havingchickens
Hatching
Being a novice chicken owner my husband misdiagnosed our Cochin as getting fat when in actuality it turned out she had sour crop. She was acting normal but had a flabby chest area and unfortunately she stayed like this for possible two months or more. I did not find anything on the site for being successful in fixing for such a case that was overlooked for so long. I wanted to post the details so other owners know they can fix it. Upon bathing her I felt that it was bloated and looked on backyard chickens and figured out it was sour crop by the smell. I did read it was advised to tip them upside down for fear of suffocation. Because it was so full and had to be uncomfortable I did not set out to tip her I just followed the feeling I had to gently tip her to get the fluid out being careful to see that she was still breathing. I did that to get most of it out and then I massaged her crop and continued the massage 2-3 times daily to get the crop down. I did not want to take the risk of tipping her up again in fear I'd kill her. After reading on this site I learned the reason she got the sour crop was I was giving her weeds to eat out of the garden which she gulped down and they were too long and stringy ; I should not have given them to her.
I did not let her out in the morning with the other chickens to eat until I massaged her crop and allowed it to drain which was the case each morning because the crop was so saggy it could not drain properly overnight. I was doing this every morning and afternoon. Then I read about having her wear a crop bra which
would keep the crop up high enough to allow it to drain without me holding it up for her daily and would allow it to hopefully get it back where it would not sag. I ended up making one and kept it on her for over a month. It was comfortable for her it didn't hinder her in anyway. I would say to keep it on for a 4-8 weeks. Mine was laying again about 6-7 weeks later. And I'm happy to report it stayed good after and boy was it sagging down. So you can fix it! I'm posting a picture of the crop bra I made from a man's athletic sock that you can find more information online. My hen is a Cochin so she's a hefty girl so I thought this may help.
I did not let her out in the morning with the other chickens to eat until I massaged her crop and allowed it to drain which was the case each morning because the crop was so saggy it could not drain properly overnight. I was doing this every morning and afternoon. Then I read about having her wear a crop bra which
