EMERGENCY! HENS WITH BIG SQUISHY CROPS, LOSING WEIGHT

[cuteychickens15]

Hi,
I have a hen with a big crop, it feels all squishy, what do I do to get her to empty it? I've seen things online about tipping them upside down and massaging to release fluid out through the beak but i've heard people on here say that that is a really bad idea as chickens have holes leading into their lungs from the top of their crop.

Please help, I don't want any of them to die ;(

 

[MissChick@dee]

It’s very dangerous. I have done it myself. It was a last resort because my Roo was going to die either way. He lived another 8 months but had a host of problems. It’s a hard decision that only you can make.

 

[Cyprus]

Might be water.
Wait to see if it empties overnight.

 

[MissChick@dee]

If the birds breath is stinky. And the crop doesn’t empty overnight. You might have sour crop. Emptying (milking) the crop is a last resort. Separate the bird. Limit access of feed. I offered only yogurt and water at that time. Message the crop. If it’s full of rotting fermented food the breath is a sure give away.

 

[IamRainey]

But what causes it? I recently lost a lovely Barnvelder to the same thing.

She was lethargic for about a week before I noticed how enormous her crop had gotten. It's very hot here and I took her lethargy to be a response to the heat. I might have helped her if I recognized it sooner or knew what was causing it so that I could remove the jeopardy.

 

[cuteychickens15]

What am I supposed to do ? There are multiple hens with it.

I don't know what to do

Please help

 

[MissChick@dee]

Sweetie look up sour crop on line. I’m not the best at posting links. There’s a lot of information and I don’t want to skip over any details. I would post your thread with a new title too. Something that says...emergency! In it
Does that make sense? Get all your information ready for the experts to help. What do you feed. How long has it been. How many have this. How are they acting etcetc. I keep an eye out to see if others jump into help ok? Sorry I’m just equipped to walk you through it. Try a different title that’s what I suggest

 

[cuteychickens15]

Might be water.
Wait to see if it empties overnight.

They've had this for at least a couple of months (I think its got a bit worse since then though). So it's not water. I just haven't taken much notice of it.

 

[MissChick@dee]

Okay....how many hens are we talking about and how old are they. Hi again btw

 

[MissChick@dee]

Photos would help SO much. What do you feed them?