Sour crop? other?

[TaylorC]

1) What type of bird , age and weight.
Standard Cochin, 3weeks, no idea

2) What is the behavior, exactly.
Staying by herself and sleeping lots, not eating, drinking, bad breath, thick and stringy saliva when she opens her mouth

3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?
Since yesterday (Wed) evening

4) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
No

5) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.
About three days ago I changed bedding from alder shavings to pine, and just prior sprayed the box down with strong bleach solution, aired out for about twenty minutes before bedding and returning the chicks. Also changed brooding box from rubbermaid to (old) MDF, about one week ago

6) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
baby food from the feed store - dn't have the specifics on me

7) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc. First one this morning, normal; second one mucousy.

8) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?
None, observing

9 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?
Would love to treat at home rather than kicking out $52 to see a vet, plus money for knee-jerk antibiotics, and???

10) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.
n/a

11) Describe the housing/bedding in use
3.5' MDF cube, front face and half of top is screen, 3/4" pine shavings. Heat lamp clamped to top, facing a temperature probe set to about 85°.

 

[TaylorC]

This is from "Fowl Facts," as treatment for sour/impacted crop. Is this the route to take first? Does it sound like a crop problem? Her crop does not seem to be full, btw.
First Treatment
You can start by putting an eyedropper full of vegetable oil into the crop and then massaging the crop.
This will soften the impaction.
Put the dropper all the way back in the bird's mouth and slowly push out the oil. Any vegetable oil is good: olive oil, corn oil, or canola oil.

Mix
1/2-cup baking soda
1 pint of warm water
Fill the syringe and insert it as far as you can into the mouth of the chicken.
If you can get hold of some soft plastic tube to put on the end of the syringe to insert that into the crop it would be a lot better for your bird and for you when you put the liquid into her.. .I use the plastic (15 cm long) they use on coat hangers on the hook part from a craft shop

Have someone hold the bird upright in front of you.
Slowly and very gently fill the crop, do not over fill and get liquid into that hole at the base of the tongue.
Gently press up under the chicken’s breast and slide your hand up to the crop. This makes the bird open its mouth and the impacted mess will come out the bird's mouth. Push the contents up and out of the crop and out of the mouth.

You can face the bird toward the ground to help empty the crop.
Repeat this gentle stroking pressure until nothing comes up.
If there the crop is not empty, flush it again until it is empty.
Once the crop is empty, give another dropper of oil.

Coop the bird away from other birds so it can rest.
Provide about a cup of water with 1 teaspoon Terramycin dissolved in it.
Give no feed.

 

[TaylorC]

Also, last though/question:
What's the urgency here? We will take her to a vet if that's what needs to happen. She's at least as much a family pet as an egg-maker now. But if the top ten likely problems would take a healthy chicken four days to die from, we can just observe for a day.
She is pooping, which seems a good sign. Two poops within the last 2.5 hr or so.

 

[TaylorC]

Chicken's dead. Thanks anyway.