Crop Issue and Green Poop

[Chickaletta26]

Hello,

We have a 4 year old Buff Orpington hen who has a massively swollen crop. It was hard yesterday but is soft and squishy today, which makes me think perhaps it is sour crop? Her other symptoms are:
- self-isolating
- lethargy
- pale green watery poop

She is drinking water with ACV added in and her comb color is perfect. We recently lost her friend to what I believe was egg-yolk peritonitis (died after laying a soft egg). Another chicken is sneezing which we are treating with Vet Rx. I hope these incidents are unrelated! It is also worth noting that we are dealing with extreme heat and humidity right now.
I’m hoping this is just a crop issue and not a virus like Newcastle. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! This is my mom’s favorite hen and she is like a family pet.

 

[talkinboutchickens]

I'm so sorry about your hen.
Sounds like sour crop possibly.
I've personally never tried these treatments but are recommended by lots of people:
Copper sulfate
Nystatin

You can go to this link to learn more The dosage amounts of each are on the site as well.

To prevent sour crop from happening in the future (if that is what she has) you can:

Remove straw from run and coop
Give them crushed eggshells and crushed oyster shells

I saw on a vet show that once a chicken gets sour crop, it will probably re-occur in the future so keep an eye on your chickens. It may be a good idea to add ACV to their water daily.

 

[The Coop Crew]

Does her breath smell? I think with sour croup you smell an odor.

 

[talkinboutchickens]

Does her breath smell? I think with sour croup you smell an odor.

If it doesn't it's probably just an impacted crop

 

[Chickaletta26]

I'm so sorry about your hen.
Sounds like sour crop possibly.
I've personally never tried these treatments but are recommended by lots of people:
Copper sulfate
Nystatin

You can go to this link to learn more The dosage amounts of each are on the site as well.

To prevent sour crop from happening in the future (if that is what she has) you can:

Remove straw from run and coop
Give them crushed eggshells and crushed oyster shells

I saw on a vet show that once a chicken gets sour crop, it will probably re-occur in the future so keep an eye on your chickens. It may be a good idea to add ACV to their water daily.

Thank you for the information! It almost sounds like she has pendulous crop, but I’m not sure if that is an acute, suddenly appearing condition. Or worms? She doesn’t have any smells that I have noticed. Her green poo attracts a lot of flies so we have been cleaning it up right away.

 

[Chickaletta26]

If it doesn't it's probably just an impacted crop

No smell yet that I’ve noticed

 

[The Coop Crew]

Hmmm. Let me tag some educators who should be able to help!
@Eggcessive
@azygous

 

[Chickaletta26]

Hmmm. Let me tag some educators who should be able to help!
@Eggcessive
@azygous

I appreciate it thank you!

 

[Eggcessive]

What do you feed? Do you have plenty of granite grit available? Pendulous crop is a very large crop that never completely empties, and usually due to overstretching of the crop from overeating. A crop bra when in the proper place can help to keep them from overeating. Crops should feel empty in early morning after not having food or water overnight. If it is hard or doughy in the am, it is impacted. If the crop is puffy or squishy, there may be a rotten or sour odor, and that is known as sour crop. I have seen some broody hens with a slow puffy crop, and some report that chicks with coccidiosis may have a puffy crop. When I have seen crop problems, they have been older hens with another primary problem, such as reproductive disorder, cancer, or ascites/water belly. Worms can also be a cause. None of the ones I have treated lived very long. They can starve to death, since their food is not being digested. Azygous’s article is pretty standard for treatment:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/