Crop not clearing. Not sure what to do. Please help!

[Tonyroo]

I was going to suggest doing a crop drain to remove the contents before it turns into bile. But requires 2 people to do the work.

 

[Tonyroo]

Your making it worse by having her eat. Got to remove all that water first and whatever is floating in it.

 

[Fluffybutt11]

How would you do a crop drain? Is that where you have to turn her upside down? I’m terrified she would aspirate more.

Okay I will remove the food. Thank you for your help I really really appreciate it!

 

[Fluffybutt11]

Also I’m not sure if it helps but her poops are solid.

 

[guest226]

She’s eating chick starter would that be okay or should I stop her from eating?
She must be super hungry. She just started scratching the ground, is that a good sign?

Due to the fact that you smell a sour odor from her mouth, and that the crop feels like a water balloon, I'd suspect sour crop, not an impaction. I had a chicken deal with an impaction, and the crop was very hard and large. I would read up on how to treat it. Since i've never dealt with it before, I would reach out to professionals to help. I do think that isolation from the flock and limitations from food and water will help as the first step in order to help the crop go down a bit.

https://grubblyfarms.com/blogs/the-flyer/prevent-treat-sour-crop-in-chickens
https://www.muranochickenfarm.com/2023/01/treating-sour-crop-in-chickens.html

 

[Tonyroo]

If your interested to do the drain there's youtube videos to guide you to do it correctly.

 

[Tonyroo]

I recommend watching several videos first to make an assessment of how you want to proceed.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

pullet about 6-7weeks old who has a crop that won’t clear and need some help.

It won’t clear overnight feels like a balloon and makes gurgling sounds when she drinks water.
She is eating and drinking okay (more water than food) but is getting more lethargic because she can’t digest anything. She poops but not as often as the others. She also “throws up” brown liquid.
When massaged the contents of her crop go into her throat instead of down.
I’ve tried fasting her and giving her apple cider vinegar in water. I feel like it’s sour crop but I have nothing to treat her with and don’t have anywhere that sells medication for it.

We also tried giving her grit.
She is now hunching and sleeping on her stick. She it getting worse

Please post photos of her and her poop.

If the contents smell bad, then she has Sour Crop. There may also be a blockage/partial impaction as well.

I do allow a bird that is having a crop problem access to food/water, usually they will regulate that, but since the contents seem to be coming up on their own without your touching her (?) then it may be best to withhold food for a day, no more. They need access to water during waking hours so they don't become dehydrated.

Do not massage a crop that is sour.

Vomiting her or expressing the contents from the crop is very risky, she may aspirate or choke and die. It's up to you to decide if that's the course of action you are willing to take, it's not something I would recommend.

Sour crop can be treated with Miconazole (Monistat) or Clotrimazole (athlete's foot cream). Both can be found at stores like Walmart, CVS, etc.

Read this article in its entirety, it will give instructions on how to treat the crop.

Have you treated for Coccidiosis?
It's unusual for a chick this young to be having crop issues, so unless she's impacted with material, there's probably an underlying condition like Coccidiosis, worms or infection that is causing some of the problems.

I'd be inclined to treat for Coccidiosis with Corid and for Sour Crop.
Corid can be found in the cattle section of stores like TSC.
Give her a direct oral dose of Liquid Corid at a rate of 0.10ml per pound of weight twice daily for 3 days. This will be in addition to her drinking mixed Corid water during the day at a rate of 2tsp Liquid Corid to 1 gallon of drinking water for 7 days. Don't add extra supplements or vitamins to her feed or water that contain B1(Thiamine) during the course of treatment with Corid.

 

[Fluffybutt11]

Thank you all so much for your help!

I’ve watched some videos on the crop drain and I’m too scared to go down that path.

I’m also in Australia and we don’t have Walmart or TSC. I have cocciprol at home but never used it before and not sure how much she weighs. Scale won’t weigh her. I’ve gone to the chemist to find miconazole or niastatin but they all come with other things added to them. I’m not sure where else to get medication asi don’t have a bird vet around and normal vet unfortunately doesn’t want to help because they don’t know about birds.

I’m so stuck I just want her to get better and I want to give her the best chance.

 

[Fluffybutt11]

This is also her when she is sitting on her stick. When she stands she is not hunched. I cleaned her poop before so I’ll have to wait until she goes again to get a photo. She does hard poops. The colour is white and brown/dark.