Chicken very sick with sour crop, possibly other issues.

[ValleyLass]

Hi all,

I have a Hyline brown chook who is about 5 years old. It's been at least a month since she was laying but it's hard to know exactly how long as they free range a fair bit and sometimes find secret spots to lay. She is lighter than usual and very lethargic.

She has been somewhat unwell for the past month, showing less interest in food. Initially I thought she might be egg bound but she didn't seem to be straining and I couldn't feel any firmness in her abdomen. After isolating her for a few days she seemed to be eating better so I put her back with the other chooks but she never fully bounced back and would spend a lot of time in the chook house or standing aside from the other chooks.

A few days ago I noticed she had was very messy and crusty around her vent- it was yellowish and smelly so I gave her a warm bath and trimmed some of the feathers back. She was showing no interest in eating and had her eyes closed showing discomfort so I isolated her again in a cardboard box with straw. She has had water with ACV but doesn't seem to drink much, and she isn't eating anything that I can tell (have offered rice, yoghurt, pellets, meal worms)

When I came home from work today I noticed that she was smelling bad, and after doing some research she seems to have sour crop. Her crop felt very big, squishy and there was a definite bad sour smell from her breath. I massaged it until some dark brown and foul smelling liquid came up (following a video I found online) but I was not able to fully empty her crop and it still felt quite swollen. I have also given her some garlic water with a syringe. I assume she has had sour crop for a while but was surprised her crop seemed to swollen and full given how little water and food she has been taking. She has hardly pooped which worries me but I have attached a photo of what she did today. It has chunky yellow lumps in it. She may well have other things wrong with her!

I'd like to treat her myself if possible. I have ordered some acidified copper sulphate which apparently is a good anti-fungal. Does anyone have experience with this?
How much water should I be administering to her daily if she isn't drinking her water? I was thinking just leaving her a bowl of water was sufficient but I think now that I should be manually giving her water by syringe.

 

[azygous]

Your hen appears to be suffering from an advanced reproductive infection, salpingitis. Those yellow "chunks" are probably pus. Has your hen been eating whole corn? I admit I often am unable to interpret a photo accurately and that may not be salpingitis pus, but undigested corn. Pus is like cheese when you slice into it. You will need to be the judge.

Likely inflammation has affected the oviduct and possibly spilled into the lower intestinal tract and is now causing slow crop. Thus the impacted/sour crop.

Treating the crop at this stage of a reproductive infection, if it is an infection, may not produce any lasting result. But by all means try if you have the time to devote to this. Your hen would also require a strong oral antibiotic, but that could aggravate the sour crop. You and your hen are in a very tough spot.

Do you live where you can access antibiotics?

Here is my article on crop issues. https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/ It might have information you can use.

 

[ValleyLass]

Thanks for the link. I checked her crop this morning and it still feels full and squishy so her crop obviously isn't emptying properly. She hasn't had any corn recently. The chunks in her poo aren't cheesy, but are quite hard crumbly and gritty. What would this indicate?

Unfortunately it doesn't seem like I can buy over the counter chicken antibiotics here. She still seems the same this morning.

 

[azygous]

If the chunks aren't cheesy, perhaps she isn't coping with a reproductive infection, but then all we have to go on is that photo. It's far from being conclusive and helpful.

Keep monitoring her poop.

What is your location? Many of us buy fish antibiotics online and they double as chicken meds, working well. Look for Fish Mox or Aqua Mox (amoxyicilin) online and call and ask if they will ship to you.

 

[ValleyLass]

I am in NZ and I am under the understanding that all antibiotics need to be vet prescribed, have had a look on Ali express etc but nothing coming up there. Hopefully since it wasn't pus it's not a reproductive infection, in which case I may not need the antibiotics?

I'll try to get some miconazole cream tomorrow and give your treatment suggestion a go since the only thing I feel I can accurately diagnose that's wrong with her is the sour crop.

Her poop today has been very different, very runny and a dark green colour. She has seemed a little more alert and has been drinking water and had a little yoghurt which seems to be an improvement. Her crop is still feeling squishy and full. I've given her garlic water several times throughout the day too.

 

[azygous]

The green poop has bile in it, an indication of starvation. Many people advocate withholding food from a crop patient, but I do not. Offer dry feed and let the hen decide if and how much she wants to eat. Boiled rice is good, as is soft boiled egg good food for a sick chicken. Also, do not forget to offer grit. Often this is overlooked when a chicken gets sick.