Buff seems to have sour crop but not improving w/treatment

[ldavis_ME]

Hi! I have a lavender buff who is 1.25 years old. A few weeks ago she starting acting lethargic and did a lot of neck craning. Thought maybe excess grass clippings resulted in sour crop as her crop would not deflate after fasting and felt like a water balloon. She perked up after a few days inside, eating stuff like eggs, grapes, mealworms. Starting treating with monistat cream and she seemed to do less neck craning until I put her back outside where she could peck around. Now she's back to full squishy crop and neck craning despite the continued monistat treatment (we're on day 7). While she seems to have an appetite and is pooping, she's content to just lay in the crate and hasn't laid an egg in over a week. Her eggs have been much smaller than normal for the past month or so. No other chickens in the flock of 8 are showing similar symptoms. Any thoughts or suggestions on what to do next?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Welcome To BYC

Do you provide grit for your hens?

I'd follow this article. You may need to give her a flush if treatment is not working well.
Avoid long grass or fibrous material during treatment.


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

 

[ldavis_ME]

Thank you for the response! Yes, the hens do get grit in addition to whatever they find naturally. We bought some medistatin so are trying a course of that, in addition to crop massage, limited diet, and keeping her inside for a few days.
The crop doesn't feel hard at all, just squishy and never seems to empty. Any idea if the epsom salt or molasses flush can be done during medistatin treatment?
Thanks in advance!

 

[coach723]

You can do the flush, if it works it will just flush everything through. You do need to make sure she's taking in enough fluids if you do a flush, they can be very dehydrating.
She's young for it, but it may be a reproductive problem. The smallish eggs and then stopping, with the crop symptoms, is sometimes a symptom of that. Her stance in the picture is also common with a reproductive problem. Sometimes reproductive problems are the reason for crop stasis and souring.