Older hen not eating or drinking- could it be sour crop?

[kspidahl]

Lucy is my most prized possession- I love her so much. Please help offer your advice if you can- I can't get a vet appointment until Friday morning (two days from now). Apologies for the long post- I wanted to give lots of detail.

About Lucy:
Sex: Hen
Age: 11.5 years
Breed: Buff Orpington
Weight: ~2.3kg (very thin)
Housing: Has been living inside/separated from other birds for 3+ months. No contact with other birds/bird areas.
Background: Lucy has not been wanting to drink for the past several weeks. I assumed this was due to a leg injury that makes it hard for her to move. Regardless, I make sure that she has accessible water at all times, but she would rather eat watermelon and blueberries for her source of hydration. She was also getting increasingly picky about food, although this is not totally unusual for her. She was very picky while molting last year.

Initial Symptoms (Sunday- three days ago):
Stool was normal until last weekend. She stopped eating and drinking almost entirely. On Sunday she had one very running stool with lots of white. She looked really poor- she has lost a lot of weight and her comb was pale when I'd hold her. I honestly was surprised she didn't die in my arms that day. I brought her to the emergency vet (but it became clear that they were not an Avian specialist (although the vet did say they had chickens)). I initially thought this was sour crop, as her crop was quite squishy. However, I did not notice any foul smelling liquid, or gurgling noises at the time. She is an older hen, and her crop doesn't usually totally empty at night. I did feel a ~1" spongy object in her crop. I didn't know if this could also be a foreign object (but could have also been a piece of watermelon).

The vet did not think this was sour crop. They took an xray and ultrasound and observed "lots of free fluid" in abdominal area. They suggested this could be cancer and recommended euthanasia.

I recalled that she had had an egg with no yolk a few days prior and asked if it could be egg peritonitis, the vet said it was unlikely.

I took her home and decided to try antibiotics with her (had some left over from a sick duck two months ago... Tetroxy 25mg). I began giving this to her Sunday evening mixed with electrolytes and nutridrench.

Monday morning, she began eating a little bit and looked slightly better! I continued to syringe feed her the electrolyte mix with nutridrench and antibiotics. I also started syringe feeding her yogurt. Her color improved, she became slightly more alert (vocal, responds to my voice, etc). Her droppings are still very loose, with some yellow, clear liquid, and green. I didn't know if this was more egg yolk passing?

Current symptoms (Wednesday):
Poop: More yellow in poop, but this time it's more bright yellow (antibiotics?)

This afternoon, I have noticed some gurgling noises coming from her crop. I have not noticed her expelling/leaking any liquid from her beak. Could this now be sour crop from the antibiotics? Yogurt? Should I stop the antibiotics? They seemed to be helping her, but was this a coincidence? Could this just simply be her crop/digestive system processing food for the first time? I also still think I feel the same 1" spongy object in her crop (again, could be melon).

If she makes it until Friday's vet appointment, what questions should I ask? Thank you!

 

[BDutch]

Of course I hope for the best.

Sometimes you just have to let a dear chick (pet) go. 11,5 years is old for a chicken.

Good luck.
Maybe @Eggcessive or another medical specialist here can give you the advice you like to hear. I can’t.

 

[Eggcessive]

To me, I would suspect that she has ascites (water belly,) from the fluid inside her belly and the yellow urates in her stool. It can be hard to know exactly what has caused that until she passes away and a necropsy can be done to look inside at the organs. The common causes of water belly are egg yolk peritonitis, salpingitis, cancer, and heart or liver failure. I’m really sorry, but I would make her comfortable. If she has labored breathing, you can try to disinfect her belly and drain some flipped with an 18 gauge needle.

 

[ChicNmom]

I also have an older hen that is 11. She is slowing down. I have treated her twice with Baytril when she was accumulating fluid in her back side. And she is getting picky about food. I think it's just part of the aging process.

I know you want to keep her going but she's a very senior hen.
If she has an internal infection that can slow the crop emptying.
Filling up with fluid will make it hard to breathe. And her heart could be slowing down. I've had 2 older hens that I could tell were going into heart failure that had the gurgling sound.

Draining the fluid isn't hard and might make her more comfortable.

I'd finish the course of antibiotics that you started. You could try some rice to see if that firms up her stool. If she wants watermelon for hydration then let her have what she wants. She's an old girl so I'd just make her remaining time as comfortable as I could.