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451

Housing, Health & Hatching / Hen has large crop issue - Any suggestions would be appreciated.

« on: January 05, 2012, 02:29:03 PM »

Yesterday morning, her crop was as large as it has ever been, probably close to a small grapefruit. She was acting fine, very alert, poop was a little runny, but at least there was poop. I massaged the lump a lot and made her throw up again, then fed her some Nutri-cal with grit and egg shell stuck in it. Thankfully, she still had her appetite. I called Peter Brown to get his input and he told me to try to flush it and make her throw up.

Teresa came over and she held \"Ruby\" and got her mouth open. I gently stuck a 3-4 inch IV tubing down her throat and syringed in some warm water. Peter told me to use 1 or 2 CCs of water, massage and make her throw up, then repeat in an hour or so a few times...and to be very careful not to put too much water in to where it starts to come back up on its own or I\'d drown the bird.

Okay, so here is where you can shake your head at my stupidity and say, \"Only by the grace of God...\" I didn\'t have anything that measured CCs so I guessed at it by feeling how much empty room I thought was in the crop and I put about 2 teaspoons in the syringe. When I just now thought about the online measure conversion, I Googled to see how much water 2 teaspoons was...= 10CCs...oops!

Teresa and I flushed Ruby 4 times within an hour (yes, I know what the doctor said, but we were pressed for time) ...each time Ruby threw up a little more than what I put into her. After that, you could tell most of the liquid was out of her, but there was still this large squishy ball that felt like loose hay that hadn\'t hardened. I then watered down (just enough water to make it runny) some Nutri-Cal and syringed it into her so I knew she would be fed. (Nutri-Cal is a thick paste-like substance that is full of calories and vitamins. Many almost-dead animals have been revived with this great product.) They seem to like the taste, too.

THIS MORNING\'S UPDATE: The lump is about the size of a lemon and is real soft...Yea! I made Ruby a small quarter size glob of watered down Nutri-Cal, a few bits of bread to soak it up, and egg shells and she gobbled it up. Teresa is coming over this afternoon to help me flush her again. I\'m not sure how much water to use, probably 5CCs. I think its really a matter of using as much as you can without overdoing it. The more water, the better, but also a much higher risk.

I really think this was all cause from a lack of grit. That\'s my best guess anyway. I\'m sure there may be other possible reasons. Thankfully, I caught this real fast. I will give another (much shorter) update again tomorrow. Thanks for your thoughtful concern. And I hope this helps others who may find themselves in this situation.

Sharon

452

Housing, Health & Hatching / Hen has large crop issue - Any suggestions would be appreciated.

« on: January 03, 2012, 03:00:20 PM »

Well, I fought the blizzard and bought me some: Nutri-Cal, mineral oil, & IV tubing (Pet Supplies Plus has the tubing). I got her to throw up a lot more and it smells real sour. I can\'t feel any blockages, but the big question now is how to get it all to pass on through, and if there\'s no blockages, why isn\'t it digesting?  

After she threw up quite a bit, and I let her settle for several minutes, I fed her a little Nutri-Cal and got some mineral oil and apple cider vinegar in her. I\'m still not understanding the reasoning behind holding her totally upside down. If I threw up that way I\'d surely choke. And when a chicken throws up after drinking too much water, they don\'t have any problems with their head facing forward. I held her almost all of the way down, but when the stuff started coming out, I let her pick up her head a little and I kept pushing the stuff out for 10-15 seconds. She didn\'t choke or cough at all. I hope I didn\'t mess things up. If she got some into her lungs, how soon would I know? And she didn\'t fight me at all.

She acts hungry, and as long as I sprinkle little pieces of egg shell on whatever I\'m trying to feed her, she\'ll eat it. Looks like candy sprinkles to her, I guess. I\'m going to mix her up a very small batch of raw egg, mineral oil, ACV, & Nutri-Cal and give it to her in an hour or so.

Any other thoughts on how to get her digestive system back on track or what else to do for her. Her crop is still large. I\'m thinking a lot of this was cause from the lack of grit. I normally mix it into their feed instead of free choice. I had one bird that would eat every bit of grit I\'d set out. But since she\'s no longer here, I will start setting it out again.

Sharon  

453

Housing, Health & Hatching / Hen has large crop issue - Any suggestions would be appreciated.

