Hello Everyone,
I am at a loss right now and am hoping your collective wisdom can help. I have an apparently sick hen. She is about 4-5 years old. In the last 48 hours she has stopped eating. The first day she spent the entire day just sitting on the perch in the coop. I brought her inside. She drinks water, but does not eat anything. I tried to tempt her with strawberry tops yesterday. She took a couple but immediately dropped them. She spends her time standing and sitting in the box in which I placed her. Right now, she is drinking water with added electrolytes. Thank you for any suggestions you can provide.
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I was about to write that my hen is still not eating, but she JUST started pecking at some food I offered to her--YAY! I am hoping this is a sign of recovery. Thanks again to everyone for your suggestions and information.
Sour crop can sometimes be the result of an impacted crop. Have you checked for that? If not, feel her crop. If it feels empty, no worries. If full and pliable, like silly putty, it's impacted.
For an impacted crop give some olive oil - a few drops from an eyedropper - and massage it into the contents of the crop. You'll be able to feel the movement and breakdown of the contents. It may take a few times to fully break it up. Once broken up, she'll be able to pass it through.
For a sour crop I've given apple cider vinegar diluted in water. This is acidic and is distasteful to the fungus that is causing the sour crop. I start with an eyedropper full. I'll add some ACV to her water, too. If she's drinking by herself, she should do OK. If she isn't, I make certain she gets plenty, along with electrolytes (a tad of salt & baking soda in water for a homemade brew.)
When my girls are in the infirmary, I also give them hard boiled egg and yogurt to help with the digestion.
My duck Camron I got from you passed away last week, he had the same symptoms that your describing. I tried bringing him in, changing his diet, he would eat but started struggling with even walking. Day three I found him dead. Camron was awesome and will be missed
I am sorry to hear Camron died, and under such mysterious circumstances.
I will continue to keep an eye out for symptoms. The information provided by everyone is greatly appreciated.
I had one behave that way last year at this time. I brought her in the house and kept her in my shower stall. That bathroom is very cool in temperature. After a day in the chicken infirmary, she was back to normal. I just thought that it was either the heat that got to her or a scorpion sting.
I did not see any swelling that might indicate a scorpion sting--but it is hard to tell unless it happens on the feet :p If it is the heat, or if that is contributing, then I am hoping the time in the house helps. I just noticed some weird mouth movements, so maybe Catherine's idea is still possible :[
K. re: weird mouth movements - could also indicate a scorpion sting. Glad you are watching her closely.
I have a few chickens a year that go through that. I think it is sour crop. If I remember correctly, only one of our chickens has NOT survived. However, the heat combined with sour crop can be too much to recover from. We always bring them in the house for a few days and make sure they have food and water. We have a little cage for them just big enough to move around a little, but small enough to contain the mess. Bringing them inside gives them a few days to cool off and not be bothered by the other chickens. My opinion is that whatever is bothering them moves through their digestive system and comes out the other end. When their behavior is back to normal, I put them back in the hen house at night. Also by separating them, if it is NOT sour crop but something more serious and contagious, you have removed that chicken from the flock early on.
I am researching sour crop. I am glad to hear that most of your birds have recovered from it. If that is the cause, I hope mine does as well.
Within the last week, we had a chicken that was not doing well and I was afraid she wasn't going to pull through. The first day I noticed her, she just sat around without standing when I went to pick her up. I checked her vent for egg binding and massaged the base of her neck which seemed to have some swelling. Later that day, she was laying sideways on the ground with her legs out to the side. When night time came, I gave her some water and placed her in the coop thinking she probably wouldn't make it through the night. In the morning she was showing noticeable improvement and was able to get out of the coup into the chicken run without too much difficulty. Yesterday morning, she was back to pecking me when she didn't think I fed her soon enough to meet her liking. I don't know what she had but she seems fine now and I'm thankful but baffled.
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