Help? Big crop, clear gooey liquid coming out of beak?

[littlecoopnextdoor]

It sounds/looks like she’s possibly developed a pendulous crop. And that you’ve been continuing to allow her to eat this whole time, if I’m reading everything correctly.

I’m certainly no expert, but from what I’ve read, one of the first things to do is to withhold food (only food, not water) for 24 hours. Then check the crop. Since she’s still seeming to have issues a week later, you probably need to look into helping her empty her crop by helping her to fully regurgitate the crop contents. I would look up as many websites and YouTube videos as you can about how to do it correctly to avoid aspiration. But if she’s that impacted, her crop is only going to get bigger and bigger and cause more and more issues the more she eats. And it seems logical to me that if the blockage can’t pass in one direction, the only other way out is the way it came in.

yes, for the first three days before it went sour I withheld food, gave her coconut oil and massaged her crop every hour. I isolated her and monitored her poops. her crop never emptied, even when it was not gurgle, and then got the sour crop, which I have been treating. I don't feel comfortable risking aspiration on her, since her crop doesn't actually seem full of anything just normal amount of food but hanging low. I lift it up for her after she drinks a lot of water and it seems to drain into gizzard which is good. It doesn't feel like an impaction from all I've read. I have been thinking back and I do remember one of them (I have three) adjusting crop a lot even as a small chick...and I'm fairly certain it was Squeaky. I have my inkling this might be a chronic crop issue. I have been monitoring her very closely the whole time and watching for any spilling out or discomfort and it seems to not be happening any more (for a bit there she was spilling out goo at least once a day). I am feeling honestly very upset that things haven't gotten better. I heard my vet did chickens but I called the office and they said he doesn't have time to look at chickens anymore, which is shitty. The other closest vet is an hour away but I will phone them. These are my pets and I want them to thrive and be happy. That's the reason I took her out of isolation and put her back with her friends, she seems much happier scratching around on the ground than siting alone in a crate

 

[Shugercube]

yes, for the first three days before it went sour I withheld food, gave her coconut oil and massaged her crop every hour. I isolated her and monitored her poops. her crop never emptied, even when it was not gurgle, and then got the sour crop, which I have been treating.

Ok, I’m not trying to be argumentative, but you have literally mentioned feeding her every single day, including what you fed her. I’m not trying to argue, I am just trying to help you! But when in this time period did you have her go an entire 24 hours without anything at all to eat? That’s what I meant by withholding food. A slow crop can’t empty if you’re allowing her to keep filling it up faster than it can empty itself, so it will just keep getting worse. And if you can’t get it to shrink back down it certainly can become a permanent issue, if it isn’t already.

At this point I would look into potential causes as well. As a slow moving crop can be a symptom- impaction, GI blockage, disease, etc. It could also be genetics, but one would think this would have become an issue sooner if it were simply how her body is. Is there anything else going on with her right now? Have you weighed her or physically assessed her body constitution?

An article on crop stasis (slow emptying crop) that might be helpful:
http://www.poultrydvm.com/condition/sour-crop

Edited to add a thought I forgot!

 

[littlecoopnextdoor]

Ok, I’m not trying to be argumentative, but you have literally mentioned feeding her every single day, including what you fed her. I’m not trying to argue, I am just trying to help you! But when in this time period did you have her go an entire 24 hours without anything at all to eat? That’s what I meant by withholding food. A slow crop can’t empty if you’re allowing her to keep filling it up faster than it can empty itself, so it will just keep getting worse. And if you can’t get it to shrink back down it certainly can become a permanent issue, if it isn’t already.

At this point I would look into potential causes as well. As a slow moving crop can be a symptom- impaction, GI blockage, disease, etc. It could also be genetics, but one would think this would have become an issue sooner if it were simply how her body is. Is there anything else going on with her right now? Have you weighed her or physically assessed her body constitution?

An article on crop stasis (slow emptying crop) that might be helpful:
http://www.poultrydvm.com/condition/sour-crop

Edited to add a thought I forgot!