« on: January 03, 2012, 09:33:39 AM »

There is still a large mushy crop lump this morning. I massaged it some, then tipped forward and made her throw up. I was afraid to do it for more than about ten seconds, but after the first time, I couldn\'t get her to do it again. It does smell sour. She\'s still acting fairly normal and there was two nice size poops under her perch. I\'m very concerned about trying to get some nutrition in her without packing it more. I\'m thinking there probably is some hay in her adding to the problem, it just hasn\'t packed real hard yet. I\'m thinking along the lines of oiling her (not sure how much) and getting some more apple cider vinegar in her, then maybe getting something like \"Nutri-Cal\" to help with nutrition. It\'s 17 degrees here and still snowing and blowing.

I did question the yogurt a little, but only because I didn\'t know if it would contribute to the dairy souring if she\'s not digesting things well. I like giving a little to them periodically in a normal situation.

More later.  

454

Housing, Health & Hatching / Hen has large crop issue - Any suggestions would be appreciated.

« on: January 02, 2012, 10:47:46 PM »

Sounds like I might need to treat this somewhat like colic. I\'ve had horses do that and we tubed them. I\'m sure I can find a tube that will work. I think I\'m getting a better grasp of the situation with all of the great advice given. My girls are so great to work with. Ha! I may even try giving her an enema  :stare: I bet you\'d like to hear how that turns out! I\'ll keep you updated.

Hopefully this post may help others recognize issues if it happens to them. I\'m very thankful for this forum and everyone who tries to help.  

Sharon  

455

Housing, Health & Hatching / Hen has large crop issue - Any suggestions would be appreciated.

« on: January 02, 2012, 09:08:59 PM »

Thanks for the flushing information. I didn\'t see your post until after I posted mine. Where do I get a crop tube? Is that something TSC would have?

Sharon

456

Housing, Health & Hatching / Hen has large crop issue - Any suggestions would be appreciated.

« on: January 02, 2012, 09:03:46 PM »

It\'s a lot more squishier now. This morning it was firm and like a soft ball toward the right. Now it more like a double handful of mush, more in the center. I got to thinking about having penned her up by herself this morning in a 2.5 x 5 pen. I\'m thinking maybe it would have be better if she moved around to help pass it. I brought her into my garage so she could walk around. She did a little, but no poop. I turned her upside down to see if she had any blockages...you know, under there. No blockages, but she threw up all down my leg. It looked like the yogurt she ate today. She didn\'t gag or anything, so I don\'t think it hurt her or got into her lungs. I watched a few crop surgeries on Youtube. I could do that if I needed to, but I\'m thinking it\'s more like sour crop or something of that nature. If it isn\'t down in the morning... at least more than it is now, I\'ll give her some oil and get her to moving more. I\'m not sure if I should start her on antibiotics or not. Some sites say this (if its sour crop) can turn into an infection and/or be caused by one.  --Sharon

457

Housing, Health & Hatching / Hen has large crop issue - Any suggestions would be appreciated.

« on: January 02, 2012, 07:13:51 PM »

The lump is about the size of an orange and is more squishy now than it was this morning. Maybe because I\'ve been massaging it a lot. But it hasn\'t gone down any. All she\'s had to eat (I took all of her food away) all day is the liquid yogurt combo I made her this morning and a little more later this afternoon with a little olive oil in it. Would olive oil work the same as mineral oil, and if so, do you just squirt it (how much) down there throat? It\'s snowing real bad right now or I\'d go get some mineral oil.

Her dropping have been very minimal today. This just started a day or two ago, so I caught it very quick. She hasn\'t lost any weight (she\'s the largest and heaviest hen I have) and acts fairly normal. She didn\'t lay today. She IS drinking water. Did you do the surgery for this? What\'s the procedure? Have you ever heard of leaning them forward and trying to work the stuff up and out of their mouth? If you are real familiar with this, maybe (if you wouldn\'t mind) I can talk to you tomorrow on the phone if she isn\'t doing any better. I REALLY don\'t want to lose this one.

Sharon  

458

Housing, Health & Hatching / Hen has large crop issue - Any suggestions would be appreciated.

« on: January 02, 2012, 01:40:18 PM »

I noticed last night that one of my 16 month-old hens had a large ball-shaped crop, so being fairly new at this, I tried searching the Internet for answers. I gather that this is somewhat normal at night, but it didn’t go away by morning like most of the articles said, so now I am a bit concerned that it could be a soured crop (or impacted) that won’t pass on its own. If someone could help shed some light on this, I would really appreciate it. This is what I have done so far:

I’ve taken her food away and put her in a pen by herself, hoping her body would digest more of it. I’ve massaged the lump (it’s a little squishy but firmer than I think it should be – not sure) several times. I just took her out a food mixture of: 4 tbs of plain non-fat yogurt, 1 tbs of apple cider vinegar, & 1 raw egg. I mixed that together. It was a little runny, but after I sprinkled the top with little pieces of egg shells, she dove right in and kept eating. I figured the vinegar and yogurt would help with digestion and the egg would help give her some nutrition and pass easy.

