Why is my chicken throwing up?

[missd10]

My chicken is 1.5 months old and she has been very quiet for ~3 days. She stands as though she is roosting with her puffed out chest. She is eating and drinking occasionally, but she continues to 'throw up'. When she does this it is a yellow, watery, mucousy substance. She will move her neck in a circular motion at times... it almost appears as though she has something stuck in her throat, but I really don't know what is wrong with her. Her nose, comb, feathers, skin, poop and breathing all appear fine. She continues to allow us to pet her, but I really don't know what is wrong with her. Has anyone ever had this happen to them? The vet gave us an antibiotic to put in their water for 5 days, but I am not sure that that it is helping. Any suggestions?

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC. It sounds as though she has either impacted crop or sour crop. Is the crop full and hard, or full and soft? Did the vet tell you to give a lot of water and to massage the crop many times a day? Are you giving probiotics, buttermilk, or a small amount of plain yogurt? What is the antibiotic? Here are a couple of links for you to read:
http://www.tillysnest.com/2012/01/crop-issues.html
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/04/answers-from-chicken-vet-on-impacted.html

 

[missd10]

Thank you for the information! I will check this out!

 

[missd10]

Well, this is what is wrong! Thank you for this information. I didn't check this as there is no information on this when you are looking up what might be wrong with your chicken, including in my chicken book and she has been in a resting position and this looks puffed out more naturally. Any idea how long it might take to clear this? I massaged last night and got some undigested food out, but she continues to be 'bloated' yet this morning. Her stool looked very hard last night as well. When do I take her to the vet? Our vets don't know much about chickens... When I feel as far down on the crop as I can, it feels 'gritty'. Should it feel this way? Thank you so much for the information! It is a relief to at least know what is wrong with her... now I need to fix it!

 

[Eggcessive]

You are welcome. While you are battling this problem, I would not give anything other than water the first day, yogurt or buttermilk and applesauce the second day, and on the third day give soft or raw egg, chick feed mixed with water, a little yogurt. Massage as often as you can. Do not give any whole grains (scratch) or anything hard to digest. If your vet can use a crop tube to clean out the crop I would do it right away. Although I haven't treated crop problems, once they have it a few days, it gets harder to treat. There is a ton of information on BYC to read about crop problems if you do a search at the top of the page. Good luck.

 

[casportpony]

My chicken is 1.5 months old and she has been very quiet for ~3 days. She stands as though she is roosting with her puffed out chest. She is eating and drinking occasionally, but she continues to 'throw up'. When she does this it is a yellow, watery, mucousy substance. She will move her neck in a circular motion at times... it almost appears as though she has something stuck in her throat, but I really don't know what is wrong with her. Her nose, comb, feathers, skin, poop and breathing all appear fine. She continues to allow us to pet her, but I really don't know what is wrong with her. Has anyone ever had this happen to them? The vet gave us an antibiotic to put in their water for 5 days, but I am not sure that that it is helping. Any suggestions?

What antibiotic did the vet give you? If she's not drinking, she's not getting the medication, period. Call your vet back!

-Kathy