Crop issue

[Pookster8]

Hi All,

Two days ago in the evening I noticed one of my hens was acting lethargic, when I payed closer attention I noticed liquid coming from her beak every time she lowered her head-yikes! Her crop was huge and squishy. I vomited her (which I now know was risky) and a LOT of yellowish liquid came out. She then drank quite a bit of water and perched up with the other ladies.

The next morning I checked her crop (before she had access to any food or water) and it was still big, not nearly like before vomiting, but still big and felt like a liquidy porridge in there. I gave her a small amount of egg cooked with lots of olive oil that day (after trying to get only olive oil in her mouth with a syringe by myself felt like it was too stressful) and she ate it. She didn’t eat any feed though. She did drink water (we always put a bit of AVC in the water). I massaged her crop many times throughout the day. She layed an egg which surprised me. In the evening I decided to separate her from the others. In her new enclosure she has access to water, chunks of coconut oil, some yogurt and kefir. She ate some of the yogurt kefir mix before bed.

Today she seems about the same, perhaps a bit better. She seems tired at times with bursts of energy where she seems normal. I kicked myself this morning as I didn’t do a thorough look of what droppings where already in her enclosure when I sectioned it off, but it appears a huge gross poop below where she was roosting is new, and definitely a few tiny ones. Her crop seems about the same, still quite big, but the contents seem more watery than yesterday. She is not eating the olive oil heavy cooked egg I gave her this morning but she is drinking and ate some yogurt/kefir mix. I am massaging her crop every few hours.

My best guess is that here is a partial blockage/impaction somewhere. I don’t notice she smells bad, and don’t see any white in her mouth. Although I did smell my pants later where I got some of the liquid from vomiting her on them (oh they joys of loving chickens) and it smelled faintly like sauerkraut.

With so much liquid in her crop now- should I limit water in any way? I’m scared to have to help her vomit again. And how long would it take a crop that has been so distended to return to normal if any impaction were cleared? This is my first time dealing with a crop issue and there is so much contradicting advice out there I’m a bit frozen.

Any tips or tricks that have worked for you in similar situations? Thanks I’m advance for your help

 

[alinas2010]

Hi All,

Two days ago in the evening I noticed one of my hens was acting lethargic, when I payed closer attention I noticed liquid coming from her beak every time she lowered her head-yikes! Her crop was huge and squishy. I vomited her (which I now know was risky) and a LOT of yellowish liquid came out. She then drank quite a bit of water and perched up with the other ladies.

The next morning I checked her crop (before she had access to any food or water) and it was still big, not nearly like before vomiting, but still big and felt like a liquidy porridge in there. I gave her a small amount of egg cooked with lots of olive oil that day (after trying to get only olive oil in her mouth with a syringe by myself felt like it was too stressful) and she ate it. She didn’t eat any feed though. She did drink water (we always put a bit of AVC in the water). I massaged her crop many times throughout the day. She layed an egg which surprised me. In the evening I decided to separate her from the others. In her new enclosure she has access to water, chunks of coconut oil, some yogurt and kefir. She ate some of the yogurt kefir mix before bed.

Today she seems about the same, perhaps a bit better. She seems tired at times with bursts of energy where she seems normal. I kicked myself this morning as I didn’t do a thorough look of what droppings where already in her enclosure when I sectioned it off, but it appears a huge gross poop below where she was roosting is new, and definitely a few tiny ones. Her crop seems about the same, still quite big, but the contents seem more watery than yesterday. She is not eating the olive oil heavy cooked egg I gave her this morning but she is drinking and ate some yogurt/kefir mix. I am massaging her crop every few hours.

My best guess is that here is a partial blockage/impaction somewhere. I don’t notice she smells bad, and don’t see any white in her mouth. Although I did smell my pants later where I got some of the liquid from vomiting her on them (oh they joys of loving chickens) and it smelled faintly like sauerkraut.

With so much liquid in her crop now- should I limit water in any way? I’m scared to have to help her vomit again. And how long would it take a crop that has been so distended to return to normal if any impaction were cleared? This is my first time dealing with a crop issue and there is so much contradicting advice out there I’m a bit frozen.

Any tips or tricks that have worked for you in similar situations? Thanks I’m advance for your help

Sorry to hear about your hen. Crop issues are my least favorite thing to deal with right next to reproductive issues…as if there is any “good” issues to deal with in chickens . I’m going to link a really great article about crop disorders and treatment by one of the educators @azygous:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

Give it a read and see if it is helpful in identifying what she has going on. I really think it might be time to consider getting some miconazole to treat her for sour crop. It sounds like you might have the blockage broken up, but she got an imbalance in there while blocked up.

