CROP TROUBLES

[DLS]

I have a cornish hat had a HUGE CROP. I read al about it and felt of the crop, it has a big ball of somethingin it that felt like a ball of straw or grass or something. I masaged it 2 times a day for 3 days .all the time she has been in a cge with ater & bread soaked with olive oil to eat I also put some yogat in the food bowl sprincled with oyster shell grit. after3 days the BIG ball seems to have broken up. The crop is still HUGE & now feels of liquid and feels like small things in there like maybe the grit. I masaged it & I smelled a stink come out of her beak.
Has this changed over to SOUR CROP???? If so help me get rid of it . The poor bird is getting weak. guide me through curing this
thank you
Dan

 

[Judy]

You could read the threads on crop problems on the FAQ page, under index.

 

[DLS]

I did that & think I may have started something else on this bird
Dan

 

[DLS]

I am wondering since the lumps have went away in her crop . should I still feed olive oil and bread laced with grit? or change to nothing but yogert & vinegar water?? or what do you suggest>???

 

[artsyrobin]

What i did with my pullet was put her on just water and vinegar for a day, then mixed baby oatmeal with the oil, gave that to her for a day, in small amounts with massaging the crop- the next day i kept her on yogurt- it took a couple days to work through- then added unsweetened applesauce, today her crop was close to normal, so have added a little of the regular feed- this is my first experience with crop problems, not sure if i've licked it yet- keep us posted on your girl - do a search for sour crop and lots of info comes up

 

[DLS]

It looks like the big stuff must have oasse mostly I wonder if I should keep her on yogart or swich to vinegar water ? I think that the troubles have changed over to sour crop.

 

[artsyrobin]

Well, i would keep her on the yogurt a day or so, i made the mistake with my girl by letting her in with the others and she over did it on eating, so it swelled up again- here is a good thread on it-
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=196077

there is also something called slow crop- not sure if that is what is going on- i would think keep her a day or two on easy to digest foods- then see if she had handle a little bit of crumbles in the yogurt

 

[threehorses]

Yes, it is sour crop. The food that is in there has dissolved into a toxic slush. If the crop is still full, you would want to cleanse it and then treat her with probiotics and give her organic apple cider vinegar water for two weeks if she's showing no other symptoms. You also will want to determine the cause of the problem in the first place and fix that.

Glenda Heywood has a good article on cleansing a crop. PM me if you'd like it.

You will want to do this as soon as possible because the liquid in that crop will grow bacteria and yeast and make your bird sick(er).

The probiotics are to replace the bacteria that have been damaged by the toxic contents and pH of the crop dribbling into the rest of her digestive tract. They will also help fight against whatever bad bacteria and yeast make it to that part of the system. The organic apple cider vinegar (1 ounce ACV to one gallon of water) will help correct the digestive tract pH, provide more good bacteria, break down the feedstuff that are in the crop waiting to go through, and also provide more digestive enzymes to break down solid particles in the digestive tract. The pH of ACV at this solution is that of a healthy digestive tract which is unfriendly to good bacteria. the pH of the crop (and thus the digestive tract) now is unfortunately friendly to bad bacteria, so we must change that.

If you see runniness of droppings after four days of treatment after the cleaned crop, let the board know. Let us know in any case, please.

By the way - no more solid foods until she's over this for two weeks. No grains, no grit, nothing but crumbles, probiotics (plain yogurt, acidophilis tablets, etc), maybe the bread if it's soaked in something useful - BUT - it's too friendly for yeast infections, sooooo maybe not. Boiled egg yolks are a good healthy treat and will help her gut. You can also mix the yogurt in a small amount of unsweetened applesauce. The pectin is small, helps clean out the digestive tract of sludge from this, the pH is like ACV (can be used with it), and chickens like the taste so it's a good way to hide probiotics.

Incidentally - the organic apple cider vinegar (versus regular) isn't for the philosophy or organics, or snobbiness... it's because of the manner of production of it and what it still contains. It's still produced by fermentation. The bacteria that fermented it are beneficial to birds; it's called the "mother" of the vinegar and appears as some 'stuff' at the bottom of the bottle. Regular ACV is chemically fermented and doesn't contain the mother. Nor does it contain half the nutrients, enzymes, etc produced by the mother while it's on the shelf. So go organic.

 

[DLS]

Now the crop is getting smaller. BUT I can feel a new BALL inside it . I squish it up & have decided it is what is left from the bread It feels like modeling clay. I am swiching to oatmeal. & vinegar in the watre today. .. what about terramycen?? would that help in the water?

 

[threehorses]

Terramycin will only make it worse at this point; you'll kill all the good bacteria that are barely hanging on as it is.

The new ball - that might be just new feed. It should go away (or be replaced by a different ball) in 24 hours. Are you feedling crumbles and nothing more solid?

What's most important is to get the bad items out of the crop. The clean new food is alright. It just needs to be no grains, no solids, preferably no bread, all crumbles and easily dissolved things like some (mashed, boiled) egg yolk, the probiotic of your choice, water, etc.