Can anyone recommend a feed for a hen with crop / digestive issues?

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TropicalChickies

Crowing
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Hi everyone. My sweet 2.5 year old hen Butchie has been having vent gleet and crop issues on and off for the past seven months. She started off by getting very sick (pooping greenish water, not eating or moving) but has responded to care and improved little by little since then. I've been diligent about keeping her free of worms and parasites. I'm pretty certain she has a chronic yeast infection by her smell (cheesy) and the white plaque on the roof of her mouth. She also has flaky skin on her face, but cleaning it with iodine solution and dabbing with ketocozonal cream has helped that tremendously. I've tried micozonale and Clotrimazol, but she responded best to a careful dosing of acidified copper sulfate. After almost two months of near normal healthy chicken life, she had a bad sour crop episode five days ago. I did all the things that worked before-- fasted her for a day, flushed her with Epsom salts, and started her on ACS in her water, following with probiotics. She seems to be bouncing back and her crop has been clear the past two mornings.

My question is should I try to find another feed for her? She can eat boiled eggs no problem. A little well cooked rice doesn't set her off either. But when she eats chicken feed (I only give her 2TBSP and damp it), her crop gets big and mushy and feels full of liquid and/or gas. When I massage it, she occasionally burps and I get a whiff of yeasty smell.

I've referred to this great article often https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...ntion-and-treatments-of-crop-disorders.67194/

And in it, @TwoCrows writes that switching feed can sometimes help chronic sour crop. The feed the hens eat is a pretty typical mash. The ingredients say wheat, barley, corn, oats, soy meal, sunflower meal, sunflower oil, vitamins and minerals.

Maybe she is gluten intolerant?
Seriously, though, every time I think it's over for this hen, she bounces back. When she's feeling good, she is happy and active, bossing the pullets around, sun bathing, and seems glad to be alive. So I'd like to help her feel better any way I can. As many of the BYC friends have pointed out, maybe she has an underlying issue. But maybe it's the feed...
Any recommendations for a sweet hen with a sensitive tummy (who also thinks she's a dog)?

Thank you!
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I am sorry your girl is suffering with this for so long. :hugs

First, make sure she doesn't eat any fruits or berries as these can aggravate yeast. No other treats like bread, pasta, rice, anything with too many carbs. All of these can kick episodes off. Don't let her eat too much foliage either, it slows digestion down.

I had a hen with chronic sour crop and I found that a feed change did help her out a lot. (She was on Layena and I switched to a Manna Pro feed). But she definitely had some other underlying issue as she died at the age of 3 1/2. I am still not sure what did her in either.

If you chose to find another feed, mix in the new feed very slowly over a couple of weeks time as new feeds can cause upset to crops. And find a feed free of peas/field peas. They slow digestion down to a crawl which is what you are trying to avoid.

You might do another round of the Copper Sulfate for 10 days, followed by probiotics. And I would keep her on probiotics for some time after.

Get her a crop bra, they do wonders in keeping the food moving quicker out of the crop.

I wish I had some miracle cure for thus, I struggled with my girl for years and it was quite heart breaking.
 
I am sorry your girl is suffering with this for so long. :hugs

First, make sure she doesn't eat any fruits or berries as these can aggravate yeast. No other treats like bread, pasta, rice, anything with too many carbs. All of these can kick episodes off. Don't let her eat too much foliage either, it slows digestion down.

I had a hen with chronic sour crop and I found that a feed change did help her out a lot. (She was on Layena and I switched to a Manna Pro feed). But she definitely had some other underlying issue as she died at the age of 3 1/2. I am still not sure what did her in either.

If you chose to find another feed, mix in the new feed very slowly over a couple of weeks time as new feeds can cause upset to crops. And find a feed free of peas/field peas. They slow digestion down to a crawl which is what you are trying to avoid.

You might do another round of the Copper Sulfate for 10 days, followed by probiotics. And I would keep her on probiotics for some time after.

Get her a crop bra, they do wonders in keeping the food moving quicker out of the crop.

I wish I had some miracle cure for thus, I struggled with my girl for years and it was quite heart breaking.
Thank you for your advice. I will take it to heart. I've been keeping her off the grass. Our hens free range so it's hard for her, but she's taken up to hanging out in the kitchen with the dogs. This last episode was particularly bad I think because she got into the compost and ate a bunch of fruity bad things. But so did all the chickens, and only Butchie got sick, so I know she's got something else going on.

I promised myself that if she gets to a point where she is really suffering more than not, I'll have to put her down. But since she still responds to treatment and has more good days than bad, I'll do my best.

I'm definitely going to make her a bra. I notice when I gently press on the crop and just keep my hand there, it moves and goes down. Thank you.
 
