Worried about one hen.

[retnug]

She just started. She has laid two eggs. The last one a week ago and then nothing.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Does she have an swelling/bloat or feeling of fluid in the abdomen?
What type of food/treats do you feed?
Do you have oyster shell and source of grit available free choice?

I know, a lot of questions...I'm trying to help determine if it's just a crop problem or if there is a reproductive problem in the mix as well. A lot of crop issues are a symptom of underlying conditions.

If the crop has not emptied overnight, continue to treat that, but she may also benefit from a soak in epsom salts to see if that will get things moving. Try to keep her hydrated and offer extra calcium and poultry vitamins.

 

[retnug]

Have not felt swelling or bloat in abdomen. Was trying to feel around for a bound egg.
She does not waddle strangely or spend time sitting. Have not seen her trying to push, as in expelling an egg.

The feed is a mixture but I will need to look at the bag in the morning to see exactly whats in it. They get corn and dried meal worms as treats as well as veggies out of our fridge. They have some grit but no oyster. They do get to spend a good chunk of the day roaming a good section of the backyard outside their 8'x16' wired in run. (they are great little rototillers)

Not to many questions. I really appreciate your time and suggestions.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Have not felt swelling or bloat in abdomen. Was trying to feel around for a bound egg.
She does not waddle strangely or spend time sitting. Have not seen her trying to push, as in expelling an egg.

The feed is a mixture but I will need to look at the bag in the morning to see exactly whats in it. They get corn and dried meal worms as treats as well as veggies out of our fridge. They have some grit but no oyster. They do get to spend a good chunk of the day roaming a good section of the backyard outside their 8'x16' wired in run. (they are great little rototillers)

Not to many questions. I really appreciate your time and suggestions.

If you can, show us your feed bag

Even if the feed is a layer formula, it's always best to offer oyster shell free choice for extra calcium. I put mine in a cup attached to a post in my run. The girls will take what they need.

Having troubles with passing an egg can be from a number of things, but lack of calcium, dehydration and being overweight seem to be of the most common.

 

[aart]

If you can, show us your feed bag

Yes!
And look for the tag sewn into the bottom, that's where the real info is.

 

[retnug]

Here are a few photos. The patient, the area under her roost last night and bag tag. Crop is still same as it was yesterday.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

She's a lovely girl.

I don't really see a distressed posture.

Your feed looks fine, nutritionally wise. Some folks do notice with organic feed, that their flock picks out favorite items and leaves the rest. I wonder if your girl is doing that too? If she is, then she may not be getting all the nutrients she needs. You could try soaking a small amount overnight to see if she will eat better. It may also make the food a little softer for her to digest until you can get her crop straightened out.

 

[rebrascora]

If she has a crop issue, I would get some unmedicated chick crumb and soak it in water to make a very sloppy mush and remove access to that feed. The aggregate nature of the feed will just add to the blockage. You want something that has no lumps in it and will just filter through the blockage with the water and massage. Chick crumb is also usually higher in protein which she will need to build her back up. Adding a little scrambled egg to the chick crumb slurry and some oil may also help. Has she lost weight/body condition? To assess this, feel her breast bone. Bearing in mind it is still winter and very little food is going through her system, a heat source will benefit her as she is not ingesting enough calories to keep her body temperature stable.

What sometimes happens is that they peck at long grass or hay and it gets ravelled up into a soggy knot in their crop and acts like a strain for food going through their system, filtering out the larger particles and only allowing fluids to seep through slowly. Poops become small and mostly liquid because that is all that is going through their system. Unfortunately the feed you are using does not help this because it cannot be broken down in the crop, so that creates a further filtration bed in the crop. I am one of those people who has concerns about this type of feed and

I would urge you to consider a pelleted feed for all your flock when this episode is (hopefully) resolved. I have outlined my concerns and the reasoning behind them on a number of posts recently where people were having serious health issues and even deaths whilst using feeds like these grain mixes and I will cut and paste them for you if you are interested, but getting her well is the priority.

It may of course be that there is a blockage lower down her digestive tract perhaps caused by her reproductive system, that is causing the food to be stopped back to the crop, but a crop impaction is probably the only part you can treat, aside from lubricating and massaging the vent, but it is probably too long since she laid her last egg for it to be egg binding and her still be alive and she is not obviously pulsing at the vent, which you would expect to see if that was the case.

 

[retnug]

Wyorp and rebrascora,

Ironically I had just mentioned to my kids... who these girls actually belong to, that the plan for tomorrow was to remove the feed and go back the the pelleted feed that we were using a few weeks ago. An give them some greens as treats.

If she is really having trouble with the harder grains do you think that I should try to get her to regurgitate to help clear her crop?

rebrascora, I would be interested in those links. Thanks

I really do not want to lose this girl as she is one of my young son's favorites. So I appreciate any help.

G

 

[Wyorp Rock]

How does the crop feel this morning?

Another question would be, are you removing food/water at night while she is caged so you can for sure know that the crop is still not functioning properly (she's not eating during the night is she?)

If you have just recently switched feeds, this could also be a cause of her not feeling well.
Organic feeds are usually more "whole" so, if she didn't find a sufficient source of grit, she may not have been able to process it.

As for vomiting her, if there is no sour smell or she doesn't have liquid pouring out of her beak, I wouldn't. But that is my take - the only time I personally would vomit a chicken is if they were lethargic or looked like they were going to die. If not done correctly they can aspirate or even choke to death - just my thoughts on that.

If the crop is still lumpy/hard, you can try a stool softener, but massage the crop several times a day if you can. She does need to be drinking and can have "soft" food (wet feed, hard boiled egg, etc.)