Sour Crop CURED with Monistat

After 2 weeks of trying every other sour crop treatment with no signs of improvement, I got desperate and tried something unproven. After learning that sour crop is a form of yeast infection and reading that some others had treated with Clortrimazole (found in Lotrimin and Mycelex) , I decided to try it. However, I was unable to locate any in my small town. So, with the hen in danger of dying already, I purchased a generic box of Monistat 3 (for about $5) which contains Miconazole Nitrate and decided to give it a try.

The box contained 3 suppositories and a tube of external cream. I cut the suppositories in thirds and fed the hen one third each morning, and one third each evening until all 9 pieces were gone. I continued syringe feeding yogurt, boiled egg yolk, and gruel made from finely ground chicken feed and water.

I am happy to say our hen has made a full recovery! I thought others might find this helpful.

robinwiththechickens said:

After 2 weeks of trying every other sour crop treatment with no signs of improvement, I got desperate and tried something unproven. After learning that sour crop is a form of yeast infection and reading that some others had treated with Clortrimazole (found in(Lotrimin and Mycelex) , I decided to try it. However, I was unable to locate any in my small town. So, with the hen in danger of dying already, I purchased a generic box of Monistat 3 which contains Miconazole Nitrate and decided to give it a try.

The box contained 3 suppositories and a tube of external cream. I cut the suppositories in thirds and fed the hen one third each morning, and one third each evening until all 9 pieces were gone. I continued syringe feeding yogurt, boiled egg yolk, and gruel made from fine ground chicken feed and water.

I am happy to say our hen has made a full recovery! I thought others might find this helpful.

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Great tip!! Thanks for sharing.

wow awesome!!!

that is wonderful! congratulations

RobertH

I think I'm going to try this tomorrow. Thanks.

Was her crop big and squishy? Mine is eating and drinking fine, and pooping. I had her in the house overnight to see what the deal was and while her crop is still a bit squishy and big she seems to be feeling fine. Did the waterballoon go down after the monistat?

You are definately living off the grid! That is something! I did a lot of research, first trying to id. what was wrong with a pullet who wasn't developing properly, getting weaker, low weight, her head was sort of weaving around, she acted like her vision was poor, her wattles were pale, and her feathers were rough (totally poor condition). Finally, I was feeling her all over and noticed a water ballon like crop. Sour crop. I never smelled the horrible breath reported to accompany the condition but we had gotten a severe rain several weeks before and some of the chicks food got a little moldy. I threw it out when I noticed but I bet that is what gave this little splash Marans sour crop. More research. I read things that said hold them upside down and make them vomit. Irrigate their crop with vinegar solution, epsom salt solution, molasses solution followed by some kind of highly toxic cooper-something. There were suggestions for antibiotics, and other antifungal drugs, some could only be obtained through a vet and I didn't have one where I live that would treat pet chickens. I finally (YEA!) found a vet with some avian training and he said to make a solution or give 1/4th of a pill of reflux meds. like Pecid. By then I had decided to try the Epsom salt solution which I injected down her throat praying that I was successfully bypassing the opening for the wind pipe that is right at the base of the tongue. I also gave her a nutritional drench and electrolytes in her water to help her gain some strength. I tried to feed her some mash with yogurt but she wouldn't eat for a long time. I had to keep her seperated for about a month because she was so weak she couldn't get to the food and water and she was roosting on the floor. I didn't try the Pepcid treatment because she was recovering but I bought some just in case it came back. Anti-reflux meds. makes some sense but not entirely. I know sour crop is fungal so antifungal treatment seems most appropriate. I was surprised when the vet didn't recommend an antifungal. He just left me a message so I didn't actually get to talk to him. Maybe the reflux meds. help with the irritation or something. She actually seems to have recovered with a few oddities remaining. She still acts like her vision isn't so good, her head still weaves around a little, but she has gained a lot of weight and her crop feels firm. Here's my funny: she will not go up the ramp into the coop with the other chickens at night. She roosts on the steps to the people door. I have to go out every night, pick her up and put her inside on a roost. In the morning she is sitting on the ledge of a nesting box, pooping inside of it. She does not want to be on the roost. I'm starting to think she is purposefully waiting for me to come out and cuddle her before putting inside. She comes out in the morning with all the other hens when my automatic chicken door opens. I'm still watching her carefully because she might still have some infection. Thanks for the tip about the monostat.

After giving monistat for two days my chicken no longer has a water balloon crop. I'm going to continue to give it to her until all of the monistat is gone and keep working on feeding her yogurt, yolk, whey, etc. But I did see her go to the feeder for mash twice today. She's still very week, but I'm much more optimistic now that the crop seems to be improving. So thank you very much for the tip!

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JakRat said:

Was her crop big and squishy? Mine is eating and drinking fine, and pooping. I had her in the house overnight to see what the deal was and while her crop is still a bit squishy and big she seems to be feeling fine. Did the waterballoon go down after the monistat?

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Yes, my girl's crop was big and squishy, I've heard many others describe it as water-balloon like, and I think that fits. I didn't notice the "sour" smell at first, just a full squishy crop that was the same each morning as it had been the previous evening. The hen refused to eat or drink on her own; she would only stand quietly with her feathers all puffed out like she was cold. After HOURS of research I tried nearly everything suggested for sour crop. I vomited her first, then withheld food and water for 24 hours; no luck, the crop just filled back up with squishy stuff again. Then I tried vomiting her and syringe feeding her yogurt and boiled egg yolk 3 or 4 times a day. I had also had this same hen on antibiotics because before she developed sour crop she had been wheezing. I tried flushing her crop with baking soda water. I tried giving her Tums disolved in water. I stopped the antibiotic because someone said it might be counteracting the yogurt. After a couple days of vomiting, and syringe feeding with no antibiotics there was still no improvement, the hen was so pathetic I got desperate. The only suggestion I did not try was ACV because it is not available in my small town; I would have had to order it online and I was afraid my girl would die before it arrived. As I stated in my previous post, I had read that sour crop was a form of yeast infection and that others had treated with Clortrimazole. I decided to try it but again, I was unable to locate any in my small town. The Monistat was a last ditch effort. Her "water-balloon" did go down after the Monistat, but I can't say for sure if it was the Monistat that caused that or my vomiting her repeatedly.

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kmenchicks said:

After giving monistat for two days my chicken no longer has a water balloon crop. I'm going to continue to give it to her until all of the monistat is gone and keep working on feeding her yogurt, yolk, whey, etc. But I did see her go to the feeder for mash twice today. She's still very week, but I'm much more optimistic now that the crop seems to be improving. So thank you very much for the tip!

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I'm so glad this is working for someone else and wasn't just a fluke!

Wow! After living with a hen who I force fed for 2 months, it's wonderful to hear of a quick remedy for the condition which has taken up to 4 of my hens.
What visionary thinking!