Sick Chicken - Devastated Son

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Sick Chicken - Devastated Son

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David

Joined: 24 Jun 2005
Posts: 1

Posted: Fri Jun 24, 05 6:41 pm Post subject: Sick Chicken - Devastated Son

Please help. We have 7 chickens whcih are my 2 sons' much loved pets. One of the chickens has developed a huge chest - I think it's the crop. Today she is just sitting on her own and seems to be suffering from some kind of digestion problems. she has vomited
( cloudy fluid ) and seems to be wanting to vomit all the time. She must be most uncomfortable and spends her time alone, and has eaten little. She has been fed on layers mash in the mornings, corn in the evenings, with Poutry Spice and allowed to roam on our lawn and garden.
We have only had chickens for 6 weeks, and this is the first time one has shown signs of being under the weather. Any advise would be much appreciated.

Bernie66

Joined: 14 Jan 2005
Posts: 13967
Location: Eastoft

Posted: Fri Jun 24, 05 6:44 pm Post subject:
Sorry my friend i have no idea myself, if you get no joy here soon try river cottage forum also as there are a few experts knocking around over there. And possibly a vet?

pink bouncy

Joined: 14 May 2005
Posts: 174

Posted: Fri Jun 24, 05 7:01 pm Post subject:

If the crop is soft, it's sour crop, a bacterial infection that needs antibiotics. If it's hard, it's impacted crop that must be cleared.
Impacted crop is usually caused by foods that cannot pass from the crop and cause it to become blocked like long grasses etc.
Feed liquid parrafin (or in a pinch, liquid cooking oil) to the hen, 10mls using a spoon or syringe, leave it for five minutes then massage the crop firmly but gently to get the oil on all the crop contents. Then turn the chicken upside down and massage the crop's contents towards the beak to try to clear it. Don't spend too long doing this bit, the hen may choke, five minutes is plenty. Three times a day for a couple of days and it should clear. You can also try feeding live undyed fishing maggots to her, they will remain alive for a while in the crop and the wriggling action may help to loosen the impacted material. If it hasn't worked after forty-eight hours take her to the vet who will be able to surgically remove the contents for you.

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Fri Jun 24, 05 7:21 pm Post subject:

Hi David, sorry to hear about the chicken. I think PB has summed up what to do. The chicken may not pull through but I had a problem last year and after a week our hen perked up and is still alive today. The full details are here:
https://forum.rivercottage.net/about5577.html&highlight=swollen+crop

She had a lump of feathers that caused the crop to swell. Using cooking oil and severl massages of the crop this seemed to clear the blockage after several days.

Good luck.

PS, also take care with them eating long grass, hay, feathers etc. It may sound horrible but if the hen does die it would be worth opening up the crop to see what has happened to prevent it happening again to the others.

ButteryHOLsomeness

Joined: 03 Apr 2005
Posts: 770

Posted: Fri Jun 24, 05 9:35 pm Post subject:
sorry to hear about your chicken, your poor boys must be scared for her having never had livestock i have no idea what everyone is talking about... what is the crop? what does it do? i gather it's in the chest or near the mouth/beak? is this a common problem? just curious, i'm building up my farmyard basics knowledge for the day when we can have our own land to grown and rear animals on!

Blue Sky

Joined: 30 Jan 2005
Posts: 7658
Location: France

Posted: Fri Jun 24, 05 9:44 pm Post subject:
Hi We had similar problems last year and being as we were un-learned in poultry we took ours to the local vet. It may be costly but so is a childs "broken heart". You need to define whether they are pets or livestock. Pets should go to the vets for examination - see the professionals as it were. Treacodactyl is one of our poultry experts on here. His advice is worth noting.

pink bouncy

Joined: 14 May 2005
Posts: 174

Posted: Fri Jun 24, 05 9:53 pm Post subject:

ButteryHOLsomeness wrote:

sorry to hear about your chicken, your poor boys must be scared for her

having never had livestock i have no idea what everyone is talking about... what is the crop? what does it do? i gather it's in the chest or near the mouth/beak? is this a common problem?

just curious, i'm building up my farmyard basics knowledge for the day when we can have our own land to grown and rear animals on!

Does this help?

The crop is for storing food prior to digesting it, sour crop is relatively common but I myself have only ever seen one case of it. I have however spoken to many people on the internet who have had cases of it.

