Very sick, gasping, drooling chicken

[Kikime]

Please help. Tonight when I went to close up the coop my 5 year old Americana was sort of panting/ gasping and drooling. She is also making gurgling/ wet breathing sound. I moved her to a covered laundry basket in my laundry room. The small feathers around her face look wet. She is drooling smelly brownish watery discharge. I have read so much tonight and I really am not sure when she has going on or how I should proceed. I have given her a small dish of water with a splash of ACV. All the other chickens look healthy at this time. I don't want to cull her if there is a chance of recovery but I don't want to loose the whole flock.

I have not introduced any new birds from another source, but do have chicks who have hatched 2 weeks ago. My chickens roam my orchard which backs up to open space. I have 13 hens and 6 chicks. They roost in a 5 x12 coop. The two new moms with chicks have been separated from the flock. My neighbor has a free range flock too.

Any advice is greatly appreciated. Of course, this stuff always happens on a holiday weekend.

 

[TOOCLOSE]

kikime: Welcome to BYC!

It sounds like you are describing sour crop! Check her crawl/crop and see if it feels like a water ballon! If it does then it's sour crop! This is a deadly thing to have. There is all sorts of info for this throughout the Threads. I've had three hens die from it, before I knew what it was.

If you can handle her, sit her in your lap. Then try feeding her some baby parrot food thru a syringe. Or wet chick starter! It's gritty. Then massage her crawl/crop to help move the liquid around. Gently push the crawl/crop upwards and then downwards. This will help to push the liquid down her throat. It has to be removed in order for her to survive.

TC

 

[Kikime]

Thank you! Poor Ginger didn't make it through the night. Yes, her crop was enlarged. I now know to watch for this. I feel pretty lame that I couldn't figure this out. I guess I have been pretty lucky. So far, my flock has been healthy. The rest of the flock seems fine. I think I will do a thorough cleaning and sanitize just in case it was something else then give them all some good yogurt today.

 

[TOOCLOSE]

OH how sad! I've been right where you are though! We lose and learn, don't we? I'm now able to catch things quicker since our chickens live TOO CLOSE to us! In the house with us! I've told my husband many times - whichever goes first? Maria or hubby! The other will have to be put down too! Those two are like jam & peanut butter! Or jelly and butter! I can be holding Maria and ask her: "Where's your daddy" and she shoots her head straight into the air, neck extended and starts looking around for him. LOL

TC

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Heat stress will kill chickens faster than disease. That could be your problem. Chickens regulate their body temps by painting. If that fails they next drink water until it runs out of their mouths. A covered laundry basket inside of a stuffy laundry room sounds to me like a recipe for poultry heat stroke. Older chickens like aged humans are more apt to suffer from issues related to their environment.

Inescapable and unrelenting hot Sunlight can kill a young healthy chicken in 5 minutes.

 

[Kikime]

I'm pretty sure heat is not the issue. They had plenty of fresh water, shade and only in the low 70's. I brought her inside at 11pm as I wanted to separate her to avoid infecting the rest of the flock and to better car for her. The temp outside was in the low 50's. The room somewhat drafty so I really don't think this was the issue. Thank you for the consideration.

 

[farmtotable]

So sorry for your loss - you did the right thing by bringing her inside. Both to isolate her from the flock, and keep her safe from any sort of stress. We have a master bedroom shower that doubles as a chicken emergency room!

We do what we can for our beloved birds, but sometimes it's just their time to go to the big farm in the sky.

 

[TOOCLOSE]

I've read several posts in reference as to what to do to keep this from happening in our chickens! I was corrected in what I thought would prevent it! So much for thinking I had the answer! LOL I'm truly grateful though that there are some really smart ppl throughout the threads to keep our flocks healthy with proven knowledge and success!

When my kids are outside on hot days in their outside pens! I keep a box fan turned on them. A friend told me years ago - "A chicken isn't happy unless they are scratching"! How right he is!

TC

 

[Kikime]

I gave them all yogurt yesterday. It did actually heat up yesterday afternoon and one other seemed to be panting in the afternoon and evening. It could have been the heat, but I took her in for the night. I massaged her crop which seemed large and squishy gave her a mix of coconut and oregano oil through a dropper and a bit more massage. She seems perfect this morning. The other day I gave them pulp from juicing carrots, apples, beets and ginger. I think this might have been too fibrous and low in water content and just got jammed up in a few of the girls. I thought I was doing something good for them. :/

 

[TOOCLOSE]

From what I was told!!!! A fresh apple is okay! But a day old apple can cause the sour crop problem! Could be more to the story on the apples, but my girls only get a fresh apple! We cut them in half and stick a corn cob holder on all four sides. This way when they peck them they don't flop over.

TC