Hen eating feathers - impacted crop/gizzard

[mama23]

@mama23 Just want to say, please don't delete this thread! I'm having a very similar issue with my BCM and this is super helpful.

I've had her on higher protein chick feed with high methionine (precursor to cysteine, major component of keratin for feathers) hoping getting her the nutrition she needed to make feathers would discourage her from eating her feathers but it doesn't seem to have.

I will try to get her on the Kaytee Extract. Is this the one you got? https://www.kaytee.com/all-products/pet-bird/exact-hand-feeding

I noticed you mentioned your hen wanted to eat wood shavings as well? Mine is doing that to every time I let her out to see if she will behave so I have to keep her isolated which is sad for her! You seem to understand why this is? I'm not super familiar, could you explain? Do they need roughage in their diet and that's why they go for fiber-y things?

And one last question! How are you keeping her from eating feathers Do you just have her inside and you grab them when you can?

I’m so sorry I’m just seeing this! I never get notified by email when someone responds to me. So when they eat roughage like that I believe it’s bc they are seeking to fix whatever is wrong in their gut. My hen ate feathers bc I had her indoors with me and she needed something to help whatever was going on. So she ate feathers. I have noticed buff Orpingtons seem to have digestive issues. As for how I kept her from eating them, I just watched her continuous and if I left the room I literally paid my kids to baby sit her. She was moulting so it was a rough few months. The vet did crop surgery and pulled the wad of feathers out. She does this sort of thing every fall. I dread September coming.

Yes the kaytee exact baby bird formula is what I use. I’ve got a sick girl right now with what I think is intestinal blockage so she’s on this as well. Hope this message finds you well and your issue resolved.

 

[mama23]

Hi there, just wondering what your outcome on this was? I am having a very similar issue with my 18month old orpington (haven't seen her eating feathers) however she is still part way through her l moult and has been much more "off" then all of the other moulting chooks. I have caught her pecking at her legs and have just found a poo that looks as thought feathers were mixed in with it (hard to tell if someone has just coincidentally pooped on a pile of feathers or not) her blocked crop issue has also been ongoing for around 2 weeks, was super hard and full when I initially noticed it but she was almost back to normal with being fed egg,yogurt & oil along with crop massage. She just started to feel well enough to get back into eating layer pellets again 2 days ago (wasn't touching them prior whwn feeding the other chooks but was super keen on them so left her to it) she has now gone severely backwards again with very impacted crop and is now also trying to eat little pebbles and dirt! Any help is much appreciated

For my girl this literally lasts start to finish about three months bc she gets yeast with it too. She has had it the last two years. I hope she doesn’t get it this year.

I have a Cochin who for three or four years would get a gizzard impaction during her moult and would eat awful stuff. Like toxic poke berry leaves and Japanese yew berries and leaves. It was a struggle separating her from finding stuff. As she’s gotten older she’s okay so hopefully my Greta will too.

It’s my experience that they cycle with this. They seem like they’re better and will eat and then it comes back. Make sure your girl doesn’t have yeast. Smell her belly. I think the best thing I bought was a tube and syringe from my vet for a few dollars. I can tube feed them when needed. Even kaytee exact baby bird formula can be tubed. I’ll attach a pic. Syringe has a wide end so good can pass through. Chicken feed does not work in it. I also keep lactated ringers on hand for dehydration emergencies. Along with syringe and needles for that.

I’ve got a sick girl right now with likely bowel impaction and I can’t fix her no matter what. She too improved and then worse again.

 

[Moochayyy]

For my girl this literally lasts start to finish about three months bc she gets yeast with it too. She has had it the last two years. I hope she doesn’t get it this year.

I have a Cochin who for three or four years would get a gizzard impaction during her moult and would eat awful stuff. Like toxic poke berry leaves and Japanese yew berries and leaves. It was a struggle separating her from finding stuff. As she’s gotten older she’s okay so hopefully my Greta will too.

