Chicken sick?

[avtar singh]

I am from Nigeria . just first-time start keep baby chicken ..do i need any kind of vaccine in the beginning .. or not ...

 

[Lilbitchickenkeeper]

No smell coming from her crop, it is still distened after holding food and water. I will try and watch her when I get a few hours to stock them for poop pictures. Thanks

 

[Cragg Klefor]

You'll need to check the crop first thing in the morning to find out if she has a crop issue. Let us know what you find along with the poop pics.

 

[rebrascora]

Ok I checked her out this morning, her crop was heavy and I could still feel a few peices of crumbles in it

Hi again. Sorry for the delayed reply. The above quote doesn't make much sense to me so not sure if there was a spelling autocorrect that changed the meaning or if I'm just not understanding you for some reason. A heavy crop would have more than just a few pieces of crumble in it.

No smell coming from her crop, it is still distened after holding food and water

I am guessing this is the result first thing in the morning after withholding food and water. If so then she clearly has a problem and you are best isolating her so that you can treat her. Coconut oil and regular crop massage (10-15 mins 4 times a day if you can manage it) and only liquid feed that would pass through a kitchen sieve. I remove any fibrous bedding like hay or straw as they will sometimes eat that out of boredom or because they are starving, but it just makes the problem worse. I put them on newspapers or puppy pads. Keeping her in the house will keep her warmer and make treating her easier for you, if you can facilitate that. If she is not getting enough food through her system to provide for her nutritional needs then she will be eating into her body reserves.... breast muscle... and keeping herself warm will use extra calories that she is unable to process at the moment, so bringing her into the warm will slow down the rate at which she is burning up her reserves.
Crop impactions are often caused by a blockage lower down the digestive tract, often a reproductive malfunction or ailment, which is why it is important to check for abdominal swelling or bloat. The other common cause of crop impaction is having eaten long fibrous material like straw or hay or long grass. A small amount is not usually a problem but some birds eat too much and it gets ravelled up into a tangled ball ( a bit like a fur ball in cats, and it gets stuck in the crop, damming the outlet to the gut and slowing the passage of food into the gizzard and beyond. Sometimes it can be broken up by regular gentle massage of the crop (it can take several days). A stool softener without stimulant like Dulcolax or generic equivalent will sometimes help to break it up or very occasionally surgery is necessary to manually remove it from the crop.
Figuring out if the cause is in the crop itself of further down her system is the first stage, so assessing her abdomen for swelling (between her legs and below her vent) is an important step in the process. Not much point in massaging the crop if the blockage is at the other end! It is important to compare how her abdomen feels with other hens, so that you have an idea of what normal is. Doing this at night whilst they are roosting by cupping your hand between their legs is the easiest and least disruptive way to do it and you can then get an immediate and direct comparison.
A crop bra may be something to research as well,as her crop may have become very stretched and retain a saggy section even after the impaction is cleared, which will benefit from support to prevent further build up of material.

 

[Lilbitchickenkeeper]

Thanks I will try the massage and coconut oil