First Time With Sour Crop - Please Help

[webmistress32]

Someone posted a great article about handling sour crop last night, I am linking to it here. She definitely recommends the coconut oil and provides a reasonable protocol for using it.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

 

[chickenmom027]

Update: today while I was home on my lunch, I gave Peppa some yogurt and a small piece of pineapple (after reading it had immensely helped someone before with an impacted crop). I gave her a little bit of monistat and fresh ACV water. When I left, her crop was pretty hard and I could feel the ball of grass in there. Now, when I just came home, it feels completely full again. She has drank a ton of water, and again, I gave her a little bit of soft food earlier. Mind you, she hadn’t hardly drank any water up until now because I brought in her regular water dish, instead of the bowl that she didn’t like. Is this normal?

 

[Eggcessive]

I would stick with mushy foods, including yogurt and cooked egg. You may want to hold off on foods except for electrolyte or gatorade or pedialyte and yogurt to give the crop time to empty. Is she pooping? @azygous and @TwoCrows are better at crop problems than I.

 

[chickenmom027]

I would stick with mushy foods, including yogurt and cooked egg. You may want to hold off on foods except for electrolyte or gatorade or pedialyte and yogurt to give the crop time to empty. Is she pooping? @azygous and @TwoCrows are better at crop problems than I.

Noted! I was going to cook her up some scrambled eggs for dinner but after feeling her crop, I didn’t know if it was ideal to give her any food. She is pooping, a lot during the night and several times throughout the day- it’s mostly diarrhea, but looks to be pieces of straw in it as well.

 

[chickenmom027]

A friend of mine had this on hand from an infection she had, is this safe to give Peppa? She has taken a turn for the worse today.

 

[webmistress32]

I use horse anti biotics for the chickens. Chemicals are chemicals, its really all about the dosing. How is she today?

 

[chickenmom027]

I use horse anti biotics for the chickens. Chemicals are chemicals, its really all about the dosing. How is she today?

Better than the other day, making progress. Still not out of the woods though I think the Nystatin is doing it's job, she loves to eat her crumbles soaked in water, and is pooping a lot through the night. I just hope we're making progress.

 

[Minky]

Hi there. I have had two chickens with this in my 3.5 years as a chicken owner. One was sour crop, the other impacted/pendulous crop.

Both lived to lay many more eggs, and are still alive!
Both took several days to get better- the pendulous /impacted crop was a lot of work. This is what I did for each.

If there is a sour smell, you need to invert the chicken outside!- aim her face away from your shoes! If they are going to vomit, they will. It will pour out. I would count to 3. 1 Mississppi , 2 Mississippi, 3. (my Welsummer who had the impacted pendulous crop never vomitted, - my Brown leghorn vomitted A LOT.) They will not die or aspirate... you need to get the rot out. They may not barf on the first inversion. Massage the crop while inverting. Never for too long. 3 seconds.

Impacted/pendulous crop:
Brought her inside, set her own space up for her. Fresh water, grit.
Put her in my lap and firmly FIRMLY massaged her tennis ball sized crop. It was spring, and after a long hard winter, she had eaten a ton of roots and grasses. They were tangled in a ball, at least as big as a tennis ball.
I massaged for about 10-12 minutes, like 4 times a day. (10 days!!!) It would take a while before I felt like my massage was making progress. I would work on a little bit of the edge of the tennis ball. Then I would feel for a V shape in their upper chest. Maybe find a chicken diagram ? its the entrance to where they swallow. I would take a small piece I had worked away from th tennis ball and hold it firmly in the V.pushing gently. Eventually it disappears. (it leaves the crop to get swallowed I suppose?) The tennis ball got smaller every day. She only ate full fat high quality yogurt. Not mush progress was made from day 1-3, but then I recall it started to get better. When I thought she was ready- I made hand sewed a bra for her (like a sports bra out of old tensor bandage) (I am not good with a needle-) but it worked amazing. She wore it for about 2 weeks, then I took it off her and she has been great ever since. I made it really tight against her crop-and it went up fairly high so her crop was sort. of smushed against her chest, but in an upward fashion, not downward.Like a sports bra on a large chested woman. Anyways. Sounds like your chicken may not have a pendulous crop just yet. Start with a few attempts at inversion and vomitting, (if you feel she needs it)then move on to massage.
My chicken that needed to barf a lot- it would pour out of her mouth- you will know after 1 or 2 inversions... careful- they tend to shake their head while they do it.