What else can I do? And please tell me if I shouldn’t do what I am doing. She acts okay as far as not being lethargic - I caught it soon, but she sometimes makes a funny neck movement like she’s trying to move the lump or it’s uncomfortable. Any thoughts?

Sharon

459

Housing, Health & Hatching / Power outage!!!

« on: January 01, 2012, 05:41:15 PM »

I had planned to set eggs on January 1st, but since my 3 girls had each given me 7 eggs in 9 days, I figured 21 eggs were plenty and I set them a day early. When I woke up this morning, I looked at the clock and it was blank. I leaped out of bed and ran to the incubator. My husband looked at me like, “Where’s the fire?” I asked him how long had the electric been off and he said about 30 minutes. I thought, “Crap! That’s what I get for setting them a day early!” The temperature was 95. I threw a towel over the incubator (hoping to help hold in the heat) then called the electric company. They said it would be about 2 hours before it would be restored in our area.

Long story short, we borrowed a generator and had it back up and running within an hour, but not before the temperature had dropped to 85. Total time without electric was about an hour and a half. Do you think this has done any damage? And what are some helpful tips to do in the case of a power outage…other than go buy a generator, which I’ll probably do anyway. --Sharon

460

Breeding / 3 Rookie Questions

« on: January 01, 2012, 04:31:04 PM »

PAPER BEDDING - What a great idea! I will surely try the furnace filters around their pen. I normally put pine shavings down first, topped with a double layer of Bounty paper towels right after the chicks are first hatched. Paper towels are so easy to change out. After a week or two (depending on the number of chicks), I leave the paper towels off and go straight to shavings. I just wondered if shredded paper would be okay. It would definitely be cheaper.  

ROOSTER CHANGE – I have 2 really nice black hens that I would like to have a lot of chicks out of, but would like to use multiple cockerels to experiment with. I just wanted to make sure I knew which chicks would be out of which cockerels. My best cockerel is a splash, so I know they will all be blue, but I really want some blacks, so I wanted to try them with a blue cockerel, too. I just wanted to make sure I knew which cockerel the blue chicks were out of in of the second batch.

Thanks for all of the great advice. It was very helpful.

Sharon

461

Exhibiting & Promoting / Splashes

« on: December 31, 2011, 03:32:08 PM »

If you get both Lavender and Splash recognized, is it $200 each or a one time fee for both if both changes are made at the same time? Also, is there a problem with the APA paying the fee? If so, there may be enough people who would join together to help. It would only take around 10 people with $20 each. I will help.  --Sharon

462

Breeding / 3 Rookie Questions

« on: December 30, 2011, 11:36:00 PM »

1. If you take one rooster out of a pen and replace him with another rooster, how many days does it take to be certain the eggs are fertile by the second rooster?

2. And when breeding blue/black/splash, are there any does and don’ts you all have learned over the years that you would like to share?

3. Has anyone had any good or bad experiences with using shredded newspaper as bedding. I keep chicks in my house for several weeks after they’re born and I was thinking paper might help with the dust. I haven\'t tried it yet.

Thanks,
Sharon

463

Exhibiting & Promoting / Splashes

« on: December 29, 2011, 09:19:42 PM »

Where, or why, does adding another recognized color (splash) create monetary fees? Are you talking about prize money having to be raised to award the splash classes at the shows or in a different area? I’m not sure I understand what monetary fees you are referring to. Please bear with me; this is my first year as a member.

I will be raising splash Ameraucanas this year. I have an awesome splash cockerel (thanks again Paul) that I have in with my best two black hens and a splash right now and have been gathering eggs (18 so far) since Dec. 22nd to set on January 1st. I’m anticipating some really good blue chicks. I then plan to put him in with two splash females to raise straight splash. And regardless of whether or not the splash-color becomes recognized, I will continue to raise them. I’ve had three people contact me in the last two months off of the ABC directory. Two of those are planning to order 10-15 just splash. At this point, I really wish I had a few more splash pullets. I’m really hoping my blue on blues throw me a bunch, too.

--Sharon

464

Breeding / Farrah Fawcett Hackles

« on: December 02, 2011, 04:00:48 PM »

I raised this bird from a day-old chick. This Farrahdo didn\'t happen until her new feathers came in after a molt. She was over a year old when this happened. She\'s molting again right now...poor featherless creature...so I\'ll let you know if it comes back like this again.

465

Breeding / Farrah Fawcett Hackles

« on: December 01, 2011, 03:48:12 PM »

I\'m eager to see your pictures. I have an EE that\'s feathers grew back weird after her molt.