Best way to treat sour crop?

[BuckeyeFoodie]

I have a pullet who has sour crop, and I'm at a loss on how to treat her because there is so much conflicting information out there. I am already tube-feeding (just water for the last 24 hours now that I know it's sour crop) to keep her going, and she is bright and alert, but very lethargic. Her crop feels like there is a lump of gritty sand in there in the morning.

I don't think I can get ahold of a vet to get actual medication until weds or fri - my horse vet is an hour away, and I don't have a bird vet. Might be able to get my people-doctor to write me a script for oral medication, but I've got such conflicting info on what to get, and dosing!

she weighs about three pounds right now, for dosing calculation.

 

[azygous]

You don't need prescription meds for sour crop treatment. Go to the store and look in the pharmacy where the women's hygiene products are shelved and pick up generic miconazole vaginal cream. Then read this for further information on how to go about treating. https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

 

[BuckeyeFoodie]

You don't need prescription meds for sour crop treatment. Go to the store and look in the pharmacy where the women's hygiene products are shelved and pick up generic miconazole vaginal cream. Then read this for further information on how to go about treating. https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

Thank you! I'm going out and getting the miconazole right now. Should I be ok administering it with some water via crop-feeding?

 

[azygous]

That would be an easy method. However, I just squeeze the cream onto my finger and pry open the beak and wipe it just inside the mouth. Some hens will eat it right off my finger.

 

[RumneyRoost]

Be careful with the creams, some contain ingredients which aren’t really safe for birds or anyone to consume.
Ethylene Glycol and benzyl alcohol are two.

I believe Monistat cream is safe.

I successfully treated a hen for sour crop last week. I was treating with monistat cream, but the crop wasn’t emptying. I spoke with my large animal vet over the phone and she recommended l use tubing and a syringe to draw up the nasty stuff in her crop. She suggested “rinsing” the crop with some clean water. Followed by another day of the monistat cream to kill whatever might be left.

Her crop slowly started emptying on its own and the smell disappeared. I didn’t want to withhold food much longer since she had lost weight.
She still isn’t super interested in her layer crumb. But will gobble up wet cat food and scrambled egg. I’ve been adding probiotics to her wet food and water.

 

[BuckeyeFoodie]

I've been doing the monistat cream since yesterday, and her crop was much more empty this morning, so hopefully she continues to progress.

My question is shouldn't I wait to feed probiotics until she has finished the 7 days on the medication? It seems to me like feeding probiotics right now just gives the medicine more to kill?

I'm also feeding egg yolks, because I'm afraid giving her a conventional feed this soon into treatment will feed the yeast, but she is sooooooo thin.

 

[RumneyRoost]

I've been doing the monistat cream since yesterday, and her crop was much more empty this morning, so hopefully she continues to progress.

My question is shouldn't I wait to feed probiotics until she has finished the 7 days on the medication? It seems to me like feeding probiotics right now just gives the medicine more to kill?

I'm also feeding egg yolks, because I'm afraid giving her a conventional feed this soon into treatment will feed the yeast, but she is sooooooo thin.

Sorry, I should have said that I didn’t start the probiotics until I had stopped the Monistat.
The vet said that as long as the crop was emptying (even slowly) that I could periodically give her food.
I didn’t let her stuff her crop. I would let her eat, massage a bit, and leave her digest for a few hours.

At her lowest my hen was 3lbs 1oz, today she’s up to 4lbs 6oz.