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[SouthDakotaLiving]

Thanks, the torpedo feeding looks doable--very helpful video. I made up a bowl of it but won't try to feed her till tomorrow. I already gave her a forced 1 ml dose of the monistat. I'm not smelling anything out either end, but the fact she had difficulty swallowing after drinking a bit on her own while standing makes me think something's going on. I will try to palpate and massage her crop to see if i can get things moving. I'm not positive what's going on but have been reading about crops and maybe I'll be able to tell if it's impacted/full.

It's helpful to know that crop issues can be part of going toward death.

I just read a different post advising against massaging since it can causing aspiration, so won't do that again. I added baking soda (1 tsp per 1/2 cup water) to her water bowl (which she ignores) and made her drink some with syringe. I'm writing all this in case someone is doing a sour crop search.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

She's surprisingly still hanging in there. Over time she managed to get down another 0.5 ml of electrolyte/water. She then stood, swaying slightly, legs far apart, and emitted a frothy, watery substance from her vent. I guess it's possible she has gleet and maybe I should be treating with monostat, which I have and could try to start to administer @Eggsessive, @Wyorp Rock[/USER][/USER] @FrostRanger or anyone who wants to chime in. I guess it can't hurt anything. I don't think I want to try to bathe her butt, as she's so ill. Might try to trim feathers but it really didn't look that dirty to me.

Ok, I brought her inside bc it got to be 90 degrees in run. It's 78 where she is now. She made one attempt to drink from bowl on her own and again seemed to have swallowing problem. So I guess she may have sour crop. I'll try to get a bit of monistat into her orally-one tsp of cream to one tsp of water in 1ml syringe 2x daily is what I've read. I'll keep her inside till tonight after it's cooled down a bit. @Eggsessive Thanks again.

but the fact she had difficulty swallowing after drinking a bit on her own while standing makes me think something's going on.

It's good that she's standing.

Hard to know if she's suffering from heat exhaustion or possibly having a hard time with an egg.

I'd continue with giving the electrolytes/sugar water.

Try raising the water bowl/water station and food up on a block or something to about chest level. See if she can drink better that way instead of bending completely over. If she's suffered heat exhaustion, she can be in shock and often bodily functions like swallowing/standing/balance, etc. just do not work very well for a while.

I'd check her crop first thing in the morning before she eats/drinks. Try to get photos of overnight droppings.

Frothy poop can just be urates or ??? It doesn't necessarily mean Vent Gleet. Vent Gleet has a yeasty smell and usually there's a continual pasty/yeasty white discharge coming from the vent = basically what it is - a yeast infection of the cloaca (Vent).

 

[SouthDakotaLiving]

@Wyorp Rock @FrostRanger thank you for checking in. She made it through the night and laid a normal looking egg this morning with a little brown feces streak on it (picture just below this post). She is not eating or drinking on her own.

I wonder if she is having a neurological problem vs problem swallowing, as she is making some weird movements with her head and neck--sort of an undulation--usually while/after I've handled her and sometimes on her own. She definitely does this anytime I try to get fluid in her via syringe--and I'm careful to only give a tiny bit at a time. It's if she's very uncomfortable in that part of her body or even having a small spasm. She stands a little on occasion, but seems off-balance and then sinks down, sometimes head slowly falling toward floor. She has made a few little moaning noises but is otherwise quiet. She still seems very sick, hanging head and rear feathers down, barely moving, often with eyes closed and not acknowledging me except to resist being handled/beak pried open.

I'm now thinking it's not gleet or sour crop--no odor. She's released a little very watery, foamy stuff from vent twice since yesterday afternoon, but I'm really not seeing a lot of stuff on her feathers or around her vent. She's not had any normal poops since early yesterday or the day before. Regarding crop--still can't find it. I can feel her breast bone and then something a little bit hard in the neck area to the left of the middle of neck--seems too high up and I thought crop was supposed to be further down and just to the right of middle.

In regard to fluid, I'm having quite a bit of trouble getting beak open. Her wattles are very small right now and it's extremely hard to get a syringe into her. I also don't know how much she should be drinking, but did manage to get 1.5 ml in this morning (half a syringe). I estimate she's drunk the equivalent of less than 2 teaspoons of water since yesterday late morning, all via syringe except for her one attempt to drink on her own.

I will continue with palliative care. I've put her water bowl up on a block as you suggested @Wyorp Rock. Not sure whether to try to force feed her via torpedo food or not. Maybe better for her to fast a little longer? I think she last ate early yesterday morning, but not even positive about that. Also concerned trying to force food in might make her aspirate given weird head/neck movements.

I'm very grateful for all the help here.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Oh, I'm glad you found a vet.

