Crop issue - pendulous, sour, partially obstructed? Where to start?

[Sarahsota]

I'm a little unsure where to start with my chicken's crop issues, so appreciate any tips!

We've had chickens for 3 years, first time to have an issue. Chicken (named Banana) is 1 year old, Easter Egger mix of some sort. She has had a large crop that empties slowly for months. I thought it was just how she is so didn't worry about it too much. She eats great (layer pellets, scraps like apples, free-range in grassy yard, occasional scratch grains), lays eggs, poops (at night, not sure during the day), very active, etc. She has started bobbing her head funny later in the day like after a whole day of eating and hardly any movement of the food/water she's uncomfortable and trying to shift things. Now I can tell she is losing weight. When I pick her up and feel her breastbone area she is too bony. I'm worried if I don't take action she'll slowly get too malnourished. Goal is to help her on our own, no vet support available.

I've read a ton about sour and impacted crops. A little confused where to start...!

I separated her last night in a dog carrier with cardboard. Her crop was huge (softball+) when she went to bed. Today it's smaller (tennis ball), but not empty. She pooped a lot in the night. One was huge and completely normal, then others were smaller and dry, almost like pooping out what looks like topsoil consistency. Her crop feels squishy and when I massage it I hear gurgling and gassy sounds.

If this is sour crop caused by a bit of obstruction that slows things down, does she need surgery? I think it sounds like sour crop, but even if I treat that won't it just come back again and again unless we actually remove whatever is causing the blockage? I suspect she could have eaten long grass before I mowed or some foam that I found her pecking at on the bottom of a trailer (that is now blocked off so they can't get under it anymore). I was planning to do the surgery at home this week if I can get the materials needed, but now I'm not sure. Should I try other things first or if surgery is ultimately needed shouldn't I just do it now? We have a few short trips scattered through May and June which basically means for her to have a fully supervised 2 week recovery period I need to do it now or have to wait until July, and I'm afraid by July she'll be starved!

To proceed with treating sour crop, I'm also a little unsure where to start. I've read about molasses water, ACV water, Epsom salt water, nystatin. Which should I start with?

She hasn't had food or water yet this morning, I was trying to decide which to do before giving her anything today! Thank you for any help!

 

[Eggcessive]

Pendulous crop is hard to treat. A crop bra is usually necessary, but used in the correct position. She needs some nutrition that is easily digested, such as wet chicken feed, egg, and a small spoonful of plain yogurt, but no seeds or whole grains. Nystatin liquid or Medistatin powder put into a little water daily is good for treating the fungal infection. Some use Monistat or miconazole cream orally. I have never had luck treating crop problems, but @azygous and @coach723 and others here are helpful. Here is an article by azygous:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

Here is where to get Medistatin to use in water:
https://jedds.com/products/medistatin-medpet

 

[azygous]

I made a thread with instructions and a pattern for a crop bra. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/making-a-crop-bra-for-a-hen-with-pendulous-crop.1464848/

 

[coach723]

I would treat the sour crop, which may be from the pendulous crop. And use a crop bra to support the crop to help it empty. If you can get it emptying more normally, then hopefully the sour crop will resolve. Pendulous crop usually is a permanent condition, so if the bra works, you will likely have to use it for the rest of her life. When using a crop bra you will need to start with it somewhat looser than it's final position, you don't want to push so hard on the crop that you force things back up. If the crop is very large, then you tighten it up just enough to hold it up some, but not force things. As it slowly goes down (hopefully) you will need to readjust for that. It may take many adjustments to get it fitting right once the crop has normalized some. I had more luck with the straps going accross the belly and breast horizontally rather than up and down in line with the body (hope that makes sense). When they ran up and down I had issues with legs getting hung up in the bottom of the bra. Some of them think the pressure from the bra is something in front of them that they need to step over, so they high step and get hung up. So it may take some experimenting to make it work for your bird correctly, do what works. it's also necessary to check it regularly, make sure no mites or lice move in underneath, and that it isn't causing any irritation anywhere. I also wrapped the straps in co wrap once it was fitted and adjusted correctly, which helped keep others from pecking at them, you can see that sticking up on her back in the picture below. And it may take some time for her to get used to it. She may walk backward or even fall over. Picture of one of my hens that spent the last few years of her life in a crop bra. She always ate like a pig and stuffed her crop, which may be why it became pendulous.

 

[chickengoesmeow]

It does sound like sour crop. I would continue to restrict her food but let her have water. Try giving her yogurt and ACV water. I would try everything you can. If she continues to lose weight and nothing works, go with the surgery as a last case scenario.

 

[Sarahsota]

It does sound like sour crop. I would continue to restrict her food but let her have water. Try giving her yogurt and ACV water. I would try everything you can. If she continues to lose weight and nothing works, go with the surgery as a last case scenario.

