Has impaction turned sour crop but is still hungry and energetic?

[Ccort]

My 3.5ish year old hen had a somewhat hard and very full crop this morning. I gave her some veg oil this morning and massages the crop. I also put probiotics and electrolytes in her water and took away her food.

Note-shes been going through a rather long and tedious molt

This afternoon, the crop feels like it's becoming sour crop. There is no noticable lump inside, but now a large, squishy crop. I gave her yeast infection cream and olive oil, continued the probiotic/electrolyte water and have been off and on massaging her crop. So far, it hasn't changed shape.

However, what's throwing me off from my normal experiences with sour crop/impaction is that she's still hungry and not at all lethargic. She just wants to go on her merry way like nothing is wrong! She seems quite hungry so I did give her one raw egg but do not plan to allow any more food today/tonight.

Could I be looking at something other than sour crop? Her stool is a green color, although she isn't passing any now because she didn't have an food most of the day. It also had some fibrous material/grass so maybe that's why it's green.

 

[Ccort]

This morning it feels like play-dough. No shrinkage.

Help?

 

[Ccort]

I gave her more oil and yeast infection cream this morning, no food.

 

[alinas2010]

Hello, sorry to hear about your chicken. Crop issues are some of the most frustrating to navigate for me. Sometimes it’s a bit of experimenting until you get things worked out. Molting can cause some things to go wonky, it’s a bit of a reset. That is when my hens have had crop issues, too.

I think you’ve got a good start, the oil and massages are always me go to in the beginning. Next is the miconazole, which you’ve started, that’s good, too. What dosage are you giving? Is she taking it okay? This treatment can take few days to start to see improvement, so be patient.

I don’t restrict food or water from my hens when they have crop issues, but I know some people do. They can be self limiting sometimes with how much they eat when they don’t feel well and generally crop issues make them feel miserable. It is good that she is passing stool with fibrous material in it. She may be getting things worked out slowly.

 

[Ccort]

Hello, sorry to hear about your chicken. Crop issues are some of the most frustrating to navigate for me. Sometimes it’s a bit of experimenting until you get things worked out. Molting can cause some things to go wonky, it’s a bit of a reset. That is when my hens have had crop issues, too.

I think you’ve got a good start, the oil and massages are always me go to in the beginning. Next is the miconazole, which you’ve started, that’s good, too. What dosage are you giving? Is she taking it okay? This treatment can take few days to start to see improvement, so be patient.

I don’t restrict food or water from my hens when they have crop issues, but I know some people do. They can be self limiting sometimes with how much they eat when they don’t feel well and generally crop issues make them feel miserable. It is good that she is passing stool with fibrous material in it. She may be getting things worked out slowly.

I'm giving maybe an inch of the miconazole cream, which she is definitely taking. And maybe a teaspoon of oil, three times a day.

This afternoon...she is definitely hungry but again, no shrinkage and feels like playdoh

 

[alinas2010]

You might not see shrinkage until tomorrow. The miconazole treatment takes some time to work, but slowly over the course of about a week you should see her crop start to shrink. Here is an article by @azygous about treating crop ailments. There are some dosage instructions for the miconazole there too, so be sure to follow those.

Hopefully overnight it shrinks a bit. Has she been pooping still?

 

[Ccort]

She's barely pooping at all but the only thing I've allowed her to eat within the last twenty four hours is an egg or two.

What's the dosage for miconazole?

 

[alinas2010]

Here I copy and pasted it from the article, but do go read through it, it’s a great, informative read:

Measure a quarter inch of suppository or about half an inch of cream and give orally twice a day for seven days. Do not stop treatment before the full seven days are completed or the yeast may return.

You may see different strengths of miconazole, 2% or 4%, and wonder which to get. Either strength is fine. I prefer the 2% cream myself for economic reasons. The treatment with either strength is the same, twice and day for a full seven days.

Following treatment for sour crop, offer plenty of plain fresh water and boiled egg to get the crop operating again. I like to also give a probiotic or Greek yogurt to restore good microbes in crop and intestines.

 

[Ccort]

Here I copy and pasted it from the article, but do go read through it, it’s a great, informative read:

Measure a quarter inch of suppository or about half an inch of cream and give orally twice a day for seven days. Do not stop treatment before the full seven days are completed or the yeast may return.

You may see different strengths of miconazole, 2% or 4%, and wonder which to get. Either strength is fine. I prefer the 2% cream myself for economic reasons. The treatment with either strength is the same, twice and day for a full seven days.

Following treatment for sour crop, offer plenty of plain fresh water and boiled egg to get the crop operating again. I like to also give a probiotic or Greek yogurt to restore good microbes in crop and intestines.

Thanks. I actually have read that. My mind is scattered.

I'm really not sure if it's impaction or sour crop at this point.

When imI tune fed her oil earlier today, the stupid large syringe wouldn't push forward and then when it did, it show all the liquid in at once. She reacted with wide eyes and and then a lot of swallowing, while the tube was still in her throat. Once I took the tube out, she smacked her lips a few times.

I am now terrified she may have aspirated. Could that be aspiration?

 

[alinas2010]

Thanks. I actually have read that. My mind is scattered.

I'm really not sure if it's impaction or sour crop at this point.

When imI tune fed her oil earlier today, the stupid large syringe wouldn't push forward and then when it did, it show all the liquid in at once. She reacted with wide eyes and and then a lot of swallowing, while the tube was still in her throat. Once I took the tube out, she smacked her lips a few times.

I am now terrified she may have aspirated. Could that be aspiration?

Oh goodness. Did she cough? Is she wheezing at all? Was the tube directly down into her crop? Keep a close eye on her. But if you haven’t seen any signs of that yet, she may be okay.

Here is a tip that may help you with getting her to take in some oil; try freezing little bits of coconut oil and letting her peck at it. I’ve never had any chickens turn it down, they usually are pretty interested in it. If all you have is olive oil or another liquid oil, pour a little in a dish with some raw egg and letting her ingest it herself. You said she is interested in food so she should not have an issue eating it.

I know crop issues aren’t always straight forward, it’s tough to figure out what the rights steps are sometimes. I had this issue too. But remember crop issues take a bit of time to resolve. It’s likely over the next day or so you’ll see some progress. Remember that the crop does most emptying at night.

For now, keep up with the massages, she’s probably had enough oil today. Her crop may have enough in it if it isn’t draining like it should yet.