Impacted Crop or something else?

[ChickenLover390]

So on Sunday I noticed that my hen was lethargic. She was perfectly fine Saturday, but something changed on Sunday. She’s a 1 year and 5 month old red sex link. I’m fairly sure that she laid on Sunday, and I put her in a dog crate so I could keep an eye on her.

I noticed that she wasn’t eating at all, only drinking, and her crop was big so I’ve been treating her for impacted crop. I’ve had one other hen with this issue, but Bert (the hen) is a lot more lethargic and she’s got these runny poops that are yellowish. Yesterday I have no food and only water and her crop size went down. This morning I went to give her food and she’s barely eating and she wasn’t really interested in the food.

She’s been laying fine up until yesterday, and she’s not squishy or hard in any places. I looked into it and yellow poop could mean she has a heavy load of worms, and the flock does have tapeworms but they’ve had them for a while, I just haven’t been able to get rid of them.

If anyone has any idea of what could be wrong, I’d really appreciate some help, since I’ve only had to deal with physical injuries so far and I don’t know what to do about diseases, if it is one.

 

[Eggcessive]

There could be bile and urates in the poop, and little actual stool. Is her crop full and firm, doughy, or is it puffy? Have you seen any soft or thin-shelled eggs recently? Can you give her a dose of calcium today, calcium citrate with D3, or other source of calcium, including Tums. Aim for 300-600 mg of calcium. I would offer some watery egg and very watery chicken feed today. She may be experiencing a reproductive disorder or infection. The calcium could help her if there is some egg problems.

What have you used to treat tapeworms? Most of the BYC worm experts recommend praziquantel for tapeworms. It is an ingredient in Droncit or Drontal tablets, and in Equimax or Zimectrin Gold horse paste. Equimax dosage is 0.16 ml for a 5 pound hen, and repeat that in 10-14 days. Also, any intermediate hosts should be removed where the chickens can get reinvested. Those include earth worms, flies, beetles, grasshoppers, slugs, and snails. Also try to pick up droppings and keep bedding stirred and as dry as possible.

 

[ChickenLover390]

Her crop is squishy like it’s full of water. I don’t think her eggs have been thin shelled, but she lays really large eggs. I’ll get her some calcium today. I used aquasol to deworm them. Should I put any supplements like electrolytes in her water? Thanks for the advice!

 

[Eggcessive]

Poultry NutriDrench or Poultry Cell can be given into the beak 1 ml per each 3 pounds of weight, or you can use electrolytes and vitamins in the water. Safeguard Aquasol only treats roundworms when used for 5 days in the water. It won’t treat capillary, gape, or tapeworms. The Equimax horse paste for tapeworms is cheapest and sold at most feed stores. I can find the dosage for any of the other praziquantel products if you use one of those.

 

[Eggcessive]

Have you seen any tapeworms that look like this video?

 

[ChickenLover390]

Yeah, I’ve been finding those in their poops for a while, but recently there have been less

 

[ChickenLover390]

I want to give her an antibiotic in case she does have an infection. I don’t have access to a vet, but I saw that some people use cipro. I can’t find the dosage for it. Have you ever used it? Or do you happen to know the dosage?

 

[ChickenLover390]

Unfortunately Bert passed yesterday. She wasn’t able to eat so I was feeding her, but she’d poop it out almost immediately. She seemed better yesterday, but then I found her dead in her cage. There was dirt everywhere so I think she had a seizure and broke her neck against the bars of the cage. I’ve sent her in for a necropsy. When I get the results, I’ll post an update. I just wanted to thank you for giving me advice, even though she ended up passing away.

 

[ChickenLover390]

I got the necropsy report and it sounds like she internally laid and then her vital organs failed and she died of organ failure.

 

[catballou]

I got the necropsy report and it sounds like she internally laid and then her vital organs failed and she died of organ failure.

So sorry about your hen. I hope you never have to go through anything like that again.