Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Sequel]

I do not have to worry, as I had a friend come get the seventh chicken.

I could not leave her out there by herself.

Yes that’s the right thing to do!

 

[Canadian Wind]

@RoyalChick

Perhaps try to withhold food for the day and give the crop more of a chance to empty, in combination with what you're doing already?

 

[Sequel]

Picked up a bug. Weekend off. J has done the chickens.

Sorry you caught a bug but very happy that you have some relief!

 

[Shadrach]

Need advice
Shad, hope you are feeling better and that you don't mind me posting here for some advice.
I posted this over at Bob's thread and may make a thread on this in the illnesses forum, but I feel like there are a lot of experienced chicken tenders on here so hoping you can help.

I am worried about Bernie.

I think I have posted pictures before of how Bernie can stuff herself to the point you cannot believe she can stand upright with the size of her crop.
This picture is from August, 2023 as an example.

Anyway, her crop really was huge yesterday afternoon when she was torturing a pumpkin, but because she is molting heavily on her body I thought maybe it just looked more prominent without a nice covering of feathers.

She is behaving normally - not acting ill at all.

Anyway, I am a worrier, so I got up at an unholy hour this morning to examine her on the roost and was disturbed to see that her crop had not gone down overnight.

I wasn't prepared with my frozen coconut oil 'pills' so I gave her a vigorous massage (it was Shad who taught me how to do that) which maybe helped a bit but certainly didn't empty her crop.

It feels quite firm but not rock hard - a bit like dough - and I didn't feel any fibrous lumps. Her breath does not smell sour. She delivered a slightly loose poop onto my foot during this procedure - loose but not alarmingly so.

I will prepare coconut oil pills to pop in her beak tonight after dark and will do some night time and early morning massages and will keep sniffing for signs of sour crop.

My question to all of you is whether hens are more susceptible to crop issues when they molt and it might just resolve itself?
I wonder if I am worrying too much, or maybe not enough.
I worry that crop issues are usually a sign of other underlying disease and Bernie may actually be seriously ill.
I have had one girl who clearly just ate too much long grass - but all my other crop issues have been the start of a decline for some other reason.

Any thoughts or advice?
Thanks in advance.

Crop issues are not uncommon with moulting hens. Moulting disrupts the entire system. Lots of things are affected.
If she's pooping then things aren't critical.
While it's true that crop issues are often symptoms of other problems with moulting chickens it can just be the moulting doing odd things to the dgestive system. @Perris posted a very informative paper on just how much less obvious things are affected.
Frozen lumps of coconut oil may help then flush the crop with water 20ml at a time. If she will drink then keep offering her water a little at a time. I just stick their beak in it. It's a bit messy but usually they drink. After the coconut oil and water I masage the crop for a couple of minutes. I do this four or five times a day.
With crop blockages and malfunctions, particulalry after antibiotics which always seem to mess up the digestion, it can take up to week of the above routine to get it all working properly.
If she's moulting she will not want you to handle her. I found it easiest to loosely wrap them in a towel when getting the water down them.
Check her crop in the morning. Crops do not always empty completely overnight so what you are looking for is a reduction in crop size.

Do let me know if anything is unclear or you have further questions.

 

[Perris]

@Perris posted a very informative paper on just how much less obvious things are affected.

did I?
Either I'm having a senior moment or it was a series of posts on this thread, I thought. But maybe your memory's better, in which case, can you please tell me where I put it, because I can't remember!

 

[Shadrach]

did I?
Either I'm having a senior moment or it was a series of posts on this thread, I thought. But maybe your memory's better, in which case, can you please tell me where I put it, because I can't remember!

I'm pretty sure it was on this thread somewhere but there again I could be having a senior moment to.

 

[Perris]

I've found the first in the series, here
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...rescued-chickens-thread.1502267/post-28021985
and I think the rest should be easy for anyone interested to find from there.

I would look up about crop disorders if I still had the book, but I returned it as it literally fell apart as I was reading it (and this was a not-cheap hardback from a proper academic publisher, who had outsourced the actual production to a substandard bookbinder). I hope to get a well made version in due course, but no sign of it as yet.

 

[RoyalChick]

Crop issues are not uncommon with moulting hens. Moulting disrupts the entire system. Lots of things are affected.
If she's pooping then things aren't critical.
While it's true that crop issues are often symptoms of other problems with moulting chickens it can just be the moulting doing odd things to the dgestive system. @Perris posted a very informative paper on just how much less obvious things are affected.
Frozen lumps of coconut oil may help then flush the crop with water 20ml at a time. If she will drink then keep offering her water a little at a time. I just stick their beak in it. It's a bit messy but usually they drink. After the coconut oil and water I masage the crop for a couple of minutes. I do this four or five times a day.
With crop blockages and malfunctions, particulalry after antibiotics which always seem to mess up the digestion, it can take up to week of the above routine to get it all working properly.
If she's moulting she will not want you to handle her. I found it easiest to loosely wrap them in a towel when getting the water down them.
Check her crop in the morning. Crops do not always empty completely overnight so what you are looking for is a reduction in crop size.

Do let me know if anything is unclear or you have further questions.

Thanks.
Bernie is not a tame hen so I will probably only be able to massage at night. We’ll see. So far she is eating, drinking and pooping.
She is also plenty energetic.
I have not isolated her so she is out with her subordinates digging up stuff.
I will get a weight on her this evening so I can monitor if she is getting enough nutrition.
Hopefully as you say it is just a side effect of her molting and she will pull through.
Thanks for the advice I am now ready with my frozen coconut oil pellets.

 

[HiEverybirdy]

Our Lorraine had a hard lump in her crop several times this past molt. I'd offer her a teaspoon of solid coconut oil in the morning (I don't freeze it, but it's solid at room temp ) and rub her crop as much as she allowed before trotting off.

It did seem like the problem might have resolved without intervention – she had no other conspicuous symptoms besides the crop lump – but coconut oil & quick crop rub are proactive and not too disruptive. Lorraine doesn't like to be handled, either, but she does like a crop rub.

 

[Shadrach]

The eldest did the chickens this evening. It was her first time. I had until today tried not to involve my family in the old mans crazy obsessions. In the past I've tried writng out instructions with mixed success. This evening, thanks in part to earbuds and mic I was able to talk her through it. It was much faster and if there was doubt about something I could ask what she sees and work out what I needed to explain. I'm still leaving feed in the coop overnight to ensure they get a minimum of two feeds a day, which on some days is going to be difficult if I'm not there early enough in the afternoon.
I hope to be doing it myself tomorrow.
Eldests only comment, "I just don't know how you do this day after day."
Given it's her first time, and storm Bert's presence is still being felt, it must all seem very bleak and uncomfortable.