Chickem died on me

[Michelle. LeVrier]

I have a question, and I feel so sorry for the chicken dying like it's my fault. I was trying to help a chicken with what I believe to have sour crop, but I believe it was too late for her anyways, but I heard that you were supposed to make them vomit the sour crop because that helps, the thing is is when I did that, she vomited everything out and died, why did she die, I feel bad.

 

[orrpeople]

First off, what's done is done. It's all a huge learning experience, so the important thing is to glean what you can for the next time you encounter a similar situation.
Your bird may have died for a number of reasons. She may have aspirated (gotten it in her lungs) the fluid as you brought it up. (Chickens are not designed to be able to throw up.) Or, she may have had a variety if other problems that mimic crop infection and died of something completely unrelated to your interaction wuth her. Unless you have a necropsy performed, it is ultimately just guess work. Here's a pretry good article about crop issues.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...d-sour-crops-prevention-and-treatments.67194/

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC, and sorry about losing your chicken. Don't beat yourself up because you were trying to help. Crop problems are very hard to cure. Many other experienced chicken owners have also lost chickens when trying to vomit them, and do not perform it. They may also aspirate or choke on crop contents when massaging a crop. Those 2 treatments are usually part of impacted or sour crop treatment. A vet may be of help if available during this type of problem, especially if crop surgery is necessary to get out a blockage. It might also help you to learn how to tube feed, so that in the future, you could try and flush and drain the crop using a large feeding tube and syringe. A lot of crop problems still cannot be cured, but the earlier it is noticed and treated, the better the outcome. Providing chicken grit (granite) and usually a probiotic in the diet can sometimes help to prevent crop problems.