[batty810T]

* weeks ago we took delivery of our first ever chickens, 4 ex batts called Daphne, Bhuna, Velma and Babs.  2 weeks ago daphne developed sour crop, was whisked to the vets and £50 later and enough meds to sink a battleship all was well.  However yesterday, Daphne, within the space of 20 mins or so went from her normal perky self to a very poorly girl indeed.  She produced a poo which looked like egg white without any solid matter and then took herself off to the nesting box at 4pm and went to sleep-Her crop felt normal at this point.  This morning, she is perky but has a purple tinged comb, her crop is small but not completely flat and she is drinking a lot...can anyone point me in the right direction as though the symptoms are similar to the sour crop, they are not identical-She does lay massive eggs sporadically and their shells are quite knobbly and brittle.  I put ACV in the water, I add Calcium carbonate powder to the feed, they have fresh greens and ex batt pellets.  And their house is cleaner than mine!!!!

[upert]

if you don't name them it makes it less hard to cull them when they become too ill to treat.

[cluckie]

Hi, i'm afraid i'm new at this,so can't advise. But i'm like you, I have 5 ex-batts,named them all,and I would be gutted if anything happened to them! I name them because they are my girls and part of my family. I truly hope Daphne recovers to top form.Keep us posted please.xx

[joyfull]

the white could be an egg broken inside her - ex batts can have weak shelled eggs. Sit her in a sink of warm water for about 30 minutes just to see if she relaxes enough to pass the rest of her egg. Use vaseline and carefully feel if there is any shell left inside her. Dry her off with a towel and then using a hairdryer on a warm setting blow dry her feathers. If an egg has broken then she will need a course of antibiotics just in case infection has set in.

[batty810T]

Thank you for your replies.  My husband said that I should not have named them to avoid becoming emotionally attached!  Will try the hot water spa treatment-Thankfully she is the tamest out of the four and revels in human contact so has been easy to treat-Why does stuff like this always happen to your favourite one?!!

[upert]

my favourite (though i know i shouldn't have one) became ill and, though it hadn't laid an egg in over six months i still spent £30 on getting it well.

at least i hadn't named it. what a softie.

[Sassy]

The shell quality reduces as hens get older (one of the reasons for commercial producers changing all their stock regularly) also the calcium carbonate you are feeding may not help and could be damaging their kidneys. The blue tinged comb could indicate a heart problem. Unfortunately whilst many ex batts go on to lead a long life many don't they are just worn out. Whatever, the outcome take heart that she has had quality of life with you she could not have hoped for under their usual end!

[batty810T]

Very pleased to report Daphne is as right as rain today, so goodness knows what was wrong with her. The BHWT suggested it could be Vent Gleet so may see if I can waggle a repeat prescription of nystatin from the vet without a consultation fee.  Also advised to stick her on something called Beryl's which is a pro biotic......Hope Beryl doesn't mind!!

[bantam novice]

Glad to hear your hen has improved    Good luck and keep us posted.

[batty810T]

Am a bit worried about the Calcium carbonate...........I thought I was doing a good thing with it and it's safe as the vet reccommended using it.  The shells on her eggs do seem much harder since we've been using it so perhaps I won't use it daily but will add it three times a week instead. 

[Sassy]

By the way the shells are likely to be knobbly due to her age. If you are feeding a layers mash or pellet plus she has oyster shell her shells should be fine. The vet may have prescribed calcium carbonate in case she was struggling to digest things properly I don't know. You should, of course, listen to your vet but I would ask how much he knows about chooks - some are very good and some haven't got a clue :blink: