MaybeItsFine
In the Brooder
- Jul 18, 2023
- 18
- 13
- 36
Hi y’all. I have a sweet Rhode Island Red named Lily. Lily hatched in mid-February 2023 along with her flock mates, Dahlia (Barred Rocks) and Rose (Rhode Island Red). They all came from my local Tractor Supply store. We all live in middle Tennessee.
This past February, Lily suddenly stopped laying.
I have checked to see if she is eggbound. She is not. Around April or May I gave her an Epsom salt soak anyway.
I have checked her (and the others) for mites and lice constantly. I’ve seen none.
Since she stopped laying, I noticed her crop was always very hard, and a little smaller than a ping pong ball. Morning, noon, and night. I isolated her, withheld food, fed her coconut oil, and waited until she started to poop out a little bit of grit. Her crop seemed to loosen up, but stayed very small. By the next day, her crop was hard and small again. I’ve been massaging it probably about every other day. About three days ago, her crop was kind of mushy but still seemed small. Now for the past two days - morning and night - nothing. I can’t feel her crop.
I’m not sure if I’m reading into it, but I feel like her comb is starting to pale. She also seems to have lost color in her top tail feather.
Everyone is fed Dumor 16% layer crumble which is available in the feeder all day. Water, grit, and oyster shells are available at all times. They are given scratch (maybe a little too much in the winter, sparingly in the summer), black oil sunflower seeds, frozen corn, and plenty of watermelon. They also tend to eat spilled bird seed from my feeders when I let them free range in the yard in the evening. Rose and Dahlia lay regularly and have nice loose, fluctuating crops.
I’ve added a picture of Lily’s most recent poop as of 7/13
I’m at a loss. I don’t know what to do. It’s been 5 months. I’m worried. Does anyone have any advice? I don’t care about the eggs, per se. I’m worried about losing the world’s sweetest chicken.
Thank you for reading this far. I adore these chickens and I’m constantly worrying about them.
This past February, Lily suddenly stopped laying.
I have checked to see if she is eggbound. She is not. Around April or May I gave her an Epsom salt soak anyway.
I have checked her (and the others) for mites and lice constantly. I’ve seen none.
Since she stopped laying, I noticed her crop was always very hard, and a little smaller than a ping pong ball. Morning, noon, and night. I isolated her, withheld food, fed her coconut oil, and waited until she started to poop out a little bit of grit. Her crop seemed to loosen up, but stayed very small. By the next day, her crop was hard and small again. I’ve been massaging it probably about every other day. About three days ago, her crop was kind of mushy but still seemed small. Now for the past two days - morning and night - nothing. I can’t feel her crop.
I’m not sure if I’m reading into it, but I feel like her comb is starting to pale. She also seems to have lost color in her top tail feather.
Everyone is fed Dumor 16% layer crumble which is available in the feeder all day. Water, grit, and oyster shells are available at all times. They are given scratch (maybe a little too much in the winter, sparingly in the summer), black oil sunflower seeds, frozen corn, and plenty of watermelon. They also tend to eat spilled bird seed from my feeders when I let them free range in the yard in the evening. Rose and Dahlia lay regularly and have nice loose, fluctuating crops.
I’ve added a picture of Lily’s most recent poop as of 7/13
I’m at a loss. I don’t know what to do. It’s been 5 months. I’m worried. Does anyone have any advice? I don’t care about the eggs, per se. I’m worried about losing the world’s sweetest chicken.
Thank you for reading this far. I adore these chickens and I’m constantly worrying about them.
Last edited:
