Bluebell crop

[Welsh Nomad]

Hi,
We have a Bluebell that is not at her best. She is about a year old but just wanders around looking listless. We don't think she is laying as her comb is small and dark red as the other 6 birds we have all have nice plump combs that are bright red. The most eggs that we have had in recent weeks is 6. Anyway the Bluebell also has a very large crop that hangs off her chest like a balloon. When she walks her right foot is coming up and hitting the crop and her gait is a bit strange. There are very few feathers at the bottom of the crop. She is eating but doesn't fight for food like the others do when loose stuff if thrown down for them. When the others lose interest she does go in and eats. She doesn't look like she is thin but without picking her up you can't tell this weather.
Does anybody have any suggestions as to what to do as I am concerned about the size of the crop which has got to be twice the size of any of the others (one each of Black Rock, Sussex Star, Brown Leghorn, Warran, Speckled and an unnamed hybrid that lays funny coloured bluey/brown eggs. The first 3 are 2 years old and the rest about 1 year old)

Regards
Mike

 

[chrismahon]

Welcome to the forum Welsh Nomad.

It is highly likely she has a digestive impaction to some extent -she will be eating but the stuff isn't going through at the normal rate, hence the large crop. To confirm the extent of that she would have to be isolated and her poos checked. Treatment isn't going to be straightforward unfortunately. The impaction could be due to worms combined with an object, grass, bits of plastic, an internal infection, feathers, cankers or a tumour. A chicken with a total blockage can't be helped. We have treated three partial impactions this year and the simplest took a full month of regular attention, although with a young bird like yours, it may just take a few days. It is necessary to stop all food and syringe excess water into the crop with regular massaging in an attempt to break up the contents and try to wash the blockage through. Syringing some olive oil can also help. If your birds haven't been wormed with Flubenvet recently I suggest you would have to syringe a 7 day dose of that in as well. The crop contents may go sour and that will need flushing out, which won't be possible with an already extended crop and a solid mass. It may well then require an operation under local anaesthetic by an experienced vet (BHWT listed). The discomfort from that condition as well would explain her listlessness.

You may wish to consider a trip to your vet for confirmation of this as my advice is to either cull her or start treatment immediately. If she has already lost a lot of weight she may not have the energy necessary to survive treatment. You may not have the facilities or time either. But there is a fair chance she could be successfully treated I think.

 

[Welsh Nomad]

Thanks for the advice. It is going to be difficult to isolate her but we can but try. Not the best time of the year for doing things after work. I was about to start a worming programme as the new birds haven't been treated. The older ones had treatment last year. We use Flubenvet. I mix up the required dose into some olive oil and then measure out the correct amount of pellets. I then pour the well shaken mixture of oil and powder into the pellets and shake furiously until all the pellets are coated. I do this in 2 batches and use a plastic container like a lunchbox to mix everything up. Once that has been done I let the chickens empty the automatic feeder and then fill it with the coated pellets. We don't add any fresh feed to the feeder until the coated pellets are nearly all gone. I repeat after about 7 days. It is difficult to know if each bird is getting the right amount but I guess that they eat what they need. We also put apple cider vinegar in their water.

 

[Marigold]

Hi Welsh Nomad and welcome to the Forum. I'm sorry to hear about your poorly hen.
Yes, worms are always high on the list of things to consider when a bird gets digestive upsets or just 'isn't right,' but you seem to have been treating yr flock with Flubenvet OK. I agree with Chris that she has got a digestive impaction of some kind, and this can often get started when a bird eats long grass, which doesn't break up in the crop and gradually gets tangled up and prevents other food going down. Would she possibly have had access to this? It's dificult to spot this when it first starts to develop in a single bird in a flock, but the symptoms she is now showing would seem to indicate that she's in real distress. If you want to save her, she will need a visit to the vet for his advice, I think, on the understanding that treatment may be difficult and expensive, may take a long time, and may not be successful if the impaction is now advanced, as it will have pulled her down and she will have lost a lot of weight from not eating for some time. The alternative, as Chris says, is euthanasia, which may be the kindest way to go.