This would be experimental, but as a hiatal hernia suffer that's found relief, you could try and enzyme supplement with ox bile. It would be safe to give to a chicken. It helps break down carbs and fats and aids in digestion so food doesn't just sit and rot in the stomach/crop, and remedies gas and bloating. But there's no one that's tried using it to treat crop. And you would have to dose with every meal forever if successful because it indicates insufficient gall bladder bile production and she needs the dietary enzyme support. Or perhaps there's a chicken version of enzyme support out there. You would have to figure out the does if you take apart capsules for humans, but there's no overdosing possibility.
But here is an article where broilers were fed desiccated ox bile to increase dietary absorption and increase the speed of the harvest weight. So, it shouldn't be harmful to give medicinally. Cross check all the ingredients on the label for being safe to give to chickens. Maybe ask a vet if it's safe to try.
Perhaps use it as a last resort if nothing else at all works?
The effect of desiccated ox bile supplementation on performance, fat digestibility, gut morphology and blood chemistry of broiler chickens fed tallow diets
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09712119.2011.580999
 
This would be experimental, but as a hiatal hernia suffer that's found relief, you could try and enzyme supplement with ox bile. It would be safe to give to a chicken. It helps break down carbs and fats and aids in digestion so food doesn't just sit and rot in the stomach/crop, and remedies gas and bloating. But there's no one that's tried using it to treat crop. And you would have to dose with every meal forever if successful because it indicates insufficient gall bladder bile production and she needs the dietary enzyme support. Or perhaps there's a chicken version of enzyme support out there. You would have to figure out the does if you take apart capsules for humans, but there's no overdosing possibility.
But here is an article where broilers were fed desiccated ox bile to increase dietary absorption and increase the speed of the harvest weight. So, it shouldn't be harmful to give medicinally. Cross check all the ingredients on the label for being safe to give to chickens. Maybe ask a vet if it's safe to try.
Perhaps use it as a last resort if nothing else at all works?
The effect of desiccated ox bile supplementation on performance, fat digestibility, gut morphology and blood chemistry of broiler chickens fed tallow diets
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09712119.2011.580999
This is very interesting. I will take a look, thank you very much.
 
Keep us posted on her, my heart goes out to you. :hugs
Thanks, I really appreciate it. I'm doing everything I can to help her. I was able to treat another hen successfully for sour crop (that one just got it once and recovered completely) but Butchie has been a labor of love...
 
Last night Butchie's crop wasn't nearly as mushy as it has been the previous few days. It was clear again this morning, for the third day in a row. Her poop is a bit yellowish and soft, but not watery. She is alert and active when she comes out, but after her egg breakfast, she takes a nap. I'm going to keep her on the ACS for ten days as you suggest, then probiotics and a strict diet after that. Fingers crossed.
 
Last night Butchie's crop wasn't nearly as mushy as it has been the previous few days. It was clear again this morning, for the third day in a row. Her poop is a bit yellowish and soft, but not watery. She is alert and active when she comes out, but after her egg breakfast, she takes a nap. I'm going to keep her on the ACS for ten days as you suggest, then probiotics and a strict diet after that. Fingers crossed.
Give her some lovin' for me. 💖
 
Hi everyone. My sweet 2.5 year old hen Butchie has been having vent gleet and crop issues on and off for the past seven months. She started off by getting very sick (pooping greenish water, not eating or moving) but has responded to care and improved little by little since then. I've been diligent about keeping her free of worms and parasites. I'm pretty certain she has a chronic yeast infection by her smell (cheesy) and the white plaque on the roof of her mouth. She also has flaky skin on her face, but cleaning it with iodine solution and dabbing with ketocozonal cream has helped that tremendously. I've tried micozonale and Clotrimazol, but she responded best to a careful dosing of acidified copper sulfate. After almost two months of near normal healthy chicken life, she had a bad sour crop episode five days ago. I did all the things that worked before-- fasted her for a day, flushed her with Epsom salts, and started her on ACS in her water, following with probiotics. She seems to be bouncing back and her crop has been clear the past two mornings.

My question is should I try to find another feed for her? She can eat boiled eggs no problem. A little well cooked rice doesn't set her off either. But when she eats chicken feed (I only give her 2TBSP and damp it), her crop gets big and mushy and feels full of liquid and/or gas. When I massage it, she occasionally burps and I get a whiff of yeasty smell.

I've referred to this great article often https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...ntion-and-treatments-of-crop-disorders.67194/

And in it, @TwoCrows writes that switching feed can sometimes help chronic sour crop. The feed the hens eat is a pretty typical mash. The ingredients say wheat, barley, corn, oats, soy meal, sunflower meal, sunflower oil, vitamins and minerals.

Maybe she is gluten intolerant?
Seriously, though, every time I think it's over for this hen, she bounces back. When she's feeling good, she is happy and active, bossing the pullets around, sun bathing, and seems glad to be alive. So I'd like to help her feel better any way I can. As many of the BYC friends have pointed out, maybe she has an underlying issue. But maybe it's the feed...
Any recommendations for a sweet hen with a sensitive tummy (who also thinks she's a dog)?

Thank you! View attachment 3441369
she's beautiful!!
new country organics has a wheat and soy free brand of layer.
I'm going back to that after years of strictly organics, 3 bags of traditional and my girl had same issue
I'm hoping mine bounces back also.. she is in the midst of it right now
 

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