ButteryHOLsomeness

Joined: 03 Apr 2005
Posts: 770

Posted: Fri Jun 24, 05 10:12 pm Post subject:
i get it now, thanks! do chickens need grit in their diet to help them grind up their food? we raised/bred cockatiels and parakeets (budgies) and they have to have grit or they can't properly digest their food. the crop appears to me as a sort of place where food could sorta hang out until grit could be mixed in and force it into the stomach to begin digestion, but i could be completely off!

Blue Sky

Joined: 30 Jan 2005
Posts: 7658
Location: France

Posted: Fri Jun 24, 05 10:14 pm Post subject:
Quite right buttery .... hens/chicks need grit like other birds and poultry do. We use crushed oyster shells which are available locally here in France We give our hens grit every couple of weeks now

ButteryHOLsomeness

Joined: 03 Apr 2005
Posts: 770

Posted: Sat Jun 25, 05 12:21 am Post subject:
excellent! i've learned something valuable tonight... and i'll remember it too since i already knew about grit for other birds.. cool! david, i wish you the best with your chicken getting well again

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Sat Jun 25, 05 7:23 am Post subject:

Not quite but my parents kept them and our three have managed to rack up a few problems over the years.

There are quite a few people with chickens on this site and amongst us we've probably seem most things.

There's a little bit more here about the crop problems:

https://www.downsizer.net/Projects/Poultry_and_Livestock/Chicken_Concerns%2C_Problems_and_Ailments/

And some details on grit here:

https://www.downsizer.net/Projects/Poultry_and_Livestock/Feeding_Chickens/

If anyone has any improvements to those articles just say and I'll add the comments.

timberdog

Joined: 16 Jun 2005
Posts: 149

Posted: Sat Jun 25, 05 8:58 pm Post subject: chicken

Hello matey

sorry to hear about your chicken i think it may be Sour Crop..when food has not been passed from the crop and is sitting in the crop rotting or an infection to the crop.

Birds of prey suffer this from time to time i have only had one Harris Hawk who had the same and the same symtoms .
You are best to take to a good BOP or Poulty vet i can reccomend a good one if you wish.

What they will do if this is sour crop they will pass a tube passed the part of the mouth which allows the bird to breath into the crop and flushh or empty out the crop with saline fluid and probally give antibiotics.

PS DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS IF YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO YOU COULD KILL THE BIRD!!

Tim

ButteryHOLsomeness

Joined: 03 Apr 2005
Posts: 770

Posted: Sat Jun 25, 05 9:27 pm Post subject:

Treacodactyl wrote:

There's a little bit more here about the crop problems:

https://www.downsizer.net/Projects/Poultry_and_Livestock/Chicken_Concerns%2C_Problems_and_Ailments/

And some details on grit here:

https://www.downsizer.net/Projects/Poultry_and_Livestock/Feeding_Chickens/

If anyone has any improvements to those articles just say and I'll add the comments.

thanks for those treac, very helpful

Katie the chicken lady
Guest

Posted: Fri Jul 15, 05 2:14 am Post subject: Chickens with large lump on breasts

Please help!My childeren have raised three beautiful hens and a lovely bantam rooster.They are about a year and a half old.A couple months ago one of the hens had a small bald spot on her breast.The spot grew larger as a lump developed.When the hen jumps you can hear a water sloshing sound.She is eating and laying and seams otherwise fine.We were told to give her oyster shell and antibiotics from our local feed store.I have now found the beginnings of lumps on our other hens.What do we have?Sour crop or some dreadful poultry disease?Our little Banty is my eldest sons baby.Should we remove him from the coop?We were given Terramycin (oxytetracycline HCI)10 grams soluble powder.
Is it correct to add 1 ounce per gallon of water to their drinking water?For how many days?PLEASE HELP!Should I keep the kids away from them till we know what is what?

judith

Joined: 16 Dec 2004
Posts: 22789
Location: Montgomeryshire

Posted: Fri Jul 15, 05 10:21 am Post subject:

Hi Katie.
The fact that your hen is still eating and laying, suggests that it is not in any pain or discomfort. A sick hen will just stand still with its tail down, looking very sorry for itself.
From your description, it doesn't sound like a crop problem. What are these lumps like? Are they filled with pus or are they hard? How big are they? Are there any scabs?
If you can describe them in more detail, we can put our heads together and see if we can come up with a solution. I wouldn't use the antibiotic until we have an idea of what is really wrong.

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