Chicken with Impacted or Sour Crop what do i do to help

[enstrashman]

I just got two old chickens my neighbor gave me to add to my flock they are in bad shape deformed feet etc but one has a impacted crop and refuses to move around she is clearly uncomfortable and is having diarrhea I'm not sure what to do besides isolate her and give water any suggestions would be great

 

[Wyandottes7]

If its an impacted crop (the crop will feel hard), I'd give her a little olive oil and massage the crop. Make sure she gets enough to drink, too, as dehydration can contribute to an impacted crop. Just give her normal chicken feed; other foods, like grass, could make the crop worse.

 

[BantamLover21]

I just got two old chickens my neighbor gave me to add to my flock they are in bad shape deformed feet etc but one has a impacted crop and refuses to move around she is clearly uncomfortable and is having diarrhea I'm not sure what to do besides isolate her and give water any suggestions would be great

Do you think its impacted crop (when the crop is large and hard) or sour crop (when the crop is large, but soft and spongy)? In the case of impacted crop, isolate the bird. Get it to drink some olive oil and then massage to crop to try and break up the obstruction. Withhold solid, grainy feed for a day and see if the mass in the crop goes down. If not, then you may have to do crop surgery for the bird to survive.

I don't have that much experience with/knowledge of sour crop, but I believe that the treatment can include giving Apple Cider Vinegar (with the mother in it), probiotics, and vomiting the bird. Here are a few threads to the topic: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/630307/sour-crop-cured-with-monistat
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/619872/medication-for-sour-crop
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/798754/im-pretty-sure-my-hen-has-sour-crop-need-advice

 

[enstrashman]

It hard to tell because is huge and spongy with a large hard ball inside if you squeeze and massage the spongy you can feel the large ball inside if that makes any sence haha I held her upside down and she vomited up some liquid but the ball is still in there so I used a feeding tube and gave her some olive oil I hope it helps thanks for your help poor girl is skin and bone I'm hoping to get her better and spoil her

 

[Eggcessive]

Here are a couple of links for crop issues and surgery:
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/04/answers-from-chicken-vet-on-impacted.html
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/229796/crop-surgery-performed-more-pics-how-to-steps-posted-pg-10

 

[ChickenMama43]

I had a hen with an impacted crop. Star was moulting and not eating much. The other hens were also being mean to her and keeping her from the feed . When I realized what was going on , I separated her from the others and she ate alot of food all at once and I think that is when she got the impaction . I took her to the vet and she prescribed a medicine to kill yeast because as long as the mass was stuck in there it could ferment ,possibly causing a yeast infection. The bottle says Nystatin 100000 SUS HI- . I had the prescription filled at Walmart . I can't remember my hen's exact weight when I took her into the vet but it was aproximatly 4 pounds. I had to give her 6ml every 12 hours with a large dropper (being careful not to choke her - this stuff must taste aweful - Star gagged on it) . The vet gave me the dropper (It was an old, sterilized syringe wth the needle removed ) but after so many uses, the rubber part started to stick .You can get a better dropper from CVS pharmacy. I asked at the pharmacy counter and they gave me some for free. These droppers don't have any rubber parts to stick and they really last a long time . The only down side is that the dropper only goes to 5 ml , but you can split the dose and put into 2 droppers. The next thing the vet told me to do, was to massage Star's crop for 5 minutes 3 times a day. She said to check Star's crop befor I massaged it to be certain that there was some fluid around the hard mass .If there wasn't any fluid in there I would put about 4 ml of plain water down Star's throat , being careful not to choke her. All situations and chickens are different so you will have to use your own judgement on the amount of water, if any, that you need . Be sure not to overfill the crop or you will have a hard time massaging it . I had my son hold Star, while I did the massaging, timing it with a watch.The vet showed me how to do this and I was surprised at how forcefully she massaged Star's crop. It seemed a little rough at the time, but you are trying to break up the mass so that it will go through her digestive system(you are not trying to make her throw it up) . Next is what you are to feed her. My vet said no grass(very important), scratch,grit or calcium, ect. while Star was impacted . She told me to take my regular feed (pellets or crumbles) in my case it was Purina Layena crumbles, and to run it through the blender until it's powder.Feed it to her dry or moistened with water .I tried both ways and also mixed with blueberry yogurt. Because she would hardly eat anything, I also gave Star hard boiled egg ,watermelon and sweet corn put through a blender(my vet didn't ok this) Check with your vet . I hope this helped a little. God Bless!