URGENT - Crop issues it has been over 2 weeks and chicken is getting so light

[applepie_chicken]

Mar 18th Update!!!!
Gave BB 250mg amoxicillin in the morning around 11:00am
Gave BB 250mg amoxicillin in the evening around 7:00pm
Weight: 1295g

She made a real poop!!!

Afternoon real poop was smaller

Rest of poop was kinda like the day before

We are planning on continuing the antibiotic maybe up to 14 days since it seems to be working and we want the poops and weight to improve before we remove it.

Behavior is still about the same, she wails at us for her walk whenever she can see us. She is energetic but still skinny.

 

[applepie_chicken]

More updates: I am doing these less frequently due to lack of urgency but including anyway as a form of journal and maybe helpful to others.

BB has continued to get a better appetite and is more rebellious and energetic.

Started digging aggressively in box to protest not getting enough forage time. Continued yelling at us whenever she sees or hears us nearby.

She gave us a scare that evening because we were worried that she was eating hemp and her crop was really full and hard. We are not sure if she was eating hemp or just filled up with dry crumble (though we did not see to much evidence for the eating of much crumble), but the next morning it was very small/close to empty so probably not eating hemp bedding.

We started giving steamed egg which she wolfs down. Will eat good amount of wet crumbles as well (usually only after a forage walk). Crop starts out near empty or fully empty in mornings, then after gorging herself the crop will become like a waterballon full of super soft bits of steamed egg, or other times it feels like a "soft orange" after eating the crubles. Crop has been empty or near empty in mornings.

She ended up getting in a chicken fight with the other bottom chicken maybe around on the 23rd I cant remember exactly, but she won the altercation and maintained her pecking order place.

Poops mostly soft and big, but a few solid ones also each day, occasionally very liquid. We might be convincing her to consume more water than she needs at times so maybe this is from that.

Has been gaining weight at first slowly, but now is really starting to gain weight at a steady and fast pace.

Weights
May 19th - 1260g low, 1315g high
May 20th - 1320 high
May 21th - 1360 high
May 22nd - 1400g high
May 23rd - 1465 low, 1535 high
May 24th - 1620 high

We are still treating 2x daily with the Amoxicillin and plan to continue until we have treated for 20 days just to be careful.

 

[applepie_chicken]

Thanks for continuing to follow along Wyorp Rock. We have a new concern, and I have a few questions for you!

We are planning on stopping antibiotic treatment tomorrow (she had her 17th day of it today of the 2x 250mg amoxicillin) because we are concerned that too much antibiotic may cause other issues and maybe the several days of weight gain and appetite returning is long enough time of feeling better to stop the antibiotics.

Do you think based on the information we provided this is blood in the poop or something else?

Should we stop the antibiotic or continue?

May 25th update:
Weight high was 1705g so still getting bigger

She is still acting in good spirit energy ect.

Morning poop was large and of the soft type(not the perfect looking normal poop, but the multiple separate ones forming a big clump of poop.)

These poops looked like the kind that do not make the water spray sound but just the thud of it dropping sound.

Later on poops were a bit more on the watery side today and the last poops had a red tinge, so we are concerned.

On the left the poop is brown with the slightest bit of red tinge but is definitely noticeable to us in person, the liquid around the second one it has a redness to it, almost like its dyed light red(hopefully you can see the red tinge in the water from the picture. maybe she foraged some red berries from ground when we weren't looking, but we want to make sure this kind of very soft poop is not a concern. Not sure if this is blood or not. Some of the poops made the sounds of a liquid spray when it came out.

We are going to cut back on the wet steamed egg in case its just too much water or too much egg related issue.

We are allowing her to eat more chickweed bits since the crop is not acting impacted.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I agree, I'd stop the Amoxicillin.
Usually it's given for 7-10 days, but can go to around 14, so I think you are good on that.

The poop looks like got some Cecal poop in it. I would monitor for a couple of days, see if the color continues and try to see what's she's eating too. Food does affect color of poop.

Since she's been on antibiotics, I'd get some probiotics into her. You can use purchased probiotics or give about 1 Tablespoon of quality plain yogurt once daily, just stir it in her eggs. If poop gets too loose, then feed her a little white cooked rice with buttermilk. The buttermilk is also a good probiotic and will help soothe the gut, the rice often will help firm up poop a bit.

The crop is going down overnight? If so, that's good news. Hopefully she'll continue to improve.

Yes, I try to follow along even if I don't post just to keep updated. It's nice to see you keeping the thread current, this will help future readers and of course, I'm always learning something new too.

 

[applepie_chicken]

Wyorp Rock,

We really appreciate all the help you have given us. This has been a challening process for us, and having your guidance has made it easier for us.

We still have not tried the rice with buttermilk, but we did give a tablespoon of kefir in the steamed egg each time. We stopped the steamed egg on the 27th to see if too much egg was related to the issue.

She really enjoys foraging and will not eat until after she has had her fun foraging outside then she has appetite for the food. Yesterday she was complaining about not being walked and actually crowed. She also crowed today as well. This is our second hen that has given us some sparse crowing. We only get to experience it a few times a year!

When the reddish poop dried it was very red clay-like but not sure if just weird poop texture or actual clay.

Update:
She has been continuing to eat and have an empty crop in mornings. Poops are still really soft, but with a large quantity. They still kind of squirt out and are real wet(not completely diarrhea and they do switch to more firm after the water leaves the poop). Waddle is more red than before.

Example of morning box condition there is a large quantity of poop each morning to cleanup. She is going through a lot of food/water at least. Weight still increasing though the rate is slowing.

3/26 - 1720g

3/27 - 1780g

3/28 - 1820g then 1760g after a big poop squirt

Weights are the night weigh-ins in grams

We are letting her walk and socialize with the other chickens. And not being as guarded against her eating strange things. So she is eating more falsehawksbeard, chickweed, and grass(very small amounts of grass so far). She also has been eating some crab-apple flower petals that the flock just loves to scavenge.

We just making sure crop is completely empty in mornings. Which crop seems to be emptying without a problem.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Wyorp Rock,

We really appreciate all the help you have given us. This has been a challening process for us, and having your guidance has made it easier for us.

We still have not tried the rice with buttermilk, but we did give a tablespoon of kefir in the steamed egg each time. We stopped the steamed egg on the 27th to see if too much egg was related to the issue.

She really enjoys foraging and will not eat until after she has had her fun foraging outside then she has appetite for the food. Yesterday she was complaining about not being walked and actually crowed. She also crowed today as well. This is our second hen that has given us some sparse crowing. We only get to experience it a few times a year!

View attachment 4084671

When the reddish poop dried it was very red clay-like but not sure if just weird poop texture or actual clay.

Update:
She has been continuing to eat and have an empty crop in mornings. Poops are still really soft, but with a large quantity. They still kind of squirt out and are real wet(not completely diarrhea and they do switch to more firm after the water leaves the poop). Waddle is more red than before.

Example of morning box condition there is a large quantity of poop each morning to cleanup. She is going through a lot of food/water at least. Weight still increasing though the rate is slowing.
View attachment 4084657

3/26 - 1720g
View attachment 4084661
View attachment 4084663

3/27 - 1780g

3/28 - 1820g then 1760g after a big poop squirt

Weights are the night weigh-ins in grams

We are letting her walk and socialize with the other chickens. And not being as guarded against her eating strange things. So she is eating more falsehawksbeard, chickweed, and grass(very small amounts of grass so far). She also has been eating some crab-apple flower petals that the flock just loves to scavenge.

We just making sure crop is completely empty in mornings. Which crop seems to be emptying without a problem.

Sounds like she's steadily improving. This is good.