I would treat the sour crop, which may be from the pendulous crop. And use a crop bra to support the crop to help it empty. If you can get it emptying more normally, then hopefully the sour crop will resolve. Pendulous crop usually is a permanent condition, so if the bra works, you will likely have to use it for the rest of her life. When using a crop bra you will need to start with it somewhat looser than it's final position, you don't want to push so hard on the crop that you force things back up. If the crop is very large, then you tighten it up just enough to hold it up some, but not force things. As it slowly goes down (hopefully) you will need to readjust for that. It may take many adjustments to get it fitting right once the crop has normalized some. I had more luck with the straps going accross the belly and breast horizontally rather than up and down in line with the body (hope that makes sense). When they ran up and down I had issues with legs getting hung up in the bottom of the bra. Some of them think the pressure from the bra is something in front of them that they need to step over, so they high step and get hung up. So it may take some experimenting to make it work for your bird correctly, do what works. it's also necessary to check it regularly, make sure no mites or lice move in underneath, and that it isn't causing any irritation anywhere. I also wrapped the straps in co wrap once it was fitted and adjusted correctly, which helped keep others from pecking at them, you can see that sticking up on her back in the picture below. And it may take some time for her to get used to it. She may walk backward or even fall over. Picture of one of my hens that spent the last few years of her life in a crop bra. She always ate like a pig and stuffed her crop, which may be why it became pendulous.
View attachment 3507654

Thank you! It does sound like we're going to need a crop bra!

 

[Sarahsota]

Pendulous crop is hard to treat. A crop bra is usually necessary, but used in the correct position. She needs some nutrition that is easily digested, such as wet chicken feed, egg, and a small spoonful of plain yogurt, but no seeds or whole grains. Nystatin liquid or Medistatin powder put into a little water daily is good for treating the fungal infection. Some use Monistat or miconazole cream orally. I have never had luck treating crop problems, but @azygous and @coach723 and others here are helpful. Here is an article by azygous:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

Here is where to get Medistatin to use in water:
https://jedds.com/products/medistatin-medpet

Thank you, the article is very helpful!

 

[Sarahsota]

Thank you for the responses! I read the article by @azygous and it was very helpful! @azygous I wonder if you could give me a bit of advice?

I massaged her crop a lot today and am pretty confident it's sour crop caused by an impaction as described in your article. At first as I massaged I could hear it gurgle and she relaxed and seemed to love the massage. Once some brown liquid that smelled kinda like sauerkraut came out as I massaged, even though she wasn't tilted upside down and I wasn't trying to get stuff to come out that way!

After a lot of massaging, the next time I checked it no longer felt tennis ball sized and squishy. It felt egg sized and fibrous. I think there is a glob of grass there slowing everything down. Her crop does go down from grapefruit to tennis ball sized overnight and she does poop, so it's not a total impaction. But her weight loss and sour crop indicate it's an issue for her! Today she pooped 18 hours after having no food or water, so I think it's just too slow.

The article says to treat the impaction, then the sour crop. I did the coconut oil part mentioned, dosed and massaged. It didn't clear. I haven't tried the stool softener yet. My question is, if it is indeed an egg sized glob of long grass in there in a wad, is there any point to the stool softener and molasses wash? Are they worth trying? Or should I go for surgery? Or treat with monistat and a crop bra and see if she manages despite the clump that won't go away?

I'm willing to do surgery and have been studying up on that. I feel I'd want some sort of numbing agent and haven't figured out how to get that yet, do you use something?

I don't know how I'm going to keep her in a cage for any length of time to control what she eats! It's been one day and she's going crazy. She's been scratching at the cardboard for 2 hours like she's trying to get comfy. I put a towel on it and she scratched it aside. She scratched through the thick cardboard to the wire bars, I put new cardboard, she did it again. I'm afraid she's going to hurt her feet! I was avoiding pine shavings (their usual bedding) to make sure she couldn't eat any.

*while writing this update I checked on her and she was eating the cardboard! Argh! I fed her some layer crumble soaked into a soft mash since she's so hungry. I'm at a loss how to keep her safe and control her eating without going completely mad!

 

[coach723]

If you can get the mass to break up with massaging and giving fluids, it might pass. If it's a lot of long, fiberous grass then it might not be possible. Does she have access to grit all the time? If the mass won't break up and pass then crop surgery may be the only way to remove it. Long grass is a common reason for impacted crops.

 

[Lillith37]

I had a hen who came to me with sour/pendulous/slow crop with some sort of hard bit that I could feel in her crop that wasn’t passing.I’ve also had two of my other hens deal with crop issues in the past — sour and impacted.

If you’re worried about an impaction caused by something metal, syringe a concentrated formula of ACV in water into the bird’s mouth morning & night. You can also feed tomatoes. The acidity helps break down whatever metal obstruction may be present. This worked for my bird with the hard thing stuck in her crop.

I’ve had success treated impacted crop from stringy grass simply by isolating, withholding food, giving olive/coconut oil and grit and massaging the crop as often as possible. Sometimes it can take a few days.

As others have said, thrush creams or pessaries are good for treating sour crop. I’ve had success with this too in the past.

My hen with pendulous crop wore a bra for two or three weeks but her muscle elasticity returned and now she doesn’t have to wear it at all, so it’s not always a permanent condition.

The only other thing I will say is to treat for worms if you haven’t yet. Worms are a common cause of crop issues and also will cause the bird to lose weight.

Best of luck to you and hopefully you can avoid the surgery!