My first thread here, and not such a happy one... I know that there is lots of information about sour and impacted crop on here and elsewhere, and I'm familiarized myself with it, but my situation has taken a turn that I'm having trouble finding out more about, and I'm feeling like I need to act fast. I have a 3 and a half month old blue orpington that we noticed an impacted crop on a few days ago (actually, though the impaction was small, it had already soured). I helped her to regurgitate what she could, and tried to massage the impaction out. It wouldn't break up or pass, though, and over the last few days, until yesterday evening, it had become pretty large, maybe softball sized, and super hard. I had been denying her feed (tried some bread/buttermilk, but she wasn't interested), but she had stayed pretty active and chipper. I made an appointment to take her to the vet to have it cut out this morning. This morning, about an hour ago, though, I went to box her up to take to the vet, and the impaction seemed to be gone. Nothing but soft, soury stuff in the crop, which she had a hard time getting back up. Where did it go? My worry is that it has passed to the gizzard, is that a legit concern? She was more lethargic this morning, but maybe she's just starting to feel the lack of food? Anyway, she is at the vet, since it was clear that SOMETHING needs to happen... any thoughts? Thanks.
Hello there and welcome to BYC! It really depends on what was really in there. Even though it was hard, it may not have been something so stiff that was unable to dissolve. So it is possible that she drank enough water that what ever was in there was able to break down and pass. As for things getting stuck in the gizzard, this does happen, but usually impactions of the gizzard happen when the crop isn't able to move either. Slow/Sour and Impacted crops happen for many reasons....worms may be impacted in the intestines, the bird could be egg bound, she could have gorged on long grass or stiff vegetation, she could be internally laying, she could have some illness that is causing a physical blockage or her system is shutting down if she is near death, or this could be a simple indigestion issue. Feed changes can cause crop issues. So see what the vet says about the contents of her crop and keep an eye on her crop each morning for a while. First thing in the morning before they eat anything is the only time you can really check a crop properly as it should be completely empty upon waking. So check her crop for a few weeks after this episode and then you can catch an issue quick. The quicker a bird is treated, the better the chances of survival.