Crop not emptying! Help!

[Aae]

My hen has a pendulous crop and sour crop. I had her off water for 12 hours and off food for 24. All she's had to eat today is a few bits of chicken feed and some bird seed I let her get off the ground.

I can't get her to vomit, I've spent hours trying. I have given her vinegar water.

When I push up on her crop she gurgles and the smell of sour crop is awful.

This is her crop -

The cloth is a crop support bandage that I moved up for the photo.

 

[sylviethecochin]

You don't want her to vomit, despite advice commonly given online. Hens aren't built to vomit and can choke. Assuming it's a yeast infection that's causing this, vinegar won't do you much or any good. @azygous usually recommends the over-the-counter product Miconazole, which is used to treat vaginal yeast infections.

 

[rebrascora]

Goodness that is a bad one! Did you pluck her or has she plucked herself? It looks really infected and angry. Sour crop can be caused by yeast or bacteria, but if a vet is not available to test her to establish which, then I would start with yeast treatment and see how she responds

Do not give her anything like seeds, grains, fruit or vegetables or bread or any dry food until that crop is empty and her breath smelling better. Get some Nutri Drench or Poultry Cell to put in her water to give her a vitamin boost and maybe a little beaten egg or scrambled egg and natural yoghurt... unsweetened because you don't want to give her any sugars that will feed it if it is yeast. You will also want to gently massage several times a day, particularly after you have given the medication. I would remove the crop bra for now because it may be just irritating things more. She will be best isolated so that she cannot eat anything that the others have access to and sometimes they will even eat their bedding in desperation so I put them on incontinence pads in a cage where they are easily accessible for me to monitor individual "input and output" and massage whenever I have a few moments.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I agree, I would remove the crop bra that you have on her, it is not properly supporting the crop, it looks restrictive.

If it's sour in addition to being pendulous, you may need to get some Nystatin or use a vaginal cream as suggested by @sylviethecochin She needs to stay hydrated and the crop massaged. Withholding food for 24hrs would be a good idea to see if you can get the crop to go down, just don't take away water.

Instructions on how to treat a sour crop and make a crop bra are included in this article by @azygous https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

 

[azygous]

Can you feel any solid matter in the crop? For the crop to smell that foul, I would expect she hasn't moved anything through beyond fine material and liquid, if that. She could also be backed up all the way into her gizzard.

I recommend treating for impacted crop and gizzard before you tackle the yeast infection.

Here's what I suggest. Begin with two teaspoons of coconut oil or mineral oil. Solid coconut oil is easier to stuff into her beak, though, and coconut oil has natural antibiotic properties so it may help with any bacteria that is present. Wait an hour and do a very gentle massage. You should feel the mass break up and the crop begin to empty. If it doesn't, repeat the oil.

Wait another half hour and do a massage again. If it still won't break up and go down, give her a stool softener such as Dulcolax. Wait another hour and massage. This should break up any solid material, and the crop should feel far less full, and there should just be a liquid feeling to it.

Now you may begin the sour crop treatment with miconazole. Here's my article on crop disorders to guide you if you need it. https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

 

[chickens really]

@TwoCrows
She is great with that issue...

 

[Eggcessive]

Don’t ever withhold water—she needs that, but not the solid or grainy foods.

Be sure to use stool softener, not laxative. Doccusate sodium is usually sold under the brand name Colace, but Dulcolax unfortunately sells it as well. But Dulcolax laxative called bisacodyl is not what you need.

If the crop is really hard and impacted, you might think about a vet and getting it surgically removed. I have had really bad luck treating crop problems. All have died, and most times the gizzard was also blocked or not funtioning. Many illnesses can cause crop problems.

A pendulous crop unfortunately may be a permanent problem due to the crop wall being overstretched. Good luck with your treatment.

 

[TwoCrows]

I am sorry about your bird.

Crops get yeast infections for a variety of reasons due to worms, Coccidiosis, swelling of the Liver, Ascities, internal laying, grass impactions, and plain old yeast infections. However nearly all yeast infections are caused by something else going on internally.

First, get her on something that kills the yeast whether that be Nystatin, Acidified Copper Sulfate, Fluconazole, even kitchen spices like Lemon Juice, Cayanne Pepper, Ginger and Cinnamon can kill off yeast.

Has she ever been impacted? If she is pooping out grass she needs a stool softener to break down the impaction. Anything that slows down the waste removal process will upset the balance of good bacteria and cause a slow and sour crop.

Feel her abdomen, it should not feel like a water balloon.

When was the last time she laid an egg? Is she swollen beneath her vent and red? This can indicate internal laying.

No hard foods or free ranging for a while. I would keep her on a very light diet of damp layer feed, hard boiled eggs, grits or oatmeal, easy to digest foods. Do not limit her food or water intake.

 

[Aae]

I am sorry about your bird.

Crops get yeast infections for a variety of reasons due to worms, Coccidiosis, swelling of the Liver, Ascities, internal laying, grass impactions, and plain old yeast infections. However nearly all yeast infections are caused by something else going on internally.

First, get her on something that kills the yeast whether that be Nystatin, Acidified Copper Sulfate, Fluconazole, even kitchen spices like Lemon Juice, Cayanne Pepper, Ginger and Cinnamon can kill off yeast.

Has she ever been impacted? If she is pooping out grass she needs a stool softener to break down the impaction. Anything that slows down the waste removal process will upset the balance of good bacteria and cause a slow and sour crop.

Feel her abdomen, it should not feel like a water balloon.

When was the last time she laid an egg? Is she swollen beneath her vent and red? This can indicate internal laying.

No hard foods or free ranging for a while. I would keep her on a very light diet of damp layer feed, hard boiled eggs, grits or oatmeal, easy to digest foods. Do not limit her food or water intake.

As far as I know, she hasn't laid an egg in months, if not a year. I thought she was deformed when I first got her so I didn't mind her not laying eggs, I now know it was pendulous crop, not a deformity.

Her crop/abdomen keeps changing. It goes from hard, to hard and bubbly/gurgley when I massage, to water-balloon like. When it's like a water balloon she easily vomits. What she vomits up looks normal, watery layer feed.

She has used the bathroom, but only once/twice a day. It's normal in every way, but her crop still doesn't go down.

What she's eaten today is a very small amount of scratch. I won't feed her that again. In an hour I'll feed her what you recommended. I don't have any special things to kill yeast, other than acidophilus tablets. Will that work?

I also have yogurt, but it's not sugar free. It's vanilla flavor. Will a (very small) amount be okay?

Thank you so much for your advice, and thank you to everyone else who commented. I'm very attached to her.


EDIT: How much of this should she eat, and how many times a day? This was before the spices, lemon juice, and coconut oil was added. http://prntscr.com/kdm1ov