First time owner dealing with sour crop

[Twinklin]

I have only owned chickens for 2 1/2 months or so. That's the age of my four girls. I noticed yesterday my EE doing the neck jerky thing trying to adjust her crop and I noticed a small amount of mucus on the run floor while I was doing their mite and lice check up. I didn't know which one spit up but I assumed it was her. This morning I let them straight out to the yard for 1/2 hour and when I let them back in the run I noticed the EE had an enlarged crop and was doing the neck jerking motion a lot more. I observed her eating and drinking and then spit up some of the water. I felt the crop and it was soft so I assumed sour crop.

I change their water 2 times a day, I always provide grit and they are in a run with a good bit of sand for dust bathing etc. They only free range for an hour a day but our grass does get pretty long and though they seem to stay in the bushes digging for bugs they do occasionally nibble the grass so I'm assuming our long grass is the culprit. I won't be letting them range again until the grass is cut short.

I have removed my EE from the group. I made her vomit with the upside down crop massage and got small amounts of stinky tan fluid out several times. I have since put her in a dog kennel in the garage. I did a lot of reading and the advice columns I trust most suggested baking soda in her water so I have offered her that, as well as grit and chick crumbles turned to mush with some water. Should I remove the food or should she be ok if I keep vomiting her a few times a day until the crop goes down?

edit: and she did poop as soon as I put her in the kennel and the poop looked normal.

 

[Twinklin]

I have taken out the food and bedding from her quarantine cage and gave her a folded up towel to lay on. She ended up dumping the food and I found her eating a combination of food and bedding that filled her crop. I'm going to the store now to get her some kefir probiotic yogurt and ACV. The last 2 times I tried to get her to vomit I got nuthin. She has pooped several times throughout the day. She doesn't seem to be lethargic and I haven't seen her do the neck twitch for hours but her crop is still huge. Hopefully she'll make it through this. I feel bad that she has a caretaker who is learning. I know this is my fault and I'll feel horrible if I lose her.

 

[Twinklin]

This morning her crop was still large. It is soft like putty from all she ate last night (bedding/chick crumbles). I massaged it for a while but it seems the mixture she's carrying now is thick and I didn't want to force it out her throat. As soon as I put her back into the cage from the massage she vomited some. I added ACV to her water and had gotten lactose free kefir milk last night that I mixed with chick crumbles and let soak over night I mixed in more kefir to make a soup and she has been eating and drinking since I gave it to her.

 

[Kelsie2290]

I have had a couple with it, and pretty much did what you are doing. Clean the crop out, use AVC & yogurt or something similar, feed soft food. It does take a Long Time to really be cured. I usually figure it is going to take a good month to have the chicken back to normal, if you quit too soon, it is likely to reoccur, that is one reason a lot of people just cull them.

If the crop is soft (you don't have an impaction) it is usually caused by a bacterial imbalance in the crop and it takes time to reestablish the good population. A lot of things can cause this, a yeast or fungal infection, antibiotics, something she ate, or something wrong with the chicken/crop itself.
AVC is used to adjust the ph level of the crop so the yeast/fungi don't grow as well, you're using the yogurt etc to reestablish the good population, the small soft food is too keep things moving and not extend the crop.
If the crop is extended I try to get them to vomit up at least twice a day. Just don't hold them upside down for too long.
I use about 1/3 cup/ gallon of AVC in the water for a week or so for ones I am treating, they seem to drink it no problem.
Feed her yogurt and really soft foods, make the chicken feed a wet mash. Do Not give her any grain or scraps or anything rough or hard.
It should be warm enough this time of year, but in the winter I put them under a heat lamp or keep them inside, it seems to cure it faster if they are warm.
I have never used it, but some people have used a fungal or yeast medication if it was not clearing up.

 

[Twinklin]

Thanks so much for your reply. I'll keep at it.

 

[Twinklin]

so we kept up with the massaging every few hours allowing her to have kefir milk mixed with crumbles and ACV water. This morning her crop felt empty. I'm going to keep her in for a couple more days to be safe. Today I mixed crumbles with a little vegetable oil and grit, gave her the lactose free kefir milk on the side along with her ACV water. If she clears everything through by morning we'll go back to plain crumbles and ACV water. If she clears that I'll put her back out.

So my advice to any newbies who are scared like me about doing something wrong is

1. Hold chicken like a football upside down and massage crop to let her vomit letting her breathe in between until you get no more vomit.
2. Isolate chicken in area with no hay or pine shavings
3. Massage crop for a few minutes a few times a day
4. Make a thick soup from kefir milk and crumbles or smashed up pellet, feed only that until crop is empty in the morning.
5. Make sure grit is available
6. add Apple Cider Vinegar to water. I used 1tsp/quart.

These steps are a combination of things I read on the internet that ended up clearing her out in approx. 2 days. Now I still have to see if she's working properly but these steps are a good start.