Totally believe you're coming from a place of helping, so I appreciate that. I fed her only coconut oil while massaging crop about a day or so after I noticed her swollen crop. after 24hrs I introduced scrambled egg with coconut oil, as I had read on the forums. at that point it was not sour. I do think she has crop stasis, I started reading about that last week as well. I feel bad not giving her access to food OR water for 24hrs but is this what you're suggesting to do now? She is only 15 weeks old so this might be genetic, I do think it was her that was adjusting crop more than usual when they were 6weeks onwards

 

[Shugercube]

Totally believe you're coming from a place of helping, so I appreciate that. I fed her only coconut oil while massaging crop about a day or so after I noticed her swollen crop. after 24hrs I introduced scrambled egg with coconut oil, as I had read on the forums. at that point it was not sour. I do think she has crop stasis, I started reading about that last week as well. I feel bad not giving her access to food OR water for 24hrs but is this what you're suggesting to do now? She is only 15 weeks old so this might be genetic, I do think it was her that was adjusting crop more than usual when they were 6weeks onwards

Definitely don’t keep her from water! Only food. I apologize if I misread, just wanting to be sure you’re understanding what I’m saying. Im not always the best at getting my point across, even in person (ask my poor husband! Lol), but in type it can be even more difficult to convey things.

If it is genetic, it’s probably not going to change. It still may not change at this point, even if it’s not genetic. I would probably try to get her used to a “bra,” to help support the crop so that she can properly digest her food without constant help from you. If it’s just the shape of the crop that’s the issue (she cant fully drain it because its hanging lower than it should, like a U) then she will always be at higher risk of sour crop and further problems due to that. But a bra can help keep it in a better position for draining long-term. She won’t like it at first of course, it will take some getting used to. But I think if you’re able to keep trying, and working to make sure it’s a good fit and everything, that she will get used to it fairly quickly. Especially once/if she realizes that it’s helping her. It will probably take several days, but I honestly think that’s going to be your best bet, especially if you can’t be there all the time to hold it up for her whenever she eats or drinks. It might help keep things from building up quite so much between massages and keep her more comfortable longer. You’d need to keep a close eye on cleanliness of it, and probably have several on hand to switch them out frequently so that dirt and/or parasites can’t build up underneath it.

I do hope she starts to feel better soon! It’s so hard to see our babies uncomfortable

*edited for typos

 

[Shugercube]

@littlecoopnextdoor how is she doing?

 

[littlecoopnextdoor]

@littlecoopnextdoor how is she doing?

her crop actually seems a *little* smaller today but still pendulous. I have the day off work on Sunday so I am going to spend some hours with her to get her used to a crop bra. I felt a bit nervous about putting it on her when I was away for the day in case anything went wrong with it. thank you for checking in. Also, one of my other chickens is named Sugarcube

 

[Shugercube]

her crop actually seems a *little* smaller today but still pendulous. I have the day off work on Sunday so I am going to spend some hours with her to get her used to a crop bra. I felt a bit nervous about putting it on her when I was away for the day in case anything went wrong with it. thank you for checking in. Also, one of my other chickens is named Sugarcube

Yay! Sounds like progress I hope the crop bra helps!!
And thats awesome haha

 

[Shugercube]

How is she doing??

 

[littlecoopnextdoor]

How is she doing??

Thanks for checking in! I just got back from a couple days camping (a friend watched the girls while I was away) and I was SO happy to come home to see her crop looking as normal as it has looked in weeks. It still is pendulous but MUCH smaller and no gas at all so I'm certain the sour is finally resolved after last week's treatment She has about a golf ball size in there but when I got home I wasn't sure how much she ate before I saw her, so that might have been her day of eating. But she's a pendulous gal now so I am going to figure that out.

 

[littlecoopnextdoor]

I will add that the thing I also did (after the yeast cream) was add a capsule of probiotics to their feed daily, as well as a tsp of turmeric. it has really helped!