Chicken Lethargic, Full Crop In the Morning, No Appetite- Help.

[ChickenPeep]

I haven't tube fed because she does seem to be eating and her crop has been full every time I have felt it. Can she still get worms when the weather hasn't gotten above freezing in over 2 months? I wanted to get safeguard but my mom is skeptical of everything and doesn't think she needs to be wormed. She doesn't even think she's sick. She is and has been in the house. I don't think her crop is soured but impacted is a possibility. It seems full usually and I've seen her eat. She's been pooping fine. I will check in the morning and see f her crop has emptied.
At Tractor Supply today I got some medicated crumbles. I also have Duramycin 10 that I haven't used yet.
I appreciate your help so much.
Here is the medicated crumble I got.

 

[ChickenPeep]

I also just noticed that she has started losing feathers again.

 

[pwand]

She could already have worms before freezing. They can get them from one another, poop in the coop.

Check her crop in the morning, if its squishy and you don't feel anything in it, it could be soured, if hard, you will feel it, its impacted. They can have impaction goes sour. i wouldn't do anything with antibiotics in case she is soured. You need to try to figure out what your dealing with. Even if her crop is full, she still needs to eat. Normally if they have crop problems they have diahrea, so thats puzzling, at least thats my experience. Examine her in her vent to see if you have any lumps or even a stuck egg. Tumors, reproductive issues, cancers, etc can slow a crop down.

In also recommend you treat her for lice/mites and deworm her. Rule these out.

Get your mom to help you check her crop in the morning, she can help decide whats going on and if she sick can help you, ask her to read up on sour and impacted crop.
Heres some links, do the research.
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/04/answers-from-chicken-vet-on-impacted.html
http://www.tillysnest.com/2012/01/crop-issues.html

 

[pwand]

I also just noticed that she has started losing feathers again.

Feather lose is probably from being stressed or sick if you feel its not a normal molt. Don't leave a light on at night, they need darkens to sleep like we do.

 

[ChickenPeep]

Ok I will get some worming medication. When I was at TSC I saw safeguard but it was the type for horses in a syringe. Will that work?
I will check her crop in the morning and let you know how it feels. The last time I felt it before she went to bed it was full but was not as hard as my other girls' crops were.
I will check her vent in the morning.
Thank you for the links. I'm having a lot of trouble diagnosing her because she is digesting but it seems slowed down or even only partially blocked.
I did remember that about a month ago I saw her eat a rubber band. Could that still be in her digestive tract and causing her problems?
Thank you so much for your help! It really means a lot. This is my absolute favorite hen and I will so whatever it takes to help my Ebony be herself again.

 

[pwand]

Yes its the horse paste. I will look up the dosage and post it.

Its possible the elastic band is causing her this problem. Make sure she is getting grit.

Your welcome. Hope she gets better.

 

[pwand]

If you can get safeguard goat dewormer, its cheaper per dosage compared to paste.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/859308/safe-to-eat-eggs/0_100
Go to post 21 to see what they look like and post 24 for dosage.

Valbazen apparently is even better, gets all worms, if you can get that.

Hope this helps, don't forget a syringe.

 

[ChickenPeep]

Thank you for the info about dewormers, I will get some.
So, good news! Her crop was empty this morning! I also noticed that she pooped through the night. She seems energetic and spunky this morning, but she also seems tired. She ate some feed and plain yogurt. She is also dropping feathers left and right.
This is just so puzzling!

 

[pwand]

Thats great news! Feed her good protein to get her energy back. She will burn a lot when molting. Check her crop at least two more mornings that it continues to be flat. Deworm her for worms and treat her anyways for mites/lice even if you don't see any. Hoping for a continuing recovery.

 

[cheep cheep]

Hi ChickenPeep. Firstly you need to be sure what her symptoms are. I can tell you how to treat impacted and sour crop as sadly I have had experience of both with my hens but you must be sure that that is what it is. If she is still pooping then food is getting through albeit perhaps not a fast as it should but this is encouraging at least. Secondly you should also be aware that sometimes an impacted crop comes about because there is another underlying problem. Also if a hen has had a greatly stretched crop then it can take anything up to 2 months for it to work properly again so you must check it every day and repeat the treatment if necessary. Sometimes it just won't clear no matter how much you try to help and in that case you should ask your vet if it can be emptied surgically. You will have to be dedicated in your care of her afterwards if this happens and might well have to help it by massaging daily until it returns to normal. The advice I am about to give you was given to me by a specialist hen vet, it is not coming from me rather via me. Sorry I don't know how old you are but it might be best if an adult does the following for you.

