8 year old hen with sour crop? I need help treating it.

[AngelinaThePekin8]

So I noticed today that one of my oldest hens has a "bulging" crop and won't eat but drinks a lot of water.

I have read this article a few times already.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

I sort of know how to treat sour crop but have never really treated it before
I want some guidance and I would greatly appreciate any help.
....................

1) What type of bird , age and weight (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.)

Barred rock, 8 or 9 years old, she feels to be an okay weight I would like her to be a little heavier but I think she is gaining some.

2) What is the behavior, exactly.

Won't eat, drinks lots and is lethargic but is still quit alert.
Her crop feels full of liquid with a little bit of feed or rocks in it.
It looks like she tries to adjust her crop every now and then, that particular behavior is what made me check her over.
Her comb and the rest of her face are not pale they look to be a normal color.

I don't think she is laying, I don't think she will start either.

3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?

I noticed it today at about 7:00am this morning, I think I noticed something off with her yesterday but never thought anything of it if I noticed anything at all.

4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?
No.

5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.
No.

6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.

Age, possibly diet, maybe she ate to much long grass, I don't really know what to think caused it.
I mostly think age.

7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.
She has been eating all flock except today she didn't eat any and I am not sure about yesterday.
I have SOME oyster shell out for them free of choice but my chickens and ducks don't seem to like it or know what it is for (I've never used oyster shells before they were always on layer until a few months ago).
We don't give them grit.
She seems to drink fine, except she drinks a lot.

8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.

I haven't seen any of her poops today, or yesterday.
She has poop stuck to her vent area (I have pictures of it)

9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?

I put some ACV in their water today, there is plain water for her and all the other birds to drink as well.

10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?

I want to treat it myself, I am not aware of any poultry vets near me.

11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.

Here is her poopy vent feathers.

Hopefully the pic of her poopy butt is good enough.
You can tell her crop is full, in the photo above.

12) Describe the housing/bedding in use

I use wood shavings, I have a bag of soft wood shavings and a bag of large flake that put in the coop when more is needed.

All the chickens and ducks free range all year round and are let out around 8:00am most of the time sometimes later or earlier.

The coop has a number of issues (size and ventilation wise).
I have been trying to solve those issues though.

I have 8 ducks and 9 chickens, two of the ducks are put in a separate area at night, the drakes were fighting a few weeks ago (they stopped now) I still keep the same hen and drake in the pen at night mostly for more room in the coop.

This hen (the barred rock with the sour crop) doesn't have a name I forgot what hers used to be and I cant come up with a name for her.

..........

In march one of my old hens passed away from a reproductive issue, it caused sour crop and on the day that I was planning on euthanizing her, she aspirated some of the liquid from her crop before I could even get ready to euthanize her.
I don't want to go through that again or just lose a chicken in general, but I fear that maybe its time for this hen to go I am hoping I will be able to resolve her issue, she is one of my favorites, and I don't think it is her time quit yet.


Edited to fix grammar.

Thank you for reading this.
I hope everything I wrote will help you help me as best as possible.
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[azygous]

Your hen looks perfectly miserable. Get some miconazole vaginal cream. Squirt some directly out of the tube into her mouth like you were squirting whipped cream. Do it two times a day, and up to three times a day for seven days.

She looks like she might have a fungal infection on her comb and around her face. Rub a little of the miconazole on all of those rough areas once a day until it clears up.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

What did you use when Broken Toe was not well? I thought you had given her a yeast cream, forgive me if I'm thinking of something else.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

You did well with Broken Toe. Sadly she was in her last days and I fear this lady is on the same path

Does she have something unique about her personality? Does she remind you of something like a flower, a character out of a book you like or something?

If she gets really bad off, will your Dad put her out of her misery for you? I would hate for you to have to go through what you did with Broken Toe again. That was a hard thing for you to have to deal with by yourself.

 

[Chicken Poika]

Rest In Peace Ethel.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

How is she?

I wouldn't withhold water from her, let her drink and eat.

You poor thing! You have an aging flock and it seems there's always something going on.
The first thing I would do is give her some coconut oil as described in the article. See if that helps clear the crop. Re-check it first thing in the morning before she eats or drinks.

