Difficult month in the coop.

[Scorpiostar]

We have been keeping chickens for two years without any problems but the last two months have been a challenge. Our Amber link developed sour crop in June and we nearly lost her. She pulled through after receiving treatment from the vet but then it recurred four weeks later. We treated it with Nystatin and she seemed to recover but we didn't have a lot of Nystatin (it's not available where we live) so she only had it for three days. I'm worried about it coming back. She lost so much weight I don't think she could survive another episode. I managed to source another bottle of Nystatin. Should I give her a full week course now or not? It's three weeks since she last had sour crop. She seems ok now except her comb has suddenly flopped. She is two and a half years old. She has also just lost her best friend to a fox on Saturday night. Could this be the cause of the floppy comb?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Welcome to BYC

Sour crop is usually caused by an underlying condition, like impacted/partially impacted crop, worms, coccidiosis, etc.

You may want to evaluate what types of foods/grasses she is eating, if she has a good source of grit available and take a fecal sample to your vet to have a fecal float test performed, this can tell you if part of the problem is worms.


http://www.tillysnest.com/2012/01/crop-issues-html/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/impacted-slow-and-sour-crops-prevention-and-treatments

 

[Scorpiostar]

Thank you very much. That's a great article. They were wormed before the summer but I've started another course of Flubenvet today just to rule out worms.