Gasping for air and vomiting bile

[Susie Seagrave]

Help! My free-range hen, Little Pea, who is 7 years old, and has never been sick in her life, is breathing very laboured and 'wet' this morning, is hardly moving around and has just started vomiting a clear, yellow bile, which smells very acidic. She's vomited quite a lot and her breathing sounds as if she has fluid in her lungs. I'm so afraid she may die today. Can anyone tell me what this might be? It's happened so quickly, that I don't know if there's anything I can do to help her, but if there's anything, I want to try.

She started to go downhill about a week ago. I noticed her appetite, (usually good) had suddenly disappeared and she was hardly eating or drinking. I tried to tempt her with healthy 'treats' but she wasn't interested and started losing weight quickly. She started to take herself off to a quiet area in the run, although she'd return herself at night. I examined her and her crop felt as if there was something in it but felt very 'spongy'. I also felt a large mass in her abdomen on her left side - almost as if her liver was enlarged. She lost body mass very quickly after that and is bony now compared to what she was.

I know she's an old hen but I love her dearly. I lost a hen to coccidiosis earlier in the year and treated all my birds with medication but Pea seemed unaffected. She had mites in early summer but again, I treated that and she appears clear. Her droppings have reflected her loss of appetite, being small and hard but the last two days, mostly liquid. I live on a small Greek island and we experienced temperatures between 40-45 degrees for almost 2 weeks recently. It's dropped to the mid 30s now but she seemed to come through that ok. All my birds have a combination of free access to corn, pellets and grains, and fresh mash daily, to which I add garlic and oregano. I've kept the water cool by adding ice blocks to their water in the dispenser. Does anyone have any ideas? Your help and expertise would be greatly appreciated. This photo is Little Pea 6 days ago. She doesn't look like this today.....

 

[azygous]

Your hen likely has sour crop which is becoming acute due to lack of treatment. Weight loss is a consequence, and weakness follows. Vomiting the sour crop liquid is also a sign of advanced sour crop as the contents don't drain, they just ferment and get smelly and gross.

Do you have access to a pharmacy or store that sells women's hygeine products? Try to find vaginal yeast cream, miconazole. She needs two or three doses a day of a mouth-full of the cream for seven full days. You should start to see improvement by day two or three, but seven full days are needed for total yeast eradication.

 

[Susie Seagrave]

Thank you so much for your advice and help. After I posted, I did some research and came across sour crop. I felt so stupid, as although I was familiar with compacted crop and have successfully dealt with that in the past, I was ignorant of sour crop. I immediately gently massaged Little Pea's spongy crop, and she vomited a lot of the smelly, fermented contents. I kwept her airway clear and she rested between the massages. Towards the end, it was thick, 'soupy' and smelly. I tried to get her to swallow some natural yoghurt, but she was so weak, I was really too late. Little Pea died last night and I'm heartbroken. She'd been with me for many years.

I immediately examined my other hens to make sure no one else had the same condition but the others seem ok. However, now that I know about sour crop, I will be on the alert for it. It seemed to happen so quickly, but it coincided with the heatwave here in Greece, with temperatures of between 40-45 degrees for almost two weeks. Pea was a bit of a 'wonder hen', having never been ill in her life.....

I've made a note of the cream you recommended. In my bathroom cupboard, I have some cream for yeast infections - it's called Travacort and 1g of cream contains 10mg Isoconazole nitrate and 1mg Diflucortolone. Would this be suitable in the future?

 

[azygous]

No, it's not suitable for chickens as the Diflucortolone is a cortisteroid and harmful if ingested. You will need to hunt for Nystatin. Sometimes you can find a pigeon med with nystatin in it. I buy a product called Medistatin and I use it for chicken yeast infections that may be farther down in the digestive system.

Look on the internet for this and have it for future needs.

 

[Eggcessive]

Very sorry for your loss. I have not had good luck ever treating a crop disorder once it has gone sour. Mine were in older hens. Azygous has much more experience with that. When the crop is sour and puffy, massaging it can force the crop contents up and into the airway. Crop disorders are very often caused by other things, such as internal laying, ascites, or egg yolk peritonitis, and the pressure those put on the abdominal organs.

 

[Susie Seagrave]

No, it's not suitable for chickens as the Diflucortolone is a cortisteroid and harmful if ingested. You will need to hunt for Nystatin. Sometimes you can find a pigeon med with nystatin in it. I buy a product called Medistatin and I use it for chicken yeast infections that may be farther down in the digestive system.

Look on the internet for this and have it for future needs.

Many thanks for your expertise and cautionary words. I will try to find Myconazole. It's very difficult here as there is a very limited choice of medication for any kind of poultry, and many wonderful creatures other people keep as pets, tend to just get eaten here in Greece, especially on small, traditional islands like ours! If I have no luck at the pharmacy, I'll see if they can order it for me. If not, I'll check the internet. Thanks again.

 

[Susie Seagrave]

Very sorry for your loss. I have not had good luck ever treating a crop disorder once it has gone sour. Mine were in older hens. Azygous has much more experience with that. When the crop is sour and puffy, massaging it can force the crop contents up and into the airway. Crop disorders are very often caused by other things, such as internal laying, ascites, or egg yolk peritonitis, and the pressure those put on the abdominal organs.

Thank you for your kind words. The chicken run seems very empty without her. I tried to be really careful not to force the crop contents into the airway, as I had read about that before I tried it but it was my first time doing it, so I hope I didn't cause any further unnecessary distress. Little Pea was almost 8 years old and hadn't laid any eggs for over 2 years. She did have an enlarged area which wasn't ascites but I thought it was in the region of her liver, so that might have contributed, and although I tried to keep the water in constant shade and cool with ice blocks, two weeks of 42-45 degree heat during our recent Greek heatwave, probably didn't help either. I appreciated your help and have taken all this on board for the future. Thanks again

 

[Eggcessive]

I have learned so much to perform a home necropsy when I have lost a chicken to illness. It helps to see what all may have been going on inside the abdomen. Lash egg material, ascites, oviduct or liver cancer, a blocked gizzard, and other problems have been seen.

 

[Susie Seagrave]

Do you know ..... I thought about doing that myself this time. I'm not squeamish and seriously considered it. In the end, stupidly, I couldn't bring myself to cut Little Pea open. She'd been with me so long, I just couldn't face it. I wish I had though, and next time, I will. As you say, the chance to learn what's going on inside is invaluable. We have 2 main vets on the island, and neither of them know much about poultry at all. Here in Greece, a chicken's life is cheap, so I have to do everything myself. That's why I'd be lost without the BYC community - the help, support and sometimes, the kind words and sympathy is invaluable!