If it isn't clearing overnight and it's been like this for a few days, then you will want to treat for sour crop.
At her age, I suspect that she may also have something else going on that is causing the crop to slow.

 

[MomJones]

Infectious coryza? Her face worries me. That's not normal.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Won't eat, drinks lots and is lethargic but is still quit alert.
Her crop feels full of liquid with a little bit of feed or rocks in it.

I have been a little concerned about their eyelids looking the way they do but I've never thought to much about it

She ate some coconut oil!

She almost aspirated a few minutes ago, her beak was all covered in mucus.
What do I do? I want to make sure she doesn't possibly "dry drown" if that's possible with how much she might have breathed in.

She smells pretty gross almost like what Broken toes sour crop liquid smelled like.

I would begin treating for Sour Crop.
Do you still have Miconazole?
Give her 1tsp of hardened coconut oil chunks twice a day and the Miconazole.
Make food and water available, if she want to drink, then let her.

Did she aspirate when you tried giving water or she just aspirated on her own?

I think with her age and symptoms, sadly she may be in a state of decline just like Broken Toe was. I'm sorry about that.
Treat her symptoms, but let her move about if she wants. It's probably a good idea to keep the rooster away from her though.

She doesn't have Infectious Coryza, her eyes and face are those of an old hen that is weary.

Infectious coryza? Her face worries me. That's not normal.

 

[AngelinaThePekin8]

Your hen looks perfectly miserable. Get some miconazole vaginal cream. Squirt some directly out of the tube into her mouth like you were squirting whipped cream. Do it two times a day, and up to three times a day for seven days.

She looks like she might have a fungal infection on her comb and around her face. Rub a little of the miconazole on all of those rough areas once a day until it clears up.

Thank you!
I never thought that her comb could have a fungal infection.
I will see if we have some micanzole.
If we don't what should I use in place of it if anything at all, until we can get some micanzole?

 

[AngelinaThePekin8]

You did well with Broken Toe. Sadly she was in her last days and I fear this lady is on the same path

Does she have something unique about her personality? Does she remind you of something like a flower, a character out of a book you like or something?

If she gets really bad off, will your Dad put her out of her misery for you? I would hate for you to have to go through what you did with Broken Toe again. That was a hard thing for you to have to deal with by yourself.

Thank you!
It was pretty hard for me Broken toes passing, but it's a huge relief that shes gone.
I feel that her toe was something that would make her life less enjoyable if she did recover.

I am now more comfortable and prepared for euthanizing this hen whether I do it myself or my dad does it, I know that it's best for her if it comes to that.
My main question is how should we put her down?

When the time comes if it does, whether or not my dad can put her down depends on if he is home at the time if and when it's needed.
Me, my mom and a few of my siblings are always home for the most part, so if he's not home and she needs to be euthanized I will most likely have help.
(I have as many siblings as I do chickens, most of the ones who would probably be able to help euthanize a chicken have moved out so hopefully if she needs to be culled my dad will be able to help).

I have been making sure I say the things I want to say to her before she goes if she does.
I have been more talkative to all my birds since Broken toe passed.
............................
Her "sister" is named Darth vader, I think this hen was named something that started with a P but I could be wrong.
And one of her other "sisters" (who passed away a few years ago) was almost always following me around when I was messing with their feed or finding worms for them during the summer.

I cant think of anything about her personality right now I don't think I've paid much attention to her before she also wasn't always where I could see her.
I feel like her and Darth Vader are like reserved old lady's at least in recent years.
They follow the rooster a lot and they stay with the other old hens.
She doesn't seem to pick on anyone but she isn't afraid to tell them off if she doesn't like another hens behavior.
I would say appearance wise she reminds me of a appaloosa horse with a leopard coat (hopefully you all know what I am talking about) or a day where the snow is melting but some spots are still a little covered with snow, kind of like the pattern of her feathers, if that makes sense, or even a black and white movie, and cause she is quit silent, even a silent film if you will.
Maybe a mountain with a bit of snow on top would be a better description of the snow thing I mentioned earlier.