A hen suffering from a sour crop usually drinks quite a lot which is why the crop feels enlarged like a balloon filled with water rather than with air. This can be caused by something they have eaten. In the case of my hen it was a piece of raw potato peeling which she had scavenged out of the compost bin. Basically it was preventing any food from passing through the crop so the food started fermenting giving off a sour smell. Hunching up and being lethargic are just ways that anyone behaves when they are feeling out of sorts. The way to deal with sour crop it to manipulate the contents out of her crop and up through her mouth. The first time a specialist hen vet told me how to do this I was horrified but it saved Poppy's life. Basically what you are trying to do is rinse the crop of its contents. If it is full of water you are off to a good start. If it isn't then you have to give her as much water as she will allow you to by using a syringe. See below for how to do this. Wrap her in a towel, sit her on the edge of your knee and massage/knead her crop quite forcefully in an upward motion. (I was really worried about this and of hurting my hen but I found that when I was too gentle it had little or no affect) When she starts to open her beak, as if to retch, lean her forward or even almost upside down so that gravity will help the contents come out. Don't stop kneading whilst she is in this position until you feel the first amount of food has come out. I found it helps if someone can gently stretch out the neck so that she doesn't try to look up otherwise she will form a u bend and nothing will come out. Sit her up gently and give her more fluids and a little time to recover. Repeat this as many times as she will allow you to. If she is in good condition you'll be able to repeat this several times, however if she is already too poorly due to an underlying problem then she might go floppy. If this is the case stop straight away. I was a bit too timid in my approach when I first did this and the whole process went on for a few days. Not nice for anyone. Not realizing at that time that she could have surgery as a last resort I panicked and thought she would die if I didn't succeed so I decided to be a lot more firm and persistent and that finally did the trick and the potato peeling came out. I gave her one last rinse and the rest is history as they say. One healthy happy hen who went hopping off as if nothing had happened. I think I was more traumatised than she was!

If the crop is hard then that means there is a compaction and this needs loosening and massaging to help her pass the contents. It is not wise to allow her to feed when compacted if her crop is very full but if it is just a small compaction you could offer her bread soaked in oil and warm water but do offer her plenty of water, preferably warm with oil mixed in it. Caster oil is good but basically any oil you have in the kitchen will do. You need to catch your hen and sit her on you lap. If she is fidgety wrap her in a towel to keep her wings tight against her and to prevent her from being able to stand up. Tuck her under your arm and with your free hand gently squeeze, rub and knead the crop. If she has enough water and oil in her crop you will start to feel the contents thinning, if not then using a syringe slowly administer oil and then warm water into her mouth. Try to either get it running under her tongue giving her time to swallow or insert the syringe past the hole in the tongue and squirt it gently directly down her throat. (You can also use a tube to do this but I imagine you would need a specialist supplier to provide you with that.) The reason for doing it this way is to avoid it going into her lungs - the airway is actually in the tongue! you don't want her drowning or getting oil in her lungs!! Don't worry though, she will fight the syringe violently if this happens by mistake so you will know to stop straight away and she will cough and sneeze to clear the fluids. The more you can get down her the better, but I'd say at least 5mls - 10 mls each time and then stop to massage her, aiming to move the food downwards. This should be repeated as many times a day as you can manage. It could take a few days to work. During this time you must strictly limit her food as the more she eats the more you will have to get rid of for her.

Just remember that hens sometimes do easily give up the will to live and often by the time we realise something is wrong it can already be too late. Don't beat yourself up if nothing works, hens can be quite good at hiding symptoms until they are too ill to hide them any more. Having said that using the techniques above which my vet gave me I managed to save 3 out of 4 hens so good luck and keep me posted. I'll be willing you along and hopefully you will have your normal Ebony back to good health soon.
By the way, it is good to let hens follow normal light patterns, ie get up when it is naturally light and go to sleep when it naturally gets dark. Light levels tell a hen what time of year it is and so they know when to moult and when to lay. She is a very beautiful hen. She is lucky to have an owner who loves her so much.