Update on sick chicken: read and learn

A couple of days ago I posted a question on one of my chickens who got sick. Below you will find the story.

3 year old chicken, in good health suddenly was without energy and separated herself from the flock. When I picked her up, watery fluid ran out of her beak. I emptied her crop and a decent amount of fluid came out that smelled a bit but not really bad. I put her in a box in the garage and checked on her a couple hours later. Her crop felt mushy and was filled with water again. I emptied it and something that looked like a part of a transparent plastic bag or a balloon came out. She ate a little and I kept her in the garage for the night.

Next morning she had not pooped and was quite lethargic, not interested in eating and just standing puffed up with closed eyes. If she walked it was without balance. I checked if she was egg bound but found nothing. I then decided to give her an Epsom salt bath to see if that would help. When washing my hands I saw that she stood calm in the bath with her head through the opening in the box. I turned around to dry my hands for perhaps 10 seconds and when I looked again, she had pulled her head through the opening and was basically drowning. I saved her but thought she was gone, she couldn't stand anymore but after drying her and holding her for a while it went a little better. That evening she ate a tiny bit. She had a mushy crop again but I wanted to give her a break and just added apple cider vinegar to her water.

Next day she had pooped a bit. I found two worms and the poop was green. I got Flimabo, a dewormer, from the vet and treated her and her sisters. Next day she had a little more energy so I let her out with the others under supervision. After a couple of hours she got tired and just laid in the sun. This morning she has pooped but I found no visible worms but there could be dmall ones. She is still a little slower than normal but much, much better than two days ago.

What I think what happened is that she had worms, ate the plastic bag and then couldn't empty her crop. The worms continued to take whatever they needed and she became malnourished resulting in the green poop. By removing the plastic, the obstruction was gone but she was too weak because of the worms. After the worms were addressed she is now recovering rapidly.

Lessons learned

- There may be multiple issues going on at the same time. What initially looked like an impacted crop, and later a sour crop was also a worm issue

- NEVER leave your chickens unsupervised while she has an Epsom salt or similar bath. Not even 5 seconds, watch her always