When I massage my hen's crop she acts like she's choking

[Eggcessive]

Please let us know if the vet has any advice on how to treat her. I hope she gets over this.

 

[jbs]

Thanks Eggcessive and Casportpony. I took my hen to the vet the other day and the treatment recommended by the vet is similar to what both of you have recommended. I'm glad that I found this avian vet (*removed name of vet office* in Gettysburg). The vet spent a lot of time with us and it was overall a much more positive experience than my last trip to an avian vet. $130, which I thought was very reasonable.

My hen's crop was basically empty, other than foul smelling brown liquid. The vet thought her gizzard was empty but the other organ, the second stomach (?) had something in it. Without an x-ray it's impossible to know if it's normal stuff or something like straw or grass stuck. By the time I got her to the vet, my chicken was sprawled out, couldn't really stand, and had very labored breathing. We talked about just euthanizing her but decided to try some basic stuff to see if it helped.

We were still finding live mites on her so the vet injected Ivermectin. She also administered subcutaneous fluids and injected an antibiotic, Albon. She gave me 5 days' worth to give orally at home. The next day, my chicken was much more alert, standing up, was drinking water on her own and pecking at food but not really eating. She's not as gurgly, but when she bends over a food or water dish she'll often vomit into the dish, so I took food and water away. Several times a day I'll hold the dishes up for her so she can drink standing up and not throw it up. She drank tons of water on her own, but she wasn't very interested in food. I got her to eat a little mashed sweet potato, but she's not interested in anything else, not even hard boiled egg.

This morning she's alert and drinking, but still no interest in food. Her droppings are watery but not so explosive as they were a few days ago. She still has the problem where she'll vomit when she puts her head down. Since she's throwing up so much, the vet told me to try to give the antibiotic slowly, but it's just been a mess, going all over everything. If my hen survives 5 days I'll have to pick up more doses of antibiotic from the vet.

I've been posting on a mite thread as well. I don't know if the mite infestation started my hen's illness, or if she had some other condition and the mites were a secondary thing, but I have learned that mites are very serious and I need to monitor my entire flock in the future and treat as needed. I dusted the flock a week ago, was going to dust a second time at 7-10 days, but may treat them with pour on Ivermectin instead. It seems to be more effective and I can't imagine that it will be more difficult than it was to dust them.

I hope that I'm not just dragging this whole thing out. I'll feel bad for putting my chicken thru this if she dies anyway. If anyone has any additional advice please let me know. Thanks again for your help.

*Edited to remove name of vet office because I wasn't very happy with follow up.

 

[Eggcessive]

Can you set her waterer up high on bricks, so that she doesn't have to lean over? Are you putting the Albon in her water? Albon is Sulfadimethoxine, the same as Di-Methox. They may have different mixing instructions with the different brands, but it is usually put into the water, and freshly mixed daily. I'm glad that you are getting her treated, since she may recover. Thanks for the update on her. I would add some probiotic to her feed daily, and you can put it in the water once or twice a week after you are done with Albon. That will help her beneficial gut bacteria get back to normal. Some brands of vitamins have probiotics added, and the vitamins would not hurt either. Many times with sour crop the vet will also use an antifungal drug at the same time as the antibiotic. Nystatin and fluconazole are common ones. Both need to be prescribed by the vet.

 

[jbs]

Thanks Eggcessive. A year or so ago I took a hen with sour crop to a different vet and thought she prescribed a fungicide along with the antibiotic. I've been trying to give the Albon via syringe and it's a horrible mess. Mixing in the water would be MUCH easier. I'll talk to the vet about that, as well as a fungicide.

I did have the waterer on a brick and it was a good height when she was laying down, but then she started standing up and was vomiting into it again. Today the vomiting seems to be worse and she's not so interested in drinking water. I put the water on a second brick and left it like that, but she still vomits a bit into it when she drinks.

I've been using Rooster Booster vitamins with electrolytes and probiotics in the water. I have that in the flock waterers as well. If my hen recovers I'll keep her on it. Thanks for your advice!

 

[Eggcessive]

Your welcome, and I hope she recovers. I've never had a chicken with sour crop, and I have heard that it is very difficult to treat. Long strands of grass are usually the culprit to start with impacted crop, which will progress to sour crop eventually. I did have a chicken with a gizzard impaction last year. When I opened her up I found her gizzard full of sunflower shells. I had been throwing them out in the coop , and she must have had another underlying problem causing her to get stopped up. Chicken illnesses seem difficult to diagnose since we have to guess at different things.