Also, don’t withhold water, she should be okay to drink what she needs and once you start treating with the miconazole she might even start drinking a bit less. Sometimes with crop issues they drink a lot of water.

 

[Pookster8]

Hi alinas2010,

Thanks for your reply. I think you’re right, time for the miconazole. I’ll get some today.

She is pooping, mostly one big diarrhea like poop a day with some bubbles in it- and her crop this morning was big and squishy. Seems more and more like sour crop now. She seems almost normal otherwise but not interested in food.

The article says to give the cream orally- do I just kind of put a bit at a time in her mouth until she swallows it?

And what about feeding her, as she gets better she will want to eat again- the article suggest cooked egg, I’ll do that for sure. Then after a few days would some of her regular feed but soaked first be ok?

Thanks so much,

I’m feeling like I might be able to get this under control now, phew. Cute birds, they sneak right into your heart eh

 

[alinas2010]

Hi alinas2010,

Thanks for your reply. I think you’re right, time for the miconazole. I’ll get some today.

She is pooping, mostly one big diarrhea like poop a day with some bubbles in it- and her crop this morning was big and squishy. Seems more and more like sour crop now. She seems almost normal otherwise but not interested in food.

The article says to give the cream orally- do I just kind of put a bit at a time in her mouth until she swallows it?

And what about feeding her, as she gets better she will want to eat again- the article suggest cooked egg, I’ll do that for sure. Then after a few days would some of her regular feed but soaked first be ok?

Thanks so much,

I’m feeling like I might be able to get this under control now, phew. Cute birds, they sneak right into your heart eh

Since her poops aren’t quite solid, I would continue with some chopped up coconut oil and see if she’ll eat that and you can keep doing the massages, just incase there is additional blockage that needs broken up. It won’t hurt anything to continue that.

As for the cream, yes it’s given orally and unless you’ve done it before, it can end up being a bit of a struggle. Basically the educators have told me that best way to get it all in is to just squirt all it right in the mouth and supposedly they’ll just swallow it. I’ve tried to do this and also have done a bit at a time and haven’t had great luck, but I can see how it would work. My chicken was just super stubborn with this method, it got everywhere and the chicken flung it out of her mouth. What I have had luck with is putting the cream into hallowed out blue berries. Mine gobbled them down without issue in the beginning of treatment. When this quit working and she became suspicious of the blueberries, I resorted to freezing the appropriate “dosage” in a pill like shape and popping those in her mouth. If you’ve given a chicken pills before, you know it’s quite fast and simple.

As far as feeding her, she should be okay to eat when she wants as she feels better. Soft egg is excellent, scrambled, etc. Softened feed is always a good, appetizing choice for a chicken. They’re pretty good about starting to eat normal chicken diets as they feel better, softened feed is a good introductory back into pellets imo.

Hopefully as you begin treatment, the crop will shrink a bit more each day until it is flat. The overgrowth of yeast in the crop can cause it to swell and be squishy and blocked up a bit. Follow the article directions for dosage and be very diligent about the treatment. You have to get on top of it to get her well. Good luck and keep us updated.

 

[Pookster8]

Hello,

Evening update. My friend who brought me the vaginal yeast infection cream got the kind with Clotrimazole in it, and after some research I gave that to her this evening thinking it was better than nothing and will get miconazole tomorrow and do the full 7 day treatment with that. I was surprised she ate it when I put it in hollowed out corn pieces- great tip!- as she hasn’t been eating anything else. But I think she caught on pretty quick as when I tried to do the same with coconut oil after she wouldn’t eat. So my partner and I used a syringe to give her olive oil this evening followed by a good crop massage.

Her crop initially felt smaller and quite hard, but loosened up to a more soupy texture.

I don’t have a freezer and it’s finally not quite cold enough out to do the job, so I may try syringing it into her mouth if she doesn’t eat it in the corn in the morning. Fingers crossed.

Thank you so much for your help. It’s pretty heartwarming that with all the chaos in the world right now someone you don’t know takes time out of their day to help you.

 

[alinas2010]

Hello,

Evening update. My friend who brought me the vaginal yeast infection cream got the kind with Clotrimazole in it, and after some research I gave that to her this evening thinking it was better than nothing and will get miconazole tomorrow and do the full 7 day treatment with that. I was surprised she ate it when I put it in hollowed out corn pieces- great tip!- as she hasn’t been eating anything else. But I think she caught on pretty quick as when I tried to do the same with coconut oil after she wouldn’t eat. So my partner and I used a syringe to give her olive oil this evening followed by a good crop massage.

Her crop initially felt smaller and quite hard, but loosened up to a more soupy texture.

