wondered how she hasn't gotten sicker. She seems perfectly sound aside from the fact that she isn't laying.