 

[chickenmom027]

Hi there. I have had two chickens with this in my 3.5 years as a chicken owner. One was sour crop, the other impacted/pendulous crop.

Both lived to lay many more eggs, and are still alive!
Both took several days to get better- the pendulous /impacted crop was a lot of work. This is what I did.

If there is a sour smell, you need to invert the chicken outside!- aim her face away from your shoes! If they are going to vomit, they will. It will pour out. I would count to 3. 1 Mississppi , 2 Mississippi, 3. (my Welsummer who had the impacted pendulous crop never vomitted, - my Brown leghorn vomitted A LOT.) They will not die or aspirate... you need to get the rot out. They may not barf on the first inversion. Massage the crop while inverting. Never for too long. 3 seconds.

Impacted/pendulous crop:
Brought her inside, set her own space up for her. Fresh water, grit.
Put her in my lap and firmly FIRMLY massaged her tennis ball sized crop. It was spring, and after a long hard winter, she had eaten a ton of roots and grasses. They were tangled in a ball, at least as big as a tennis ball.
I massaged for about 10-12 minutes, like 4 times a day. (10 days!!!) It would take a while before I felt like my massage was making progress. I would work on a little bit of the edge of the tennis ball. Then I would feel for a V shape in their upper chest. Maybe find a chicken diagram ? its the entrance to where they swallow. I would take a small piece I had worked away from th tennis ball and hold it firmly in the V.pushing gently. Eventually it disappears. (it leaves the crop to get swallowed I suppose?) The tennis ball got smaller every day. She only ate full fat high quality yogurt. Not mush progress was made from day 1-3, but then I recall it started to get better. When I thought she was ready- I made hand sewed a bra for her (like a sports bra out of old tensor bandage) (I am not good with a needle-) but it worked amazing. She wore it for about 2 weeks, then I took it off her and she has been great ever since. I made it really tight against her crop-and it went up fairly high so her crop was sort. of smushed against her chest, but in an upward fashion, not downward.Like a sports bra on a large chested woman. Anyways. Sounds like your chicken may not have a pendulous crop just yet. Start with a few attempts at inversion and vomitting, (if you feel she needs it)then move on to massage.
My chicken that needed to barf a lot- it would pour out of her mouth- you will know after 1 or 2 inversions... careful- they tend to shake their head while they do it.

Wow, that is all incredibly helpful, thank you so much!!
I think my biggest issue is understanding if it is sour or impacted crop. When I feel her crop, it feels impacted, I can almost feel the long pieces of grass she was eating. But I can also feel the fluid in there. Saturday was her worst day yet. We attempted to vomit her and she had dark fluid come up, we did it 2 or 3 times and we thought we lost her after that. She acted as if it was in her lungs and she couldn't breathe. It was horribly traumatizing for us and for her and she slept for the rest of that day. So now we're a little scared to try that again. Yesterday was better, but when she was putting her head down a couple of times, that dark liquid was coming out of her beak. She drank water as normal and when I offered her her watered down crumbles, she ate without hesitation. I am trying to help her in any way that I possibly can, but it's been hard, as this is our first time dealing with it.

 

[aart]

I think the Nystatin is doing it's job, she loves to eat her crumbles soaked in water,

Then add the 'meds' to the crumble,get the stuff warm and let it soak in good.
I have done that with both coconut oil and miconazole cream.
Much easier than other applications.

I would not feed anything else but the crumble and plain water.