Sour Crop, or....

[Chicken Cake]

I know there are a million threads about this and I've read most of them, Just got back from the store with a package of Monistat. Already had ACV and good yogurt.

16 week old pullet who was fine until last night. Free ranging 4-6 hours on Monday but locked up yesterday because I wasn't home until early evening. (last checked around 10:00 AM) I have 4 other girls around the same age who seem fine. This is my shyest chicken and she was not herself last night. Crop felt fuller and different than all the others so I put her in a crate with ACV water. She drank a few times but mostly wanted to rest.

Crop was a "water balloon" this morning and, even though I didn't intend to make her vomit, some fluid came up while I was massaging. She did not seem to aspirate but has become more lethargic since then and her breathing is very shallow. Plenty of wet but normal looking poop is coming out the back end.

Should I give her a dose of Monistat now (noon-ish) and again later tonight or wait until I can get on a 12 hour schedule. 1/4 or 1/3 of a suppository? It's not been 24 hours since I found her this way, but should I offer some yogurt?

This has gone from something is wrong to me thinking she's not going to make it so quickly.

 

[Eggcessive]

Crops can become fuller and slow to empty when sick with another problem. Coccidiosis or egg binding could be things that might be wrong. Usually with sour crop, there is a rotten odor. I had a hen with it, and she vomited thick brown material that smelled like poop. I would feel inside her vent an inch or two for a stuck egg. Is her comb red yet? Signs of cocci are lethargy, not eating, weakness, hunched posture, and runny droppings with mucus or blood. A slow puffy crop is also common. Corid a cattle medicine from feed stores is the treatment. If you still believe it is sour crop, read some posts or threads by Two Crows, by doing a search at the top of this page.

 

[Chicken Cake]

She has not shown any signs of being ready to lay. Her sister of the same age (they are Barnevelders) hasn't either. The crate is lined with a white towel and I'm not seeing any blood or mucus. I feed whole grains and a couple came up when she vomited but it was mostly brown water, and it did smell bad.

Last night her crop was down significantly and it's completely flat this morning. She has been eating a mixture of yogurt, ACV and EVOO but not much. Going to stop the oil and add scrambled egg today. Definitely more perky than yesterday but still droopy. A good sign is that she did not like it when I let the rest of her friends out.

Should I start the Corid for good measure?

 

[Eggcessive]

Corid won't harm any of them, but it does sound like sour crop. While treating it, don't give solid foods or whole grains. Mushy feed with water, yogurt, and raw egg mixed together is good. Massage the crop several times a day.

 

[Chicken Cake]

My chick did not make it.

I started the Corid and she seemed better the next morning. Gave her a mix of egg and yogurt all day, which she sometimes devoured and sometimes ignored. The next morning she was flat on her chest but came around with hourly force feeding and watering throughout the day. Yesterday was the same until she suddenly crashed and died within an hour. My other girls seem fine but I'm going to keep them on Corid just in case.

Her crop was never an issue again so I'm not sure what happened. One theory is that the day before she got sick my husband had put some screws through a wall of the coop that stuck out and I noticed this chick picking at them. He ground the tips flat but maybe she could have gotten hurt or eaten the metal shavings???

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry for your loss. Sometimes you can do a necropsy on the intestines and look for swollen or blood-filled intestines if it was cocci. I would also look at the gizzard inside for blockage. Your state vet could also necropsy if the body is refrigerated. Here are some pictures to know what to look for:
http://www.thepoultrysite.com/publications/6/diseases-of-poultry/206/coccidiosis/

 

[Chicken Cake]

Thank you.

She's in the freezer but my daughter will be very upset if I dissect her right now. If we lose another one related to this, I will definitely go that route.

The timing on this is odd because we had just finished the interior of the coop enough to let the chickens move in. I put her crate at the opening to the run but she never walked around in there and bedding has not been added yet. Should I be worried about disinfecting since they were never fully separated? Also, I'm using deep litter in the run so what should I be worried about there?

Older picture but this is the general set up. They've been temporarily living under my kids' playhouse until the coop was ready to cut the hole attaching it.

.

 

[Eggcessive]

You can't really disinfect for coccidia. It is in their poop and in the dirt, and eventually they will all build up a tolerance for it. Just keep the bedding stirred, clean, and dry. Change it when it gets really soiled.

 

[Chicken Cake]

I don’t know what’s going on but my other Barnevelder appears to have wry neck now. She looked fine when I took a quick peek early this morning and then her head was sideways when I let them out at the usual time of 10:00 AM. They have stayed on the Corid but I planned to end that today. Have started Vitamin E, Selenium and B complex for everyone. She is in the house for now.

I can’t think of a common denominator other than bad food or something poisonous in my yard. It's been really hot the last couple days but I give them a "treat" of cool water out of a dog bowl in the heat of the day and only the largest Brahma has panted. They are either in the covered run or the shaded part of my yard, so I don't think heat is the ultimate problem.