Chicken with sour crop and impaction

[Mary Mitchell]

Good morning! I have a hen that has been having difficulties with sour crop. About 3 weeks ago she has sour crop. I brought her in and worked on her. I got her to vomit and in doing so she aspirated. She started having some breathing issues so i took her to the vet. He have her antibiotics and did the meds Nystatin. Eventually I got her to bring up lots of grasses and what not from days past since she really didn't have much food other than eggs and water. I got her all through that and put her back out with the others she did well for a week or so then back with fluids coming up. So I have her back in. It's been 4 days now. I've been giving her olive oil and messages. Nystatin twice a day. Baking soda in her water. She does have some fluid pass through during the night with a little green in her poop. But she fills up with so much water during the day and then I make her vomit. I'm still getting things up like straw. She was eating straw. There some food that is coming up still from when she was in the coop 4 days ago. Do I continue this process of olive oil? Will she eventually be OK? Can I keep messaging the crop like this? I don't want to hurt her. Has anyone else experienced this kind of thing. I had no idea that they would eat straw. All the straw has been removed from the run. I'm also giving her high potency vitamins and messaging. I was giving AVC but someone said give baking soda in water. Any advice would be helpful. Thank you!

 

[Eggcessive]

I am not an expert on sour crop as @azygous is. The times I have seen it, there was usually another issue, such as gizzard impaction, a reproductive condition, cancer, or water belly. I had one hen who just would seek out the most undigestible items in the yard to eat (lichen, twigs, leaves, etc.) She always had fresh chicken feed available in several locations. She died slowly over 2 months, and others with crop impactions or sour crop eventually died. Do you have granite poultry grit available for her? Most people use miconazole or Monistat, or Nystatin twice a day. Chilled coconut oil cut into small pieces can be offered to peck at. Some use acidified copper sulfate, available at McMurray hatchery website. Dosage is 1/4 tsp per gallon of water for 3-5 days. Here is a good article by azygous that may be helpful:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

 

[azygous]

All chickens do not behave the same. Some are insane. Yes, some will eat straw. And some will eat metal screws and nails and staples and dirt and twigs. It's a disorder call pica. Humans get it, too.

You don't say how old the hen is. Older hens have crop disorders from reproductive cancers. Other older hens may get sour crop from weak chest muscles not supporting the crop adequately so it can empty. Usually in these cases, you won't be able to treat the chicken and get any real results. Euthanasia may be best in these cases.

As you treat sour crop or impacted crop, give a probiotic. This will add a team of good microbes to colonize her digestive tract and restore the proper balance.