Poo help please!

[Minnie&Moose]

Today's not my day! Now I appear to have a chicken who may have a blocked crop. This afternoon I noticed Mabel was looking strange - she was standing bolt upright, & moving her neck as if she was trying to shift the contents of her crop around. Her crop didn't feel very big it was very hard and not quite in the place I was expecting - much higher up than on the other birds. I don't know whether this is normal for Mabel or not because she's nearly impossible to catch and is so stressed on the odd occasion when I have managed to handle her that I try and avoid doing so. She continued to do the strange neck wiggle (quite vigorously) for the next hour or so - but it was her unusual posture that really struck me. I'm on my own for the next couple of days so have "Ooops, word censored!"ody to hang onto her while I try and syringe olive oil down her so I've fed her some live maggots (a small handful) which she wolfed down. I will check her first thing tomorrow to see whether her crop has emptied overnight but does what I've described sound like it might be a blocked crop? If so, how long should I keep up the maggot treatment? Also, where do people keep their maggots - I'm a little reluctant to keep them in the fridge

 

Many thanks.

[sage]

Hi

Sorry cannot offer any advise but was concerned how your girl was today.

 

Sage

[Minnie&Moose]

Hi

Sorry cannot offer any advise but was concerned how your girl was today.

 

Hi Sage,

 

thanks for asking. Mabel seems OK this morning. I caught her as I was letting them out and had a good feel around - her crop was empty and she seemed ravenous. She also seems very thin (though because I don't usually handle her I don't know what's normal for her) and has lost some feathers around her head and back of the neck - so she obviously needs to be watched for a bit to check what's happening.

 

Cheers, Kate