It’s my experience that they cycle with this. They seem like they’re better and will eat and then it comes back. Make sure your girl doesn’t have yeast. Smell her belly. I think the best thing I bought was a tube and syringe from my vet for a few dollars. I can tube feed them when needed. Even kaytee exact baby bird formula can be tubed. I’ll attach a pic. Syringe has a wide end so good can pass through. Chicken feed does not work in it. I also keep lactated ringers on hand for dehydration emergencies. Along with syringe and needles for that.

I’ve got a sick girl right now with likely bowel impaction and I can’t fix her no matter what. She too improved and then worse again.

Thanks so much for the reply!! She id at the vet today, have just recieved her xrays and she has a screw stuck in gizzard I have a horrible feeling it was in her crop which I managed to massage out in the meantime and move down into the gizzard which is a much worse outcome as the crop could have been operated on! We have no avian/chicken vets where I am so has been an extremely slow process getting someone to look at her! Hoping she can some how pass the screw as sounds like gizzard surgery isn't really an option like crop surgery

 

[mama23]

Thanks so much for the reply!! She id at the vet today, have just recieved her xrays and she has a screw stuck in gizzard I have a horrible feeling it was in her crop which I managed to massage out in the meantime and move down into the gizzard which is a much worse outcome as the crop could have been operated on! We have no avian/chicken vets where I am so has been an extremely slow process getting someone to look at her! Hoping she can some how pass the screw as sounds like gizzard surgery isn't really an option like crop surgery

Oh no I am so sorry. I haven’t had any experience with one eating a screw yet that I know of. I was on the forums today bc I had a sick 2 yo hen who had crop surgery Monday. She was never the same after. I’ve had so many crop surgeries by the same vet. But this hen didn’t tolerate it. Nothing would go through not even water before surgery but it did after. But I could tell the surgery was painful. I don’t know what was different. Then she filled with peritoneal fluid likely from swelling/trauma and passed this afternoon. I wish I hadn’t done the surgery now. We do the best with the info we have at the time I guess. I saw her X-ray and know she had some serious issues in her intestines. Major impactions and grit pressed to bottom of gizzard and the gizzard wasn’t center of body. It was pressed to pelvic floor very distended. Still hard not to blame ourselves. Hopefully the screw will pass it’s way out. It’s hard to tell for sure but it doesn’t look to me like it’s embedded into the gizzard wall. So hopefully it’s protected. I’d watch for some blackish stools and maybe blood tinged over the next few weeks if it starts to move. I would research this and ask for opinions first but I wonder if coconut oil (put in the freezer in balls to make it easier to pop in) would help lube the screw so she can expel it. Prayers for your girl and you to both get through this. I’ll check back soon. I actually did get an email tonight about this so I guess it’s hit or miss.

 

[Saaniya]

Hi there, just wondering what your outcome on this was? I am having a very similar issue with my 18month old orpington (haven't seen her eating feathers) however she is still part way through her l moult and has been much more "off" then all of the other moulting chooks. I have caught her pecking at her legs and have just found a poo that looks as thought feathers were mixed in with it (hard to tell if someone has just coincidentally pooped on a pile of feathers or not) her blocked crop issue has also been ongoing for around 2 weeks, was super hard and full when I initially noticed it but she was almost back to normal with being fed egg,yogurt & oil along with crop massage. She just started to feel well enough to get back into eating layer pellets again 2 days ago (wasn't touching them prior whwn feeding the other chooks but was super keen on them so left her to it) she has now gone severely backwards again with very impacted crop and is now also trying to eat little pebbles and dirt! Any help is much appreciated

i’ve heard now racing pigeons owner treat crop issue
take a papaya blend it to juice and let the patient drink it clears the crop as per many pigeon owners

 

[Saaniya]

Thanks so much for the reply!! She id at the vet today, have just recieved her xrays and she has a screw stuck in gizzard I have a horrible feeling it was in her crop which I managed to massage out in the meantime and move down into the gizzard which is a much worse outcome as the crop could have been operated on! We have no avian/chicken vets where I am so has been an extremely slow process getting someone to look at her! Hoping she can some how pass the screw as sounds like gizzard surgery isn't really an option like crop surgery

this is very serious though