Two possibilities spring to mind:

One of my hens started doing this last month--it turned out she had an impacted crop (she'd somehow gotten ahold of some long, stringy grass AND a rubber band!). Feel your birds' crop--is it large and solid or average and kinda squishy? If it's large, hard and unyielding, and does not empty if she has been placed in a pen without food and water for several hours, she could have an impacted crop.

If her crop feels normal, it could be a parasite called Gapeworm--although the main symptom of Gape is something that looks like the bird is stretching it's head forward and yawning, not a side-to-side wriggle.

I know treatments for both conditions, if either sounds like what your bird is doing. Is she eating, drinking and pooping normally? Feels her breast--has she lost weight?

Velvet ~:>

A rubber band!

Will do, Velvet - it will have to wait until daylight though. It does seem like something's stuck in her craw but that's only started today. She stretches her neck at an angle and then shudders. And the back of her neck - don't know how to describe it - not like she's losing feathers but you can see her neck between the feathers. Poor Cecelia - normally she tries to get away when we go to pick her up but now she just holds still and gets held.

I felt her crop and compared to the other hens it is hard, like she swallowed a golf ball, although I thought the crop was lower down, not in the neck. I read to give her a dropper of mineral oil, which I did, is that what you'd suggest Velvet? Any other remedies? I've never got a hen to open her beak before and discovered the trick was similar to cats and dogs - poke the dropper at the side of the beak, near the hinge, not the tip.

hankg from the Mid-Atlantic forum happened to come across this thread while he was searching for me and mispelled my first name. I hope my little namesake has improved - please keep us posted!

Yes, the oil is great--but I'd suggest using vegetable oil. I gave Skitters a mixture of vegetable oil, unsweetened or baby applesauce and plain yogurt with active cultures. The unsweetened applesauce helps clear her out and gives her nutrition at the same time, while NOT adding more sugar to a possible yeast issue. The yogurt with active cultures helps rebalance the good bacteria in her gut so she can digest properly. After you feed this mixture to her, massage her crop vigorously to work it through the hard mass. Keep her on SOFT foods for now until she clears out--at least a few days. At first it may be nearly impossible to massage her crop, but it'll get easier. Do the food mixture/massage a few times a day (don't overdo the oil) and give her water and soft foods to eat inbetween times. Do not give her scratch or ANYTHING hard or coarse to eat. She'll likely HATE this, but if she has an impacted crop it can save her life. She MUST be on a strict 'soft diet only' regimen.

More info on impacted crop is here on my buddy Alan's site, click on this link and then look at the list on the left for 'Impacted Crop':

http://www.browneggblueegg.com/Article.html

Good luck with her!

Velvet ~:>

Thanks to the mineral oil and your good wishes no doubt, Cecelia's been looking chipper the last few days, almost back to normal today - good thing as the temperature's dropped back down to -11C (12F?). Chickens really like to live on the edge - I had no idea.

Friends named Cecilia/Cecelia are to my wife as moths are to a flame so she named this hen after them. Now she'll be named after maryland CecIlia as well.

I'm grateful you set me on the track Velvet and will give her some of your concoction tomorrow + massage to make sure. We got back from town a while ago, and I made up the girls' favourite (as far as I know) treat right away, cooked minute oats with a bit of bacon fat and molasses mixed in. They coo while they're eating it, then wipe their beaks.

I'm so happy to hear that Cecelia is doing better! What breed of chicken is she? My grandma raised leghorns and Rhode Island Reds back during the (first) Great Depression.

She's running around but still looking pale, feathers puffed out, shivers when I pick her up. I gave her some olive oil.

Here she is behind Kathleen. They're Golden Comets.

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Hmmm.....I think if I were you I'd coddle her a bit more for a day or so...give her time to recover from her problem. Keep her warm, quiet and feed her extra high-protein and energy goodies and she should recover quicker. Has she pooped anything that may have been the blockage, such as a wad of grass?

Also, see that long grass in your picture? Yeah. Get rid of it, it's a crop impaction waiting to happen! :) Beautiful girls you've got there!

Velvet ~:>

Hi Cecilia, I've just read that Golden Comets are a hybrid of Rhode Island Red Male x Rhode Island White female

Thanks Velvet. That shows Kathleen looking especially cocky which is no surprise as she's the rooster of the bunch.

Cecelia is still not alright. Runs around and eats well but also stands around puffed out, comb looks pale and unhealthy, and seems to shiver a lot. Could she have mites? I've put a dirt box in their run and added some wood ashes, so they can get a dirt bath. Within minutes Cecelia was in there.

She also has a filthy butt. I won't post a picture of it here lest it be censored.

It would be good to know how diagnose these things for future reference.

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