3 1/2 year old buff orpington seems really "off"

[Eggcessive]

If they can test her poop for worms and coccidia as well as treat her today, that would be good. Nystatin is a good drug for sour crop. Her sour crop symptoms can be secondary to a reproductive disorder or other conditions. Once I start seeing crop problems with one with suspected reproductive problems, they don’t seem to get better. I treated one hen with crop problems for 6 weeks last year, and her crop just never seemed to function normally. Doing a necropsy if they die, will sometimes give answers as to what the problem was.

 

[erzulieloo]

If they can test her poop for worms and coccidia as well as treat her today, that would be good. Nystatin is a good drug for sour crop. Her sour crop symptoms can be secondary to a reproductive disorder or other conditions. Once I start seeing crop problems with one with suspected reproductive problems, they don’t seem to get better. I treated one hen with crop problems for 6 weeks last year, and her crop just never seemed to function normally. Doing a necropsy if they die, will sometimes give answers as to what the problem was.

Thank you. To be honest, I'm not feeling optimistic but this particular hen is a good friend so I feel like I owe it to her to try. But my expectations are very realistic and I will ask for a poop test and if I have to let her go I'm planning to take her to Orlando for the necropsy. I feel like everything I can learn will only benefit my other girls and make me a better caretaker for these sweet birds who have really helped me find a source of peace in this world - despite their fragility.

I greatly appreciate your reply.

 

[erzulieloo]

Back from the ER. I've got an appointment with their "avian team" on Monday over in Tampa, which is a 30 minute drive away but I do that for work five days a week so it's not an issue. I decided not to allow them to keep her over the weekend since my human child (haha) had an "out of network" procedure this past week and I'm a little nervous about spending a couple thousand dollars on Buffy, even though I do love her. It may approach that anyway, now that I think about it. Anyway, I realize they don't have a perfect diagnosis at this point so I assume that is why the antibiotics. But if she has a yeast infection, won't that make things worse? I asked that question and got a sort of run around response.

She seems the same at this point. I've not done anything else with her, and she's as comfortable as she seems to be able to get in my "chicken hospital" dog pen inside the house here. I've got a water cup attached to the side, with a little ACV added. No food, although they said I could feed her. I don't think that's a good idea, but what do I know. And they said today that any emptying of her crop would be something the "team" did on Monday, if they thought it was appropriate.

I have the report from the ER as a PDF file if anyone is interested...

 

[azygous]

It happens occasionally here on BYC that a vet has prescribed a different treatment than we would. It all depends on how much confidence you have in your vet whether you choose to follow their recommendations or you choose to use ours.

Sour crop is not always a simple disorder. Often it can be triggered by an underlying health issue that will require treatment over the crop disorder. Not all antibiotics will aggravate a yeast infection.

What I suggest is you follow the protocol your vet set up, and if the yeast infection seems not to be clearing up or if your hen appears to be getting worse and not better, to go ahead and treat the sour crop with miconazole, a women's vaginal yeast medicine.

 

[erzulieloo]

It happens occasionally here on BYC that a vet has prescribed a different treatment than we would. It all depends on how much confidence you have in your vet whether you choose to follow their recommendations or you choose to use ours.

Sour crop is not always a simple disorder. Often it can be triggered by an underlying health issue that will require treatment over the crop disorder. Not all antibiotics will aggravate a yeast infection.

What I suggest is you follow the protocol your vet set up, and if the yeast infection seems not to be clearing up or if your hen appears to be getting worse and not better, to go ahead and treat the sour crop with miconazole, a women's vaginal yeast medicine.

thanks. sounds good to me.