UPDATE Very sick hen

[chicken995]

A while back I posted here about a sick hen. Everybody suggested mites. So I treated for that, and everything seemed to be going well. The hen looked better and started laying eggs again. This morning before I left for work I saw this hen (Austra-white) jump into the nest box. When I got home this afternoon she was out in the run hiding under a chair and looking very lethargic. She wouldn't move at all. She usually freaks out and runs like crazy when I try to pick her up, but she just stood there today. I picked her up and began to look her over. I inspected the vent first. It was fun, but on the feathers below the vent were clumps of very dark almost black droppings. As I titled her forward a little to get a better look, a clear slightly yellow liquid poured out of her mouth. I set her in a pen by herself with some water, food, and yogurt. She's had one drink of water, but is not interested in the food or yogurt. Any ideas what is going on here? Is it too late for my poor girl?

She is now just sitting down next to the water. She isn't drinking much. But dark greenish brown liquid poop is oozing out of her vent. Please help. If there is nothing I can do I need to know so I can end her suffering.

 

[klmclain1]

Have you felt her crop?

 

[chicken995]

Have you felt her crop?

Oh jeez, didn't even think about that. It feels somewhat like a water balloon.

 

[klmclain1]

Sounds like sour crop... I haven't had to deal with it, so if you'll do a search here for keywords sour crop and treatment you should find some help. That, or you could start another thread with something like HELP! Sour Crop!!! Keep us posted!!

Just edited this because I found this in a post further down! I hope it helps. I've also heard of people using monistat successfully!



Is more hard or like a water balloon? Sour crop will be like a water balloon; whereas, an impacted crop is hard. "Doughy" kinda sounds normal, but that is a vague enough term that it can encompass the whole range of possible problems. Is her crop still full in the morning when she awakes?

If sour crop:
Massaging the crop in a downward motion. Hold all food from her and give her water with some apple cider vinegar (ACV) added to it (preferably ACV with mother, but regular will do). Make sure it is in plastic or glass as ACV corrodes metal and this can be toxic. A few times a day (as available anyway), give her an irrigation syringe full of 1/2 ACV - 1/2 water. This will take some patience as you can only give a little bit at a time to ensure she doesn't choke on it. I had a hen with sour crop that I would massage her crop while giving her the syringe. It would gurgle something nasty and she would have gnarly burps, but she started pushing up against my hand to keep massaging her crop and would open her beak for more of the ACV mixture, so it must've felt better. Sour crop is a yeast infection in the crop (hence hold food so it doesn't ferment more in there). The ACV kills the yeast. After a couple days you should see a difference and after 4 or so days, she should be near normal. Sour crop kills, so act quickly.

If an impacted crop:
Hold food. Give olive oil soaked bread (the bread is just to get the olive oil into the bird). Oil seems to be the best remedy as it slicks up the passage way to allow for food to pass through. It gets tougher it is long grass/hay stuck.

 

[chicken995]

Awesome. Thank you very much. I suppose I should have searched a little better, but I'm juggling trying to figure out what is wrong with my chicken and getting stuff around for my brother-in-law's birthday party.

I set her up with some water/acv. I hope it helps. I'll keep everybody posted.

 

[klmclain1]

Ah yes... when it rains it pours!