Sour crop, pendulous crop, or what?!?

[BiddyBiddy]

Sorry in advance for the long post but I need some wisdom. I have an 8 week old blue amerucauna chick having issues. Around 9 days ago I noticed this chicks’ crop was way larger than everyone else in my flock. The next morning there was little to no change. I did some reaserch and got to work with all the suggestions and advice given to other members... massage, olive oil, coconut oil, yogurt, more massage, lots of water (with and without ACV and probiotics). Her crop feels like a water baloon. Soft but full, I can even feel the muscle parastalsing. 5 days ago I worked up the nerve to try to make her throw up. I got a little bit out but didn’t persue it. What did come out, did NOT smell bad at all. I isolated her and kept her with only access to water for a full 24 hours. No change. I took her to an Avian and exotic vet, the only vet in the area that would treat a chicken. They “tubed” her to try to empty some of the contents of her crop and see what was in there. Again, no smell but they did find some pine shavings in there. They felt it was impacted and suggested surgery ($830 to $1,000). I nearly had a stroke when I heard this. I left her over night for observation and to see if medication would help. Next morning vet calls and says her crop is empty, she drank a lot and pooped a lot over night! I picked her up after work that afternoon and her crop was NOT even near empty, but they said they fed her. So I assumed that was why. Took her home with meds in hand... Metoclopramide and meloxicam (one is an anti inflammatory and the other is Reglan to encourage movement of the digestive tract). 3 days on meds with VERY light feedings 3 times a day. (A measured teaspoon of crumbled chick starter with water and a couple drops of “poultry drench” to make a loose paste) That’s all. No change, full water balloon crop. She’s ravenous! Woolfing every last crumb down and pecking at my hands for more. But her crop never empties! I vomitted her again Yesterday and got almost everything out. Again, it DID NOT smell bad at all. Just wet crumbles and some grass from 9 days ago (that was the last time she had any access to grass)! She’s stressed being isolated from the rest of the flock and is obviously uncomfortable with this large heavy mass on her chest. I have her in a large clear tote inside the coop so they can see each other. When she has her head down too long pecking at something or trys to preen her chest or leg feathers, she experiences reflux and just swallows it down again. She stands quietly just to have me hold her crop up for her so she can preen. She is pooping, but not too much, which is to be expected when not much is going in.
What should I do next? Is there such a thing as an impaction further down in the digestive tract? If she is now suffering with a pendulous crop, how when it was never impacted or sour to begin with? What else could this be? HELP me wise BYC’ers!!!

 

[BiddyBiddy]

View attachment 1388110 View attachment 1388109 Sorry in advance for the long post but I need some wisdom. I have an 8 week old blue amerucauna chick having issues. Around 9 days ago I noticed this chicks’ crop was way larger than everyone else in my flock. The next morning there was little to no change. I did some reaserch and got to work with all the suggestions and advice given to other members... massage, olive oil, coconut oil, yogurt, more massage, lots of water (with and without ACV and probiotics). Her crop feels like a water baloon. Soft but full, I can even feel the muscle parastalsing. 5 days ago I worked up the nerve to try to make her throw up. I got a little bit out but didn’t persue it. What did come out, did NOT smell bad at all. I isolated her and kept her with only access to water for a full 24 hours. No change. I took her to an Avian and exotic vet, the only vet in the area that would treat a chicken. They “tubed” her to try to empty some of the contents of her crop and see what was in there. Again, no smell but they did find some pine shavings in there. They felt it was impacted and suggested surgery ($830 to $1,000). I nearly had a stroke when I heard this. I left her over night for observation and to see if medication would help. Next morning vet calls and says her crop is empty, she drank a lot and pooped a lot over night! I picked her up after work that afternoon and her crop was NOT even near empty, but they said they fed her. So I assumed that was why. Took her home with meds in hand... Metoclopramide and meloxicam (one is an anti inflammatory and the other is Reglan to encourage movement of the digestive tract). 3 days on meds with VERY light feedings 3 times a day. (A measured teaspoon of crumbled chick starter with water and a couple drops of “poultry drench” to make a loose paste) That’s all. No change, full water balloon crop. She’s ravenous! Woolfing every last crumb down and pecking at my hands for more. But her crop never empties! I vomitted her again Yesterday and got almost everything out. Again, it DID NOT smell bad at all. Just wet crumbles and some grass from 9 days ago (that was the last time she had any access to grass)! She’s stressed being isolated from the rest of the flock and is obviously uncomfortable with this large heavy mass on her chest. I have her in a large clear tote inside the coop so they can see each other. When she has her head down too long pecking at something or trys to preen her chest or leg feathers, she experiences reflux and just swallows it down again. She stands quietly just to have me hold her crop up for her so she can preen. She is pooping, but not too much, which is to be expected when not much is going in.
What should I do next? Is there such a thing as an impaction further down in the digestive tract? If she is now suffering with a pendulous crop, how when it was never impacted or sour to begin with? What else could this be? HELP me wise BYC’ers!!!

Oh, and her crop continues to be soft and with no hard masses or anything felt on exam by me or the vet to suspect impaction.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry that you are dealing with this, but she seems young to be having this problem. Do you have granite grit available for her and the rest of the flock? I would be tempted to let her back out with her flock to free range. She might be more tempted to eat pine shavings if she is confined by herself. I never have problems with pullets or yound hens, but I do see crop problems in older hens, usually a secondary symptom of another problem. I would let her be for a few days, and not pay too much attention to her. She may just be a big eater. What do you normally feed, including treats? I would limit her and the rest to only grower crumbles or pellets, and no whole grains including corn or scratch.

