Crop not clearing. Not sure what to do. Please help!

[Mommakity]

I have a hen with sour crop… or impacted crop. I found a site that gives step by step instructions on how to surgically remove the blockage. Im trying it tomorrow.
I hope your chicken is ok. Its probably been to many days for her to have survived by now. But im praying you got help. Check with Green Willow Homestead. She is the one who wrote this article. Its awesome. Its so detailed, and has supply list for the surgery, and the after care. I know i can do it.
Ive been giving my girl the acv water and chick starter soaked in warm water till its mush. Some of it is getting through. I’m ll follow up on my surgery success or not.
She will die if i dont do it…. So!

 

[guest226]

I have a hen with sour crop… or impacted crop. I found a site that gives step by step instructions on how to surgically remove the blockage. Im trying it tomorrow.
I hope your chicken is ok. Its probably been to many days for her to have survived by now. But im praying you got help. Check with Green Willow Homestead. She is the one who wrote this article. Its awesome. Its so detailed, and has supply list for the surgery, and the after care. I know i can do it.
Ive been giving my girl the acv water and chick starter soaked in warm water till its mush. Some of it is getting through. I’m ll follow up on my surgery success or not.
She will die if i dont do it…. So!

Before making any risky decisions, you have to make sure her crop isn't just full from eating. After chickens eat food, their crop feels full, like it's impacted. If it is not, it'll flatten during the night. Check first thing in the morning before doing anything that can hurt her.

Make sure you try to massage it first. My chicken had an impaction and it went away with massage. Feed a few chunks of coconut oil. If you don't have it, feed some olive/vegetable oil. Don't put it down her throat with a syringe, try to let her eat it herself so she doesn't choke.

Massage downwards so she doesn't vomit. Try to locate the clump in her crop and break it up with your fingers. After it softens a bit try massaging in circles.
Do this 2x a day.

Surgery works but it could cause issues and is risky without a doctor's help. Do you smell something coming out of her mouth? Is her crop hard and round? Also, do you have tall grass, string, or metal in the coop/run/yard?

Also, my chicken's impacted crop went away after a few days of massage. It sometimes takes time.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I have a hen with sour crop… or impacted crop. I found a site that gives step by step instructions on how to surgically remove the blockage. Im trying it tomorrow.
I hope your chicken is ok. Its probably been to many days for her to have survived by now. But im praying you got help. Check with Green Willow Homestead. She is the one who wrote this article. Its awesome. Its so detailed, and has supply list for the surgery, and the after care. I know i can do it.
Ive been giving my girl the acv water and chick starter soaked in warm water till its mush. Some of it is getting through. I’m ll follow up on my surgery success or not.
She will die if i dont do it…. So!

Surgery is the last resort. What have you tried?

 

[Fluffybutt11]

I’m so sorry to hear your chicken is going through that! I hope she gets better soon and quickly!!

I have an update. My partner took miss zoomies to the vet today.

We were told she does not have a sour or impacted crop. The vet tested her vomit for sour crop and came back negative. They also tested her for lead poisoning and it came back negative. They said she could have a bacterial infection of the crop due to all the vomiting and nothing moving around her gut. They said she was severely dehydrated also because nothing has been going down so they emptied her crop as much as they could and gave her hydration injections (enough water for a day they said). They also sent us home with a course of antibiotics. Our instructions were to see how she goes, if this doesn’t work we were told it might be mareks even though she is vaccinated. Reintroduced food slowly and we will see if her crop empties overnight. If her crop doesn’t they recommended we take her back tomorrow for another few crop flushes.
We got her home and she had more poop in the carrier which is a good sign! We gave her a little to eat (she’s starving poor little thing) and her crop feels like there’s actually food in there and not just water. Everything seems to be normal now but we will see how her crop is tomorrow morning.

Thank you for everything and for all your advice and help! You have no idea how much I appreciate it all!
I really hope your chickens get better and I wish everyone all the best!

if anything else happens I will update you, but if you don’t hear from me then everything’s gone well

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I’m so sorry to hear your chicken is going through that! I hope she gets better soon and quickly!!

I have an update. My partner took miss zoomies to the vet today.

We were told she does not have a sour or impacted crop. The vet tested her vomit for sour crop and came back negative. They also tested her for lead poisoning and it came back negative. They said she could have a bacterial infection of the crop due to all the vomiting and nothing moving around her gut. They said she was severely dehydrated also because nothing has been going down so they emptied her crop as much as they could and gave her hydration injections (enough water for a day they said). They also sent us home with a course of antibiotics. Our instructions were to see how she goes, if this doesn’t work we were told it might be mareks even though she is vaccinated. Reintroduced food slowly and we will see if her crop empties overnight. If her crop doesn’t they recommended we take her back tomorrow for another few crop flushes.
We got her home and she had more poop in the carrier which is a good sign! We gave her a little to eat (she’s starving poor little thing) and her crop feels like there’s actually food in there and not just water. Everything seems to be normal now but we will see how her crop is tomorrow morning.

Thank you for everything and for all your advice and help! You have no idea how much I appreciate it all!
I really hope your chickens get better and I wish everyone all the best!

if anything else happens I will update you, but if you don’t hear from me then everything’s gone well

I'm glad you were able to see the vet and hope she makes a fully recovery soon.

 

[Fluffybutt11]

Just wanted to update everyone. Her crop is back to the way it was extremely full and like a water balloon, and she’s throwing up again even with the antibiotics. This means her body is still not absorbing the food and water. Poor little thing. We may have to make another trip to the vet and hope for the best

 

[Fluffybutt11]

I think she may have aspirated also because she is a little wheezy and her voice sounds like she’s sick and not normal I really hope she makes it.

 

[Fluffybutt11]

She is getting 48hpur vet care to give her the best chance. The vet said it’s not looking good. She may or may not recover we’ve been told and to expect the worse. Originally they said it wasn’t sour crop but apparently now she has it and it’s spread with the antibiotic use and is inside her growing long stems apparently. Please pray for my baby I hope she overcomes this.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm sorry she's not doing well

Which antibiotics did the vet give her?
Did they do a fecal float to check for Coccidiosis and worms?

I'm not sure I understand what long stems are growing, can you explain that more? There's always something new to learn.

I do hope she is able to recover.

 

[Fluffybutt11]

She was given amoxyclav for the antibiotics.
I’m not sure what a fecal float is but they swabbed her poop and her crop from the inside and looked at it on a microscope I think.
From that she said that if it’s just a normal fungal infection it would just be a dot but because it’s gone further it’s growing stems and she thinks this is what is stopping her insides from working. She said baby pullets don’t normally pull through this but I want to give her her best chance so they will be giving her fluid injections some antibiotics and anti fungals so I’m hoping her little body can handle it!
I hope this post can somehow help someone in future