I don’t have a freezer and it’s finally not quite cold enough out to do the job, so I may try syringing it into her mouth if she doesn’t eat it in the corn in the morning. Fingers crossed.

Thank you so much for your help. It’s pretty heartwarming that with all the chaos in the world right now someone you don’t know takes time out of their day to help you.

You’re very welcome, I feel the same way when I get help here, so I try to help others where I can.

Here is another persons thread where they used clotrimazole to treat sour crop and it seemed to work okay:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...rally-for-sour-crop-ok.1590609/#post-28464641

I agree with you though, I would get the
miconazole and use that instead when you can. Totally your call. They’re so funny when they decide to be picky, are t they? The cream is odorless and tasteless to us but a vet said dogs can smell it so maybe chickens can too? Good luck with treatment, thank you for the update! I hope she starts to feel better.

 

[Pookster8]

So I gave her a second dose of clotrimazole this morning and then started the monistat cream with miconazole in it this evening.

I tried at first to sneak the cream into pieces of corn again but she could tell which ones had the cream and wouldn’t eat those- But when I rubbed it into a tiny piece of bread I guess she couldn’t resist, haha. I’m fairly certain chickens can smell and taste far better than we can. I am always amazed how they seem to know exactly what they can and can’t eat when they are free in nature, even as little ones with no parents to teach them.

Also there was a normal poop this morning! Yay!

She’s still not wanting to eat the coconut pieces or yogurt and kefir. But her energy levels seems good, which I’m pleasantly surprised by.

Her crop was medium sized and squishy this morning, and this evening it was smaller and harder- definitely still some stuff in there even though I don’t think she’s eaten anything much (unless she’s eating dirt and rocks?) Maybe like you said it’s the overgrowth of yeast causing things to be a bit blocked up- or still a bit of impaction somewhere?

Do you think I should keep giving olive oil with a syringe? I’ll keep massaging her crop a few times a day when I check it. The olive oil requires two of us and she doesn’t love it, but she does seem to enjoy the crop massage after, yesterday she even closed her eyes, it was pretty cute, haha.

I’ll keep at it

 

[StinkyAcres]

It is much easier to put the medication and coconut oil directly into their beaks and that way you'll know she's getting the right amount. Put the cream on your finger, hold the chicken on your knee with one hand, open up her beak (you can gently pull her wattles down), and slide the medicine into the side of her mouth. She will likely swallow it no problem, but if she tries to spit it out just close her beak.

 

[alinas2010]

So I gave her a second dose of clotrimazole this morning and then started the monistat cream with miconazole in it this evening.

I tried at first to sneak the cream into pieces of corn again but she could tell which ones had the cream and wouldn’t eat those- But when I rubbed it into a tiny piece of bread I guess she couldn’t resist, haha. I’m fairly certain chickens can smell and taste far better than we can. I am always amazed how they seem to know exactly what they can and can’t eat when they are free in nature, even as little ones with no parents to teach them.

Also there was a normal poop this morning! Yay!

She’s still not wanting to eat the coconut pieces or yogurt and kefir. But her energy levels seems good, which I’m pleasantly surprised by.

Her crop was medium sized and squishy this morning, and this evening it was smaller and harder- definitely still some stuff in there even though I don’t think she’s eaten anything much (unless she’s eating dirt and rocks?) Maybe like you said it’s the overgrowth of yeast causing things to be a bit blocked up- or still a bit of impaction somewhere?

Do you think I should keep giving olive oil with a syringe? I’ll keep massaging her crop a few times a day when I check it. The olive oil requires two of us and she doesn’t love it, but she does seem to enjoy the crop massage after, yesterday she even closed her eyes, it was pretty cute, haha.

I’ll keep at it

Smaller and normal poop is good, keep at it! I think you’re doing great with both the medication and the oil. It does sound like you’re making progress

One trick that worked for me when my chicken did not want to eat coconut oil any longer was to mix either coconut oil or olive oil with a raw egg. I’ve heard of people dipping bread in oil, and their chickens willingly eating that also. Bread can feed yeast, though, so be careful not to use too much since you’re treating sour crop.

I always struggled with getting my chicken to take the miconazole, too. Hang in there, you’ll have this cleared up in no time. Try as @StinkyAcres suggested!

 

[Pookster8]

Thanks for the suggestions

I tried this morning to follow your advice StinkyAcres, and I managed to get a bit of cream in her mouth, but she’s pretty feisty. I’ll keep practicing, seems like a good skill to have!

She’s still not interested in cooked egg, but she drank a good amount of water and her crop felt better this morning than I’ve felt it since this began! yAy!

Thank you both!!