ChickenBFF
In the Brooder
- Jul 16, 2023
- 7
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Assume you're coming to this forum because you don't want the expense of taking your Chick to an avian vet? That said, being just a plain ol' chicken keeper for a few decades (not a doctor!), my observations from what you've said with gurgly crop, bubbly watery stool, lack of urates and feces in pics provided, would suggest to me a gastrointestinal infection which is causing inflammation and possibly backing up her crop. She's obviously not eating enough to have it pass through her intestines, OR she has impacted crop, therefore the lack of urates and feces in that watery mess of a poop. Poor girlHi!
I’m having trouble helping my 8 month ISA Brown hen Blanche! She’s had sour crop a few times in the past, but made good recovery and never showed more symptoms than the squishy/nasty smelling crop.
The first sign of illness was her becoming uncoordinated and unable to hop up to the roost at night. For almost a week now she’s been inside with the following symptoms:
lethargic, runny bile poo, crop not emptying fully, lost weight, stopped laying, ‘wobbly’ weak walking, eyes closed, seems to be pain in her crop (she reacts pretty strongly to me touching it gently), breathing a bit like gape-worm symptoms
Not present: bloody poo, weasing, sneezing, parasites in poo, no egg bound stance or swelling/firmness in the abdomen.
She still has a bit of an appetite, drinks water a few times a day, and her comb is a good red colour (?). She also appears ‘cozy’ and grinds her beak and ‘wipes’ her beak in her box, and makes occasional chicken sounds.
Treatments: I first put her on some vitamin/electrolyte water and fenbendazone dewormer, but it didn’t seem the right fit so I’ve had all the hens on a coccidiosis treatment for the last three days. She’s been content to stay inside, but has walked around a bit outside on sunny days. I also tried her on a baby aspirin to see if her symptoms were due to pain, but it didn’t appear to have any affect.
Any tips or suggestions are welcome! I’m still unsure of what she’s dealing with, as she hasn’t responded much to the deworming treatment despite it clearly seeming like a parasite issue. I do understand she might be in her last days, but i want to do everything I can to help
If you can gently feel her crop at the base and DO find a hard lump, try to massage it very gently and try to break it up a bit so it can pass through what may be an inflamed digestive tract. My go to cure all is a broad spectrum antibiotic treatment such as baytril, amoxicillan (all available on line with no scrip if you look hard enough
) followed by a fluconazole dose to cure any yeast (fungus growth) development from the antibiotic treatment, follow up with beneficial bacteria (I find the powder crap useless), my preferred choice is plain Greek yogurt (some chix prefer mixed with fruit). Until the crop issue resolved, do not feed her anything which could ball up and be difficult to pass, such as greens, fresh corn, blueberries, beans, anything with a skin which could ball up and cause a blockage until she is 100% better. Try using a 1 cc syringe with no needle, mixing the medicine (research dosage online) and mix medicine into small water vile/bottle & keep refrigerated for the entire treatment period. Use the 1 cc syringe as a dropper to get the medicine into her beak, rather than relying on her drinking a diluted water mix out of your waterer. You should see improvement within 2-3 days. Continue treatment for 7-10 days or until she shows full improvement. If she doesn't respond, and she is worth your time and money, take her to a vet. This would be my best chicken keeper advice. I've blended and mixed medicines, vitamins, etc. for years and you'll develop a sense for what's going on. This definitely seems like a gut infection rather than upper respiratory, or parasites which leave distinct tell tale signs such as blood in stool, gaping mouth, evidence of eggs in stool, etc. If it is upper respiratory and she develops labored breathing, try Tylosin powder dissolved in water, again check your dosage! Use 1 cc syringe and measure out proper dose in the syringe dependent on her weight ans administer orally. Pigeon racing sites are GREAT resources for info and medicines. They are devoted bird fanciers and love their birds
The unsteadiness of gait might suggest egg binding, pinched nerve, hopefully not Marek's, but don't even go there in your mind. Deal with the inflammation and infection which will improve most all symptoms you're describing. Don't give up, be tenacious! Keep her warm and clean. She looks young and otherwise healthy, so this should be an easy fix as long as you don't give up on her! Best wishes to your beautiful girl on a speedy recovery! My chix generally die of old age. They are very sturdy birds! Good luck to you!Best wishes,
Crazy Ol' Chicken Lady
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) carry antibiotics and anti-fungal which is the SAME medicine they provide to humans. Valley Vet is very cool out of Kansas and will also help you with dosage calculations if you call or email their help desk. Can you try getting some baby parrot powder feed mix, follow directions to mix with water, and feed her some of that through a syringe? It will be easy for her to process if you keep it like a loose pancake mix consistency. Just make sure you don't make it too thick or it will back up her crop if she's having crop issues. It has ALL the nutrients and vitamins she needs and will also keep her hydrated, plus you can add medicine and some perhaps some apple cider vinegar into it. Give her as much as she can keep down. My best wishes to you. The antibiotics sound essential as something isn't right with her gut if she's not keeping food down. Keep us posted on her progress. All my chooks are saying chicken prayers for her!!!
The longer you wait the harder it will be to zap this thing that's got her belly aching. Anyhow, wish I had your address. I'd send her a care package from California! Somebody you know has to have an antibiotic. One singular 500 MG amoxicillin pill, diluted down properly is all you need for 1 sick chicken. Wishing you best of luck!!! Keep us posted on her progress. 
