[Catsmuvva]

One of my newly aquired ex-bats won't eat!

I only brought the new girls home on 9th April. A couple of days ago I noticed Erica's crop was very large, turns out she was crop bound. After olive oil and much massaging the blockage shifted yesterday & I breathed a sigh of relief so I let her stay in the newbies quarters last night with her mate Geraldine instead of bringing her indoors.

When I let them out this morning Geraldine went straight for the food but Erica pecked half-heartedly at a few blades of grass but didn't touch the ex-bats pellets. I'd also ground some down in the hope she'd find it more palatable but she just stuck her beak in & threw a bit out.

Next I mashed up a bit of tuna cat food, adding some more ground up feed and some hot water to make it sloppier and had to fight off a couple of my older girls on the way to give it to Erica, but she ignored that as well. All she wants to do is tuck her beak under what's currently passing as a wing.

Can anyone help? She's just getting weaker without anything but grass - probably the cause of the blockage in the first place.

[Beakybird]

Hi Catsmuvva,

Is Erica drinking ok? If not then give her rehydration salts in water via a syringe in her mouth.

Is she passing any poo?

When did she last lay? Have you checked her vent in case she has a thin-shelled egg stuck inside her? Mine have had this problem and they stopped eating until it has either passed naturally or I have helped them to pass it.

I have ex-batts and when one of them had a problem with her crop I kept her here at home with me until she was feeding properly.
The problem with hens is that their crop 'shuts down' if they are poorly. So are you sure the crop problem was as a result of grass? If the grass is kept short it doesn't usually cause a problem.
 
Once they have stopped eating they may need a little extra encouragement to start again. I've found the best thing for my girls is wholewheat cooked spaghetti (think worms!!) to which I add a little live plain yoghurt (for the good bacteria).  This is nice and soft, not dry like pellets(especially when they're not drinking or just need to get their digestive system up and running again).

xxx

P.S. Sorry if any of the above is obvious, I just didn't want to miss anything out!

[Catsmuvva]

I've separated her off into a dog cage with newspaper as a liner so I can check her poo more easily. She's also got water & the mushy food I prepared earlier.

Her poo is watery with some soft lumps, nothing solid. She drinks a bit but not like yesterday when she was drinking quite a lot. I've added bicarb & a large pinch of table salt to the water for the electrolytes.

When I checked her earlier I noticed her crop had filled out again & wonder whether she'd been picking at the aubiose during the night...

She hasn't laid for a few days now, but the only eggs she produced anyway were weak shelled and had watery albumen.

[Catsmuvva]

Just checked - no egg in the vent!

[Beakybird]

Good that she's passing poo as that's a sign that things are moving through her system.

Maybe you could use a towel instead of bedding to ensure she's not eating it?

When mine won't eat even the usual yummy things don't tempt them (tomatoes, fruit, veg, etc) - the only thing that works is the spaghetti. It's certainly worth a try.
  
Gentle, regular massaging of the crop can help (remember that the lining of the crop is delicate and can be easily damaged). Even if mine are drinking, I'd still do the warm water and syringe, then a massage of the crop every hour or two. I usually do about 10ml of warm water. Once they start to eat the spaghetti it gets everything working again and they go back onto their usual food.

I wonder if she may just have been over indulging after being deprived for so long?

The fact that she's been laying thin shelled eggs may possibly suggest she has one collapsed inside of her (which could cause the crop to shut down). It may be too far up for you to feel.
I keep mine indoors, warm but not too warm. Quiet so she can get in a makeshift nesting box and cuddle down. They usually pass the egg within 48 hours.

[bantam novice]

No advice but I just wanted to wish you and Erica good luck 

[Beakybird]

Just wondering if there is any news regarding Erica? xx

[joyfull]

if she is laying soft or shelless eggs then one could have broken inside her - in which case get her to a vet as soon as possible for some antibiotics as she could have an infection. Being ill will make her feel like not eating.

