Doughy and sour crop treatment the same? We have doughy crop!

[WilliamC]

We have an 8 year old Buff Orpington. Overall very good health for her age.
She has dough crop. First time dealing with this.
Emptying very slow, doughy with lump i can massage out and its very warm. Her breath does not smell. Her crop does move the food to the center of her chest.
She was at the vet the other day for pain meds(bad hip) and we didnt notice the crop, and she was wormed with Ivermectin while there. We also worm and treat with Valbazen and Corid spring and summer.
Her appatite is fine, shes is very hungry and she does poop, including the big one in the morning. Seems fairly solid with mix of white and dark. So i dont think she is blocked.

I withheld food and it did clear, gave her some grain which takes about 2 days to clear.

We do have some monostat cream and plan on giving her one inch twice a day. Is that about 1ML?
Should i add vinegar to her water to raise PH?
Did i read to use Acidified Copper Sulfate as well? I can order some

Oh, she did lay 3 days ago. First time in a loooong time.

Thank you!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Her crop is emptying overnight if you don't feed grain?
Do you provide grit (crushed granite)?

I would start by treating as doughy, giving coconut oil and massage. If her crop is clearing when she's eating normal food but she's having a hard time processing grains/scratch, then it may be that those foods are eliminated or greatly limited. As birds age (8 is getting on in years) the digestive system does not always work as well as it once did.
If you find that coconut oil and massage doesn't quite work, then move on to sour treatment with Miconazole. I would not give Acidified Copper Sulfate unless other treatments fail.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

 

[WilliamC]

Her crop is emptying overnight if you don't feed grain?
Do you provide grit (crushed granite)?

I would start by treating as doughy, giving coconut oil and massage. If her crop is clearing when she's eating normal food but she's having a hard time processing grains/scratch, then it may be that those foods are eliminated or greatly limited. As birds age (8 is getting on in years) the digestive system does not always work as well as it once did.
If you find that coconut oil and massage doesn't quite work, then move on to sour treatment with Miconazole. I would not give Acidified Copper Sulfate unless other treatments fail.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

Yes, she always has access to grit, small and larger mixed in a bowl. I had been doing some olive oil and i massage her at least twice a day. I did start on Miconazole .5ml twice a day. I think that is a light dose than washed down with some water and massage prior to her morning and evening feed. Things seem to be getting better. I had been withholding hard grains and giving her easy to pass soft foods for a few days. Those do seem to pass ok. Last night i let her eat a small regular diet and some scratch grains and will check this AM to see how it passed. So far no sour smell at all.
Since we go out of town this coming Thursday for 5 days i REALLY want to make sure she will be ok so i am taking a bit more of an aggressive approach than normal.
Thank you for the reply!

 

[Lillith37]

I have an older hen who periodically has slow crop and has a doughy mass in her crop in the mornings. It never really eventuates into a full on “sour crop” but will get worse if I don’t intervene. She can be fine for weeks and then have a week of trouble. Same thing with no odour on the breath or change in droppings, still acting normal and eating/drinking

My first point of call is to make some fennel tea and administer to her several mls morning and night alongside gentle massage to help her digestive motility. Fennel tea is excellent for digestion and I notice her crop firming up and contracting during the massage time.

Here is an article about fennel tea:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/sour-crop-treatment-naturally-medically.73449/

This usually works but I do resort to the fungal cream if it doesn’t and if you’re going away for a time, I think that’s a wise course of action.
I also have a crop bra on hand for my girl to wear for a day or two if she need it. It does help.

It’s good you have different sized grit. That’s a lesson I learned recently.

 

[WilliamC]

I have an older hen who periodically has slow crop and has a doughy mass in her crop in the mornings. It never really eventuates into a full on “sour crop” but will get worse if I don’t intervene. She can be fine for weeks and then have a week of trouble. Same thing with no odour on the breath or change in droppings, still acting normal and eating/drinking

My first point of call is to make some fennel tea and administer to her several mls morning and night alongside gentle massage to help her digestive motility. Fennel tea is excellent for digestion and I notice her crop firming up and contracting during the massage time.

Here is an article about fennel tea:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/sour-crop-treatment-naturally-medically.73449/

This usually works but I do resort to the fungal cream if it doesn’t and if you’re going away for a time, I think that’s a wise course of action.
I also have a crop bra on hand for my girl to wear for a day or two if she need it. It does help.

It’s good you have different sized grit. That’s a lesson I learned recently.

Right, same thing with her. No smell, slow, doughy feel. Well this morning crop only had a few grains in it so things are looking up! Back to huge morning poops that look normal.
She loves a bit of bread in olive oil. Our expensive olive oil, of course. So I take a bit of hotdog bun, inject .5ml of Monistat into it, roll it into olive oil and she hogs it down. Easy! Than i massage. Oh, shes molting as well so i have some powered vitamins for molting birds i put i pinch on it too.
Its been VERY hot here. We have a playpen for sick birds in the house we put her in during the heat of the day and she has a cage set up in the garage which is nice and cool at night. Her age, very hot weather plus slow crop and molting! Ugh. The others tended to eat less during the heat. Not Butters. She delights in hogging down food so i have to watch and measure her food.
Each evening we walk the chickens around the house and this helps keep things moving through he gut and helps her arthritic hips. She takes 1ML of Metacam 20 mins before her walks and that helps.

(My daughters 4H pet chickens she got in 2015. Her and i raised them all together through sickness, health and tragedies . A Bantam rooster she picked up later and Butters is all that is left. My daughter got married in April and has moved out of state and that month 2 died just of old age. Tough time. So its me and old Butters and the tiny rooster who demands to be held and hates his feet wet)

Thank you for the replies!

 

[Lillith37]

That’s so precious. I can picture you walking around the house with Butters and the rooster of an evening. A sweet little parade. Seems like you care about those two very much and they are lucky to have you! I think you’re doing all the right things.