Slow/sour crop suspected in 3yo EE Hen. Please help!

[Kay-T-Hammer]

Why is she in the dark, just for nighttime? I would let her out some with her flock so they don’t forget her and attack her when she comes back full time. I usually leave my sick hens in the coop with the others. You can use a dog crate to keep her separate, or let her out with them for an hour before they go to roost in evening. You also can give her calcium, check her crop, and treat her on the roost just before daylight or at night. You can also feed her at that time. I don’t like to have them out of the flock for more than 3 days, or they may attack them.

... I was told keep her in a warm, dark room. So I kept her in a warm, dark room. I think with me, I need to be told for how long I should do each thing. I thought she was supposed to stay in the dark. But after reading your response, I brought her back outside. Her tail is at least up, which it wasn't yesterday. But she's so sleepy! And the wind is trying to blow her over. She seems content though to just stand near the coop. Her wing stopped drooping (it was a little droopy yesterday, and I don't know if it was due to heat or to not feeling well), and her tail, and she's walking a bit faster. I think that what I gave them probably blocked her up somewhere and made her nauseous. I left her with her buddy, a Sapphire Gem hen who seems to be the only one that never goes after her. The others saw the crate and thought I was coming for them so they fled. They did come back to see what had materialized out of the crate, but then they just went back to chickening. But now I want to know what the symptoms are of bird flu. I mean, we get wicked sick when we have the flu... Nope. Trying to stop stupid thoughts. With the timeline, I know that I caused this (lessons very much learned). She seems better, anyway! Not much, but a bit more life. When she hit 2 years old she became a "you'll get an egg from me when I feel like giving you one" kind of layer, and I truly hope that she's now done laying eggs for good, at the age of 3. Thank you all for the advice!!! You have no idea how much I appreciate all of you!

 

[townchicks]

Glad to hear she's doing better. The neck jerk sounds like she's adjusting her crop , normal maneuver. You can try mixing the crushed tums with a small amount of scrambled egg, if you really can't get her mouth open. Sometimes it just takes a bit of practice to get pilling down. Also, you can trim her butt fluff with scissors to help keep her clean. I agree with Eggcessive, try to get her out where the flock can see her, and she can see them . If there is room in the coop, just carry the crate and hen out together, or put her and the crate in the run, if it is sheltered. Then you can bring her in at night if the run is not secure. Do what works for you, keep yourself safe if the rooster is a concern.

 

[townchicks]

Not bird flu, she'd probably be dead by now and the rest of the flock would be sick. Symptoms of bird flu are mostly respiratory, from what I have heard. She's not showing that.

 

[Kay-T-Hammer]

Glad to hear she's doing better. The neck jerk sounds like she's adjusting her crop , normal maneuver. You can try mixing the crushed tums with a small amount of scrambled egg, if you really can't get her mouth open. Sometimes it just takes a bit of practice to get pilling down. Also, you can trim her butt fluff with scissors to help keep her clean. I agree with Eggcessive, try to get her out where the flock can see her, and she can see them . If there is room in the coop, just carry the crate and hen out together, or put her and the crate in the run, if it is sheltered. Then you can bring her in at night if the run is not secure. Do what works for you, keep yourself safe if the rooster is a concern.

I've left her with her bestie, telling the SG to take care of little Sweet Pea and not to leave her. I didn't think she'd listen to me, but others have in the past, so I gave it a shot. I stayed with the flock until I saw how Sumiré (the SG hen) would act. At first, she was in the process of laying an egg when I brought out the crate. She came out long enough to see her friend and then laid her egg. Now Sweet Pea is laying in the nesting box full of eggs and Sumiré has taken up residence in another box. She's sticking right close to Sweet Pea, and baby girl seems more content. She doesn't look like she's in pain, just not feeling too great. I'm going to try the tums in a peppered scrambled egg for dinner. I heard on here that pepper is very good for chickens and it'll hopefully mask the smell of tums. I have the berry flavored ones, and I think I messed up by not buying the original. I was thinking maybe it was her crop. I know that I've seen others do it, but where she was sick I didn't know if it was going to be gapeworm that just wasn't at its worst yet (I'm always prepared to tackle the worst problem imaginable so the easy problems don't take my sanity). Her belly isn't gurgling anymore, so that's good, I think. Can chickens get indigestion? We get indigestion if we eat bad for us foods, so maybe? Google seems to be all over the place with an answer. My rooster is only ever a threat if I make her scream, then her big King tries to rescue her from mean old mama. I think they remember that the last chicken that I caught never came back. But so far this seems to be the most perplexing case of problems that I've encountered, including those I've had with small children! This one just had me flummoxed every step of the way.

Ok. I have seen no respiratory issues with anyone in the flock, so that's a definite no. None of them show signs of parasites, internal or external. Everyone, including Sweet Pea, have clear, bright eyes, no discoloration on their combs or wattles, no swelling where there shouldn't be (some of the little gluttons have full crops right now), no missing feathers on anyone, no pecking or excessive bullying (only occasional pecking order usualness). There's no sign of a fever or sneezing or gasping or anything. No odd droppings or smells. No scratches, peck marks, or any other wound, healing or fresh, on any of them. They all seem extremely healthy with this one exception, and right now she's just sluggish and sleepy and that's understandable for not feeling great; but all in all even she has few symptoms as of right this minute. Thank you!

 

[Eggcessive]

Keeping them in the dark is only to make a hen temporarily stop laying eggs, especially when one has suffered a prolapse. They still are only in the dark for 16 out of 24 hours. So, I’m not sure why you were told to keep her in the dark. The calcium or Tums is only to help her try and lay an egg if she has a stuck egg or lash egg. The common signs of avian influenza, which your hen doesn’t have, are face and head swelling, blue combs, gasping, and neurological signs (twisted neck, imbalance, lameness, drooping wings.) You would definitely suspect something is very wrong.