 

[Eggcessive]

Here are some articles about crop treatments:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...d-sour-crops-prevention-and-treatments.67194/

 

[BiddyBiddy]

Sorry that you are dealing with this, but she seems young to be having this problem. Do you have granite grit available for her and the rest of the flock? I would be tempted to let her back out with her flock to free range. She might be more tempted to eat pine shavings if she is confined by herself. I never have problems with pullets or yound hens, but I do see crop problems in older hens, usually a secondary symptom of another problem. I would let her be for a few days, and not pay too much attention to her. She may just be a big eater. What do you normally feed, including treats? I would limit her and the rest to only grower crumbles or pellets, and no whole grains including corn or scratch.

Thank you for your reply. I thought she was young for this problem as well. I have her separated and in a big storage tote in the coop on towels not shavings. I only give them their starter crumbles to eat, no treats yet. I did take them outside for short periods of time the week before they moved out to their coop. They ate some grass while out there. I think she was out in the run for only one full day, which is grassy, before I noticed the enlarged crop. I do give them chick grit and have been in the week leading up to going outside. My question is, could it be sour crop even with absolutely no smell?

 

[Eggcessive]

A slow emptying crop can eveentually turned sour. I would let her out with the others and see how it goes. I would get some adult size grit soon.

 

[BiddyBiddy]

Here are some articles about crop treatments:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...d-sour-crops-prevention-and-treatments.67194/

Thank you for your reply I did read those articles a few days ago but her symptoms just don’t fit a sour crop or an impacted crop. If there’s no smell, could it still be sour crop? Her crop is soft and squishy and still parastalsing, so most likely not impacted. She’s very young and has had very limited access to the outdoors, so probably not parasites or worms. Any other ideas? Headed back to the vet tomorrow. Hopefully I won’t have to sell one of my kidneys to pay the bill!

 

[BiddyBiddy]

A slow emptying crop can eveentually turned sour. I would let her out with the others and see how it goes. I would get some adult size grit soon.

Does any one know if certain breeds are predisposed to crop problms? I ordered all my chicks of various breeds from an online hatchery. She just seems awfully young for this. Can slow crop be congenital? Is that even a thing?

 

[SteveWin]

I've just gone through almost exactly the same issue with my 4 week old Blue Ameraucana. Key differences: age, no grass, no visit to a vet. Similarities: Emptied her crop twice, got maybe 1/2 out the first time, tried again after 24 hours, got most of it out this time. No foul smell either time. Like you, I isolated her (in a 55gal fish tank, towels, no pine, tightly limited food) for two days. Then, I put her with the others, and put them all on a feeding schedule all day Sunday. (Feeding every 90 minutes, taking the food away when the first bird turned away from the feeder). Thinking the impaction could only have been pine shavings, I provided grit, and supplemented the sick chick's food, and all their water, with probiotics and an enzyme blend. (I went to Walgreens and got "RenewLife Ultimate Flora 12 strains probiotic" and "Walgreens Daily Probiotic (one strain) With Digestive Enzymes" (Papain, Bromelain, Amylase, CELLULASE, Lactase, Protease, Peptidase)). Both products are powder filled capsules, I mixed them into lukewarm water at 1 cap each per quart. I also added ACV (2.5ml/liter) and Citric Acid ("True Lemon" packets I picked up at Sheetz, 1 pkt/liter) to their water, to discourage yeast. (I also provided a second water dish of plain water.)

The grit, and the cellulase, were the most important elements if the impaction was pine shavings. Emptying her crop allowed the grit to get down where it was needed, and gave her room to try to manipulate the blockage away from her crop outlet. Withholding food for 90 minute stretches motivated her to drink more of the lemon/enzyme/probiotic water, which should have helped loosen things up. (They all seem to like the lemon flavor...) Like yours, mine was ravenously hungry for the first couple of feedings after the second crop emptying. Gradually, I shortened the feeding interval, until I found the point where they weren't really hungry when I brought it back, at which point I left it with them. (My thinking here is that they're less likely to overeat if the food is plentiful.. if they're hungry and waiting for food, they'll gorge themselves when it's brought in.) Overall, things are getting back to normal.. my chick is no longer gagging, gaping, listless or dragging her tail - she is once again bright eyed, energetic, curious and affectionate. (Today she jumped up on my knee, then flew up to the top of my head, and "preened" me for 15 minutes or so!)

I have a theory: my impacted chick also has duckfoot. Her "thumbs" point forward instead of backward, so she's a little less stable on her feet. I think she was eating a bit more, just to provide ballast, shifting her weight forward to compensate for her misplaced thumbs. Beyond that, the more she ate, the more she stretched her crop, and the more she had to eat to feel full. Vicious circle.

Although she is my favorite chick (literally from day one, she has stood out from her siblings..), I made the hard choice that I couldn't justify a vet bill in the hundreds or thousands, to save a $10 chick. If she was a $1200 parrot, that would be different.. but she isn't. She'll get all the care I can give her, but beyond that, it's up to Fate and Mother Nature. Luckily, it seems like we're out of the woods here... I hope you're as lucky with yours!

 

[Lpoplin]

I know this is an old post I'm having the exact same problem with a 3 mt old silkie hen. Large squishy crop. No smell, she's very hungry. Been to vet and she emptied her crop and gave her reglan. It hasn't gotten better and it's been a few days. I've just fed her baby bird formula very wet and garlic water. She is pooping so her system seems slow not stopped. How did you resolve this with your birds?