Let us know how she's doing.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry that she is still not eating or drinking much. Is her neck movement like others do when they are adjusting their crops? Many times we don’t know why a chicken just refuses food and water, or what is wrong with them. A necropsy can be performed by most state vet labs and can be informative. I usually do a briefy necropsy to look at major organs and sometimes can see a possible clue. Many post pictures here of home necropsies and people can give opinions as to a possible cause of death. Here is a list of state vets:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/poultry...sHFxcaqIoUorOmKe6J4ojaI37ARQrHtwgD3bYS5xUgNzn

Here is a good video of a vet necropsy where organs are identified, and has helped a lot of people:

 

[SouthDakotaLiving]

@Wyorp Rock @Eggcessive I just brought her home from vet. They only saw her bc I said I was fairly certain it was impacted crop (which it was). They normally don't see chickens and wanted to refer me to a place 90 mins away. I never got to speak to the vet but was told he induced vomiting and a post xray said she was clear. She still seems very ill--maybe in shock--and I suspect I will have to syringe water into her this evening. i got no instructions on care, so any input is welcome. She's not eaten since possibly early yesterday. I don't see that as a problem, but perhaps I should torpedo feed her a little tomorrow if she's not showing inclination to eat?

Thanks so much to you and everyone who helped. Had it not been for this forum, I'm not sure I would have known what the problem was and vet may have refused treatment.

@Eggcessive Regarding her neck, this strange undulating behavior got much, much worse, so I knew it must be her crop. I found a Reddit thread with a video of hen doing the same thing and everyone in comments said she was adjusting her crop, a normal behavior, but not normal if done repeatedly. I'll take a look at the necroscopy video. I need to better understand chicken anatomy.

This all happened bc I'd been feeding more corn than usual to try to get the girls to walk near the mister since several of them were clearly suffering from heat. I will not make that mistake again!

 

[Eggcessive]

Glad that you could see the vet. I wouldmstick to trying to give her fluids today, especially some water with electrolytes or a little poultry Nutridrench and some water. Tomorrow, of course, feel of her crop. Once her crop feels empty in morning, thennyou can begin to feed some very very watery chicken feed or egg. Impacted crop is normally full and firm or dough-like. Sour crop is usually from a long standing impacted crop, and feels full and puffy or squishy, and may have a bad odor. Crop problems usually do not clear up quickly, especially if they are due to a secondary issue, such as a reproductive infection or salpingitis. Here is a good article about crops from azygous:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

 

[SouthDakotaLiving]

@Eggcessive Great, thanks for that article--it's really good and I'll buy stool softeners for my chicken first aid kit. I might feed her some chunks of coconut oil tomorrow, depending. I don't have Nutridrench and will have to get some.

She seems just as ill as before. She is huddled in the corner, eyes closed. She continues to make that undulating motion. I just managed to force almost 1 ml liquid into her (which is around 1/4 tsp). I'm concerned about dehydration and it's still hard to get syringe into her beak.

I called the vet since I'm still quite concerned. He admitted he's seen very few chickens and said the amount in her crop really wasn't that impressive. However, he did not smell sour crop and the xray looked fine after she vomited. He surprised me by saying she's quite thin under all her feathers (I had thought she was a bit heavy)--this could be due to her reaching the end of her life. She got down a little liquid at the vet but mostly it was used to induce vomiting. The rest of the exam was normal and the main thing he noticed was her being thin. He too is concerned there's something else wrong, but couldn't find anything specific.

 

[Eggcessive]

Will she drink some water if you dip her beak into it? Sometimes you can hold a spoon with water to the side of the beak and drip a little in, and they will swallow it. Let us know how she does.

 

[SouthDakotaLiving]

Unfortunately, I'm failing more and more. She is able to close that beak like a vice. This last round I got maybe 1 ml in and then she collapsed in a heap on floor. I don't think she can really survive without water--she should be having 500 mls a day and she's taken in about 10 mls in the past two days--probably less today than yesterday since she was in vet office several hrs and they made her vomit. She won't really respond to me, almost like she doesn't know I'm there.
She doesn't respond when I slightly dip beak into water bowl or put cupped hand with water in front of her. The vet probably should have IV her. I tried to tell the receptionist I was concerned about this but that person wasn't listening. I don't think there's much that can be done. I've checked various pieces of advice on how to get beak open and nothing is really working. Sometimes pulling down on wattles helps but not always. Since top beak covers bottom, I can't find a way to pull down on bottom nor up on top. I sometimes can get in the side w/ the syringe, but less so now.
She's extremely weak and feathers are pasted onto her--not due to the heat. She uses every bit of strength to keep beak closed. I keep thinking she's dead as that's how she looks.

Thanks for your time, concern and great medical advice.