Vomiting and falling over

[JessicaHorton]

My sweet Cochin boy is sick! No URI that I can tell but he does vomit when I pick him up. I noticed recently he had a lice problem but he other chickens didn’t. I think he may have stopped dusting himself. I didn’t notice until he started losing some coloring.... that’s when I noticed he was a little disoriented too. I bathed him and got the lice off. He’s still eating and drinking and his color has come back since I bathed him. They are free range so I can’t tell about the poop but I suspect he may have left a grassy watery puddle I found. I just picked him up to check him - he walked right up to me - and he threw up when I picked him up. He feels a little bony underneath. The rest of my tiny flock appears healthy and normal!! What’s going on???

 

[Peppercorngal]

Did you check his crop? Could be impacted or sour crop. If it's clogged he/she will vomit, and if it is clogged puking is a good thing. Is the crop mushy? Does it feel like a balloon with water in it? That's a problem. Is it hard as a rock? That's a problem too. Check the crop and see if that's it.

 

[JessicaHorton]

Did you check his crop? Could be impacted or sour crop. If it's clogged he/she will vomit, and if it is clogged puking is a good thing. Is the crop mushy? Does it feel like a balloon with water in it? That's a problem. Is it hard as a rock? That's a problem too. Check the crop and see if that's it.

Oh my goodness!! I will try that!! I’ve never even heard of that and I just looked up a video, and that’s exactly what that grassy pile looked like that I saw!!! Thanks!! I’ll let you know!!!

 

[Peppercorngal]

Yes, keep us informed on progress!

 

[JessicaHorton]

Yes, keep us informed on progress!

Well... that didn’t seem to be it. His crop is small and more like a sand filled balloon... not hard or super soft... but wouldn’t express.

 

[Peppercorngal]

Well... that didn’t seem to be it. His crop is small and more like a sand filled balloon... not hard or super soft... but wouldn’t express.

It should be like a sand filled pocket. So sounds like that is not the problem. Others might say it's Marek's disease, it can manifest itself in many different ways, so that is possible. Outside of that I really don't know, I don't have much experience with sick chickens. Good Luck!

 

[MandS]

We had something similar and it was a repeated sour crop, with the hen being sick every time she bent her head down (like a major dribble). It turned out to be worms. The worms blocked her digestive system to such an extent that things couldn't pass through. Look out for her poo. We were lucky and saw a worm in one of them, which alerted us to it and then got worming treatment. After about 2 days she cleared up and the first signs of her getting better was a voracious appetite and hefty sized poo.

It might not be that but we didn't think it was worms either until we saw one (long threadworm)

Good luck.

 

[JessicaHorton]

It should be like a sand filled pocket. So sounds like that is not the problem. Others might say it's Marek's disease, it can manifest itself in many different ways, so that is possible. Outside of that I really don't know, I don't have much experience with sick chickens. Good Luck!

My sweet Prince passed away this morning thank you for your help.

 

[JessicaHorton]

My sweet Prince passed away this morning thank you for your help.

We had something similar and it was a repeated sour crop, with the hen being sick every time she bent her head down (like a major dribble). It turned out to be worms. The worms blocked her digestive system to such an extent that things couldn't pass through. Look out for her poo. We were lucky and saw a worm in one of them, which alerted us to it and then got worming treatment. After about 2 days she cleared up and the first signs of her getting better was a voracious appetite and hefty sized poo.

It might not be that but we didn't think it was worms either until we saw one (long threadworm)

Good luck.

Thank you. My sweet baby passed away this morning. I still don’t know what happened. But a friend suspects it may have been fatty liver because his skin turned a strange yellow. I never saw any worms but I keep them on a steady diet that has a natural dewormer mixed into the feed. He seemed to be able to poop. I just don’t know. thank you for your help!

 

[JessicaHorton]

We had something similar and it was a repeated sour crop, with the hen being sick every time she bent her head down (like a major dribble). It turned out to be worms. The worms blocked her digestive system to such an extent that things couldn't pass through. Look out for her poo. We were lucky and saw a worm in one of them, which alerted us to it and then got worming treatment. After about 2 days she cleared up and the first signs of her getting better was a voracious appetite and hefty sized poo.

It might not be that but we didn't think it was worms either until we saw one (long threadworm)

Good luck.

Do you have a recommended de wormer and how do you use it?