[Sassy]

I have no experience of this but it occurs to me that if the blockage has only just started to go through her digestive system she may just feel full. Good luck

[Beakybird]

Forgot to add - my avian vet recommended that I give my ex-batts Nutrobal (calcium supplement) as it's easy for the girls to absorb and use.

[Catsmuvva]

Sorry for the delay, only got back from work just over an hour ago & been sorting out the girls and the cats.

Yesterday evening Erica was actually quite feisty! I brought her in, in the dog cage (she'd been out in it in the garden for warmth, fresh air and company, part-shaded) and gave her some more warm water by syringe and she was actually pecking back at it. I left her in overnight while I went to work and when I came home she had eaten about half of the gloop I'd made her up - cat food, mash & water - although she didn't seem too keen on the spaghetti which ended up thrown about. She'd also presented me with some much more normal looking droppings, urates forming up rather than streaky in the water, and solids more solid.

I've given her some more warm water this morning and some wet ground pellets with natural yogurt, but she's a little quiet again at the moment. I've noticed her oesophagus is quite pronounced but that's maybe because it's bald and looks more obvious.

I haven't come across Nutrobal - where would I find it?

[Beakybird]

Hi again Catsmuvva,

It sounds like Erica is improving a little. Maybe the spaghetti isn't working because she isn't used to finding worms just yet! It's certainly something to consider once your girls have been with you for a while and any of them are off their food.

I buy my Nutrobal from Vetark (they manufacture it):

http://www.vetark.co.uk/pages/Nutrobal_4.aspx

although I've just spotted another product on the site which I hadn't noticed before:

http://www.vetark.co.uk/pages/Avimix.aspx

Avimix is a mixture of Nutrobal and ACE-High - here's the bumph about ACE-High:
http://www.vetark.co.uk/pages/ACE-High_1.aspx

Sometimes our little worn out ex-batts need a bit of extra tlc.

Oh, and I also give my girls Avipro Plus:
http://www.vetark.co.uk/pages/Avipro-Plus_4.aspx

My avian vet recommended both the Nutrobal and the Avipro for my girls.

Keep us posted!

[Catsmuvva]

Ok, so Erica & I have just come back from a little drive in the country...

Although she said she only had limited experience with chickens the vet is happy there is no evidence of crop binding now, it's down to normal size, thankfully, but she couldn't pinpoint anything wrong elsewhere - no respiratory distress but underweight as expected from her not eating properly for a few days. A quick internal didn't produce anything unsavoury and Erica is now on Septrin paediatric solution for 5 days to see if that helps (not something I'm familiar with by that name but smells just like something I had as a kid) and I'm to keep her away from the others so they don't bully her (was doing that anyway...)

Erica's had one dose of meds and then, when I put her back in the cage she promptly ate first mash with yogurt, then a bit of spaghetti & then into the water! Typical, so like a creature to make you feel like you made a mountain out of a molehill...

Thanks for the info, Bb, I'm almost out of Avipro plus so it's good to know where I can get some more without paying local vet prices. I've been putting that in her water anyway so maybe she's been benefitting from that as well.

[Beakybird]

Aww, that's great news Cats! Fingers crossed she'll go from strength to strength!

Sounds like your vet is treating Erica for a bacterial infection, but maybe she's just hazzarding a guess?
 
My girls take Metacam (liquid, for cats) which seems to help pull them through any iffy times when they are potentially in pain - prescribed by my avian vet. My vet said that often, the affects of pain in birds is not fully acknowledged.

Really glad to hear Erica has been eating.

The girls and I are sending chicky good wishes to your little girl xx

[Catsmuvva]

I agree, it did seem more like guesswork but what could I do? The nearest poultry vet recommended by the chicken vet website was nearly 20 miles away & couldn't see Erica until today.

She's very weak now, her crop is practically empty and she barely pecks at the mash. She's outside in her cage with a choice of sunshine or shade, all I can do is wait & see which way she goes but I'm not holding out much hope for a recovery now :-(