Fluid filled mass on hen's chest. Infected/impacted crop?

[KatyLeah]

Aprox 1 year old Wyandotte hen, eating,drinking, acting normal.
As I was giving her treats tonight I noticed her chest seemed saggy. When I picked her up I found that it is a fluid filled mass on her chest, about the size of a softball. I turned her on her side to get a better look and puss-like fluid poured out of her mouth. She is having no trouble breathing.

I called my vet and she said it may be that her crop has become impacted and is abcessing.

I will be taking her to work with me in the morning (I am an RVT, but at a small animal practice) to see what we can do for her. Right now I have her seperated from my 3 other hens. They have pine (?) shaving bedding in their coop and grass and hay in their pen. They are fed layer pellets and treats.

I'm just looking to see if anyone else has had this happen before, and what it might be?

I'm worried about her...I don't want to see her suffer!

 

[chickenzoo]

Are you sure she just didn't over stuff herself with food and water and when you turned her over she started spitting up? That is typical of them if they stuff themselves and are turned over..... Is their any fowl or sour smell from her mouth? Often with impaction the crop will feel like a wet sand bag or you can feel the unground matter that they ingested if you massage it around....

 

[KatyLeah]

No, I don't think she gorged herself. The liquid coming from her mouth was pus. and if I gently squeezed the mass, fluid flowed out faster. There is no granulation in it, it was like watered down pus.

 

[chickenzoo]

Hummm... Not her crop, but a fluid filled mass, but pussy liquid comes out her mouth from it.......? I don't know. If it was an infection in the crop I don't know why there would be a seperate mass... Unless its from a puncture injury to her crop somehow... If you have a feeding tube, you could pass it down into the crop and siphon out the fluid puss, then flush with a saline solution or Epsom salt water mix.... Massage the crop then siphon the fluid out again..... Until you can get her on an antibiotic......

 

[KatyLeah]

To be honest, I know little about chicken anatomy. I am a cat/dog/rodent VT, I have almost zero experience with farm animal medicine. It might be her crop that is bulging? Like I said, it is about the size of a softball. I just went a looked up a picture of a chicken's anatomy, and it does seem to be right where her crop would be. I'm sorry...I'm new to chickens. So if this is an infected crop, is it an easy fix? My vet mentioned antibiotics for their water. Also, is there something I can do to prevent it from happening to her again? (Or any of my other girls?)

 

[chickenzoo]

The crop is basically a big muscle that helps them grind their food. What concerns me is the puss.... Normally with an impacted crop their will be matter that will not grind down.. Like wood shavings...
It will sit and rot in the crop.... But I've not known puss to develop. Sour crop will have a sour smell from their mouth. Often giving some apple cider vinegar helps change the ph in the crop and helps fight off the bacteria etc developing inside.
Chickens can eat and drink so much so quickly that the crop fills up like a water balloon with a gritty texture...... Impacted crop feels more like wet sand.

If their is puss involved I would think they would flush the crop and put her on soft foods only and an antibiotic.... And see if their is a injury to the inside lining....

 

[MCI]

Just check first thing in the morning. If her craw has gone down all is well. The craw just holds the food until it is fed into the gizzard; it should be empty or nearly so by morning, assuming she doesn't eat during the night. When the craw is full of feed and water and you turn a bird on its side or upside down fluid will often escape.

 

[luvmychickens12]

I am dealing with some crop issues with my chicken as well. Lately I noticed her crop was huge and very soft and swishy. I knew something was wrong. I brought her to the vet, even though she rarely sees chickens and she drained the crop with a needle and syringe. She got out over 4oz of greenish gunk and brought her crop back to a normal size, she also gave me antibiotics for her water. I thought everything was going to be okay, but I have her isolated in the house and she ate some applesauce, but hasn't drank and her crop is huge again and it is making horrible gurgling noises. It is sooo sad and I don't know what else to do. My advise for you is to take immediate action because the crop is a muscle and if streched out too long it wont ever work properly again. I think that is what is wrong with my chicken. This is my first time with chickens as well so I didn't think anything was wrong with her a first, until she started making strange neck movements.
Hope she gets well soon!!

 

[bigmamahen]

Hi,

I am new here but I too have a hen w/a fluid filled chest. It appears to be serum like fluid & not air. I thought it may be a ruptured air sac because I too could "burp" her but it's definitely fluid & my cat vet looked at it & said it's serum. I tried draining it w/a needle & it seemed to help w/no pain to her but it is larger again this am.
Did you guys come up with an resolutions to yours?

 

[branston]

I had the same problem with our crooked beak hen, Ronald. I syringe fed her 3 times a day for almost a year. Her crop would get impacted so we gave her olive oil or she would get sour crop so we'd give her apple cider vinegar diluted and yogurt. We massaged her little crop every day, my family and I loved that little hen. A month ago, instead of running to us to be fed, she started running away from us. Every time we fed her, she would vomit. Her weight dropped rapidly over a few days so we took her to the vet and had her put to sleep. It was a very sad day indeed. We buried her with a peach tree in our yard. We miss her terribly and putting her to sleep was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do but her crop just seemed to give up on her