Fishy Breath/Sour Crop?

[CluckinUP]

Azure Egger, about 4 years old, going through molt. I've noticed the last two days she will occasionally stand huffed up, sometimes on one leg. I checked her out yesterday and noticed she had fishy smelling breath.

Didn't see any cankers. Thinking it might be sour crop, I checked her crop this morning before putting out water and feed. Her crop emptied overnight, felt a few grains but wouldn't say it's squishy. Put her down, she went over to a dish of grit and pecked through it. She's acting normal, scratching & eating. I haven't noticed her drinking, today is day 2 of water mixed with corid. Wormed the flock back in the spring, haven't wormed them yet for the fall. I will say we've had a dip in temps overnight for the past three days. Not sure if I'm dealing with sour crop since her breath smells like fish - think she's the only one with this issue. Checked for lice & mites, none. Is this a case of sour crop? Or is the fishy breath something else? Thought I smelled decay yesterday but her breath this morning wasn't as strong as yesterday. Her poop this am appeared dark brown, no red.

 

[azygous]

You don't need to wait for a full crop in the morning to treat for a yeasty crop. During fall molt, a slow crop is not at all uncommon. Molt can hammer a chicken, disrupting appetite and crop function. My flock is especially mopey right now, and I've been treating one of my oldest hens for sour crop, not because she has a full crop in the morning, but because she was doing the snake movement with her neck, indicating an uncomfortable crop. Using miconazole is safe, and if you suspect in the slightest a crop issue, go ahead and start the hen on it.

 

[CluckinUP]

Thank you Azygous. The flock's water has Corid as a preventative - would that interfere with miconazole?

 

[azygous]

No, you may safely do both.

 

[CluckinUP]

While treating her for sour crop, can she still eat feed? I haven't separated her.

 

[azygous]

Offer her food and water and she will eat what she wants. You may need to tempt her with some cooked egg if she turns down the feed. If there is no serious underlying issue, she should respond fairly quickly to the miconazole.

 

[CluckinUP]

Last two mornings, she hasn't emptied her crop but it isn't huge. I can feel grains in her crop. I've been giving her coconut oil and massages in the morning and before bedtime to get the crop going. I did see a pile of poop yesterday am where she roosts. Hard to tell this morning, a bunch of pine shavings were kicked up in that area. She definitely has an appetite- no need to open her beak! She is acting normal, clucking about and pecking around (we've had a few days of showers so the worms are coming up). I plan to keep up with the micronazole twice a day until the 7th day. Her fishy breath isn't as strong but it's still there.

 

[CluckinUP]

It seemed like she was doing better. Went out of town this weekend, I came back and noticed she is sometimes huddling and closing her eyes. Holding her, I noticed she drooled a bit, then I looked inside her mouth and I think it's canker.

Apologies for the terrible photo.
Anyway, I cleaned out as much as I can get. Afterwards, I washed their water and feed containers. She seemed interested in the water and feed. Also, her crop felt empty. I ordered some 250 mg meronidazole (Agua Zole). Tomorrow, I'll start giving them ACV in their water. Am I on the right track? It's seems odd that she has canker since they really don't free-range.