Bird not eating with very full crop

Grace is much brighter today, talking to me again, eating much more and not drinking tons. She still has diarrhea, but its less and has solids in it now. Thanks to Chris, and his recommended diet, I still have her. She is also having apple, pear and veg. But she is still wobbly so I'll have to hope and pray her kidneys can revive.
 
Although Grace is still making progress, I have spoken to the BHWT vet again today and she thinks it is not normal for her to have had such problems after the operation and that she may have an underlying problem or kidney damage. She says a bird normally recovers within 24 hours from impacted crop operation. I've therefore got to monitor whether her crop is working properly (full at night and empty in the morning) and to weigh her regularly to see if she is losing weight.
 
I look forward to your thoughts in due course, Chris. Grace is bright in herself and she no longer has balance problems, which is great, but she is not eating much and is gradually losing weight. Vet thinks her digestive system may be damaged. You have had more experience with nursing these cases. but my inclination is to put her to sleep.
 
In cases like that we feed them food balls for as long as it takes Chickenfan. I now have Avipro Avian and we will be trying that on some of ours. I don't agree with a terminally 'damaged' digestive system. Battery hens have an underdeveloped gizzard due to their diet, I read last week, which brigs with it digestive issues. That won't apply to Grace -she has just lost the inclination to eat on her own and needs encouragement. You can try pellets made into a warm mash, which my wife Rosie tells me has pulled our Hyacinth around while I've been away. Hyacinth lost the will to eat dry pellets after a violent thunder storm two months ago and has been gradually losing weight. But she will eat hung cabbage leaves, grain (which goes through as she isn't eating grit) and all the insects and grubs I find for her. We have had all manner of digestive problems here because the extreme heat has driven all to a full moult, which knocks them back badly.
 
Hi Chris,

How amazing you have had a heatwave there! I hope you had a good time away. Thank you for your continuing encouragement. I can't get Grace to eat anything poultry-food related even if it is warm moist, ground food, or ground corn. She will eat a little tomato, grass, veg, brocolli and grit but seems to be eating a little less all the time. I'm worried her kidneys are damaged. She is still quite wobbly on her feet. Have you ever had a bird that went wobbly like this?
 
We've got one now Chickenfan. He has hypothermia and it's not cold. His body temperature was very low and he couldn't stand- fell out of the coop down the steps this morning. What puzzles us is why? He has been behaving strangely for two weeks now. At the moment we have warmed him up under my shirt with a hand under one wing. That got him to the point of talking again and opening his eyes. Now he is in a cage with a heat lamp above and we are administering water to keep him hydrated. From experience he will be in about three days to get him to full health. But we can see no apparent problem apart from one small but very nasty patch of scaly leg mite -could be the pain from that. We treated him a while back and all has gone except for this one patch which has grown enormously in a week. He is in full moult, but being a TNN that shouldn't be much of a problem.

Shorts and tee shirt a week ago, but now it is rather cold at night.
 
Poor boy! So being such sensitive creatures, small things can throw them right off course. I hope he is getting better quickly under your skilled hand. Very exciting Grace had a bit more to eat today and seems stronger.
 
Grace is doing well now. I'm still bringing her in at night and feeding her up and she has also improved a lot since being given a multi-mineral (a powder I dilute in her water). No bird could have had a more narrow escape from being pts thanks to Chris! The ground food mixture has been a wonderful help too, and probably made all the difference to her recovery.
 
Very pleased to hear it Chickenfan. Claude the TNN (my avatar) isn't doing so well. We got him back to apparent health and he collapsed in the coop overnight. It appears the low body temperature killed off his gut flora, so even though he is eating it is having little effect- just going straight through undigested. He is on Nettex nutria-drops, hand fed ground rearers pellets in balls (which he likes) and is getting Avipro Avian to reinstate his digestive flora. Problem is it doesn't seem to be working at all after a week. Sent an email to Vetark the manufacturers asking how long it will take, but no reply. In the meantime we have gone back to probiotic yoghurt, because we know that works. In the meantime he is very weak and can't stand -just no energy. He's sitting on a brewing 25W heat mat at the moment in the sunshine. Seems happy enough.Think we won't risk leaving the old chap out at night again, assuming he recovers.
 
I am so sorry to hear about Claude and that he is having such a rough time. Poor soul. I hope he performs a similar miracle to Grace.
 
Grace has now put on half a kilo and is much more her grand old self. Thanks again Chris.
 
Grace has started laying again! A huge thank you to Chris that this beautiful and special girl is still with me.
 
So pleased Grace survived her ordeal Chickenfan. Strange to start laying on almost the shortest day of the year -we had one as well. First egg since her moult , which she hasn't finished either.
 
Glad to hear that she's doing well!

Ours took a break in weeks 47 to 50 and started laying again about a week ago (week 51). I think it might have something to do with the cold weather we had earlier in the month and it's now positively warm in comparison! Good thing that it's only going to get brighter from here onwards :)
 
I'm not sure why but I have another bird with a crop problem. This time a 3-year old brown hybrid. She has lost weight and I found her very miserable with a squishy crop, which I assume is sour crop. I can also feel a smooth lump, a bit like a grape, and several smaller lumps. I'm not sure if the lumps are part of her crop or something she has swallowed. She's been having water only with probiotics and oregano complex and has improved on this but am not sure how to get rid of the lumps.
 
Check her throat for cankers Chickenfan. They are cream coloured fungal growths. There are two types only distinguished by analysis. The commonest responds well to Flagyl and it's best to start treatment on that immediately. The other needs Nystan with which we had no success.

Our first recent crop impaction case (Ollie) has developed cankers in the last 4 weeks. Our only option here when her re-worming is completed is to try giving chopped onions, which is a preventative rather than a cure.

They normally fight these things off themselves, but of course when their immune system is depressed they can get a hold.
 
Thankyou Chris. Chestnut's fluidy crop seemed to clear up quickly on probiotics (I used human ones this time and split open a capsule) and a herbal mix of clove oil, ginger, garlic, cinnamon and oregano oil. I can't see anything in her throat, but I gather canker can be just in the crop and maybe this is what the lumps were. I can't find them now. When they operated on Grace they pulled out a white lump about the size of a grape. Perhaps this was canker too, although it was quite firm. If she had had canker or fungal infection through her system this would account for her being so ill. I understand they can pick it up from wild birds (and I have dunnocks around the feeder) or mouldy food. I need to find out what is making my birds so ill. Perhaps it is leaving food out in the Grandpa's feeder for several days at a time.

Wishing you and your birds a very happy New Year.
 
Sounds like it could have been a canker Chickenfan. They are solid lumps of fungal growth a light cream to brown colour -initially cream.

Problem with some feeders is old food left in the corners. It gets damp (just from the air) and goes off very quickly and if we mix a mash of pellets and don't use it there is mould on the surface 24 hours later. Here the problem is driving rain. Even if the feeders are under shelter the splashes from the ground will get into the feeders and they go off, so we never fill them, just leave enough feed in for a day.
 
Thanks Chris. I'm busy checking the corners now and putting much less food out. Grandpa's feeders have advised me to fill the training screw holes with mastic or similar, which can let in a bit of water (just in case anyone else has one).
 
Chestnut, my brown hybrid, is suddenly very poorly again, this time just with fluid in her crop. I brought her in yesterday and gave her probiotics in water, herbs and massage, but she has continued to deteriorate fast and is now lying down, breathing heavily. I've rung BHWT vet and she says sour crop in her experience usually has another underlying problem, and is difficult to put right without flushing the crop and giving her anti-fungals, which she hasn't got at the moment.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top