 

[jbs]

Well, so much for my vet recommendation. She told me that if I want to try the fungicide she has to order it and have it sent to my house, and that would take at least a few days. The vet also stressed that my hen is very sick and implied that my chicken's probably not going to make it anyway, and maybe I should just drop it. She doesn't seem to think there's a fungal issue, but said she'd order the fungicide if I want. I can buy Medistatin at Bird Supply of NH online for $55 and one day shipping is $23. I think I can get it myself faster than the vet can get something shipped to me.

The vet didn't return my call until last night and I was getting a bit desperate, so after having read TwoCrow's post about 'Impacted, Slow and Sour Crops', I went to CVS and bought Clotrimazole. I gave my hen 1cc last night and 1 cc this morning. I feel super nuts for doing that, but figure she's going to die anyway and I've got nothing to lose. I also bought some baby food and started syringing that in. My hen is alert and walking around. She's drinking a bit but still won't eat on her own. She's producing a few droppings that are a bit less watery, they look more solid and normal. I realize that she may have some internal issue and might not make it anyway, but it seems like I should at least try to treat for yeast/fungal infection.

I think I'm going to order the Medistatin so I'll at least have it next week (or for the next sick bird). When I was at CVS yesterday I also bought Monistat suppositories, and after seeing all the inactive ingredients in my Clotrimazole cream, I'm wondering if I should switch to the Monistat, which, other than the active ingredient just contains hydrogenated vegetable oil. Does anyone have an opinion on that, or would you recommend that I do anything differently? Thanks for any advice. I'm totally on my own otherwise.

 

[casportpony]

Your vet can prescribe ketoconazole or fluconazole for you, which you should be able to get from them. If they don't have it, they can call it into any human pharmacy for you.

Did the vet check her poop for bacteria and worms? Did they offer to show you how to give fluids or how to tube feed?

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

Get yourself a size 18 French catheter and 60ml catheter tip syringe from the vet and I'll teach you how to tube feed... It is *much* safer and way less stressful that syringe feeding.

you will also need to get some Kaytee Baby Bird food from Petsmart or Petco.

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

Can you set her waterer up high on bricks, so that she doesn't have to lean over? Are you putting the Albon in her water? Albon is Sulfadimethoxine, the same as Di-Methox. They may have different mixing instructions with the different brands, but it is usually put into the water, and freshly mixed daily. I'm glad that you are getting her treated, since she may recover. Thanks for the update on her. I would add some probiotic to her feed daily, and you can put it in the water once or twice a week after you are done with Albon. That will help her beneficial gut bacteria get back to normal. Some brands of vitamins have probiotics added, and the vitamins would not hurt either. Many times with sour crop the vet will also use an antifungal drug at the same time as the antibiotic. Nystatin and fluconazole are common ones. Both need to be prescribed by the vet.

Albon is also given orally.

-Kathy

 

[jbs]

Thanks Kathy. The tube feeding sounds very scary, but I'm at the point where I'm willing to try. Do I need to get the tube from the vet? I have a feeling that she won't have one. I did find baby bird food at PetSmart, but not tubes - altho I may have missed the tubes.

The vet did not check droppings for bacteria or parasites. She said the Ivermectin would kill mites as well as worms and other parasites, but I have read elsewhere on this site - maybe your postings - that Ivermectin's not a very effective wormer for poultry. I can get Safeguard wormer at TSC.

My vet said that if my hen had a fungal infection, she thought she would see white in her beak and throat, but if I REALLY wanted to try a fungicide she'd get me one. I called the vet office this morning but haven't heard back from anyone yet. I ordered the Medistatin online with one day USPS shipping, so there's a chance I'll get it tomorrow.

My hen bent over to drink water a few times today without throwing up into her water dish, and I was hopeful that her crop was better, but then she did start throwing up again. If her crop is that full, will tube feeding be effective?

I have been giving Albon orally, via syringe, but think it might have made more sense to use Di-Methox mixed in water. I had some issues with the Albon, shooting it all over the wall and my hen's feathers before I got any down her throat. Di-Methox is sold at my feed store. I could have started treating my hen with Di-Methox in water 2 weeks ago, when I first noticed that she was acting funny, and maybe avoided this whole thing.