HELP! Crop issues

[awagnon]

I have a hen with golden liquid coming out of her crop. No foul odor. She is lethargic. She also has runny stool that is a bit yellowish. Possible Vent Gleet on top of Sour Crop I am suspecting.

I have some Acidified Copper Sulfate and I am needing some clarification. If I use 1/4 tsp to 1 gallon of water does this make STOCK SOLUTION that I need to dilute further before giving to her? If so, how should I dilute it??

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I have a hen with golden liquid coming out of her crop. No foul odor. She is lethargic. She also has runny stool that is a bit yellowish. Possible Vent Gleet on top of Sour Crop I am suspecting.

I have some Acidified Copper Sulfate and I am needing some clarification. If I use 1/4 tsp to 1 gallon of water does this make STOCK SOLUTION that I need to dilute further before giving to her? If so, how should I dilute it??

1/4 teaspoon Acidified Copper Sulfate to 1 Gallon of water is the correct dose, no need to dilute further.

Treating sour crop can often be a challenge, you may find the article below helpful.


https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

 

[awagnon]

Thank you @Wyorp Rock! Her crop is very large and feels like a bunch of water is in it. She expelled the liquid when I picked her up but it didn't have any odor to it. Her poo is looks like just urates.

She is drinking this morning and took a couple bites of scrambled egg w coconut oil. She's alert, but laying down resting. I hate having her separated from her sisters, but need to get on top of this and hopefully get her over it better this time. She's had this twice in about a 7 month time frame. I am also giving her some miconazole.

 

[awagnon]

Does anyone on here with experience with the Acidified Copper Sulfate now how long it takes for it to work and also if I can mix the molasses in with it to do a 'flush' at the same time?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I would only do one thing at a time. The ACS is pretty strong, finish the course of treatment first before you move on to something else.

It takes time to resolve a crop problem.

 

[awagnon]

Ok, I would have thought after 2 days of ACS water I would see her crop starting to go down, but I am not known for patience. lol It still feels full of fluid. Her belly is fine so I am ruling out water belly. At least now when I massage her, she isn't throwing up the brown liquid. She's not as active as she usually is, but she's alert and objecting to being fussed over. lol Her tail is beginning to come up instead of being tucked down. I think part of her demeanor is she misses her sisters and the crate is confining.

 

[awagnon]

So we are going on the second full day of her not eating anything at all. I offered her some grit and she just about attacked that and ate several pieces. Then she turned her head sideways and backward on each side, stretched out her neck and opened her mouth as wide as she could. I assume she was trying to adjust her crop.

It just doesn't seem as if the liquid in the crop is going anywhere. I know that they can be tube fed, but has anyone done this in reverse to remove some of the liquid in the crop? I don't want to try to turn her upside down and force expel it because I don't want her to aspirate. I don't want it to just stagnate in there and cause more issues. She is still sipping the ACS water. Could she have a worm blockage?? Her poos are still very liquid and mostly a whitish yellow. She has begun to have a bit of brown bits in it this evening tho.

We had a very rainy Spring so maybe she got an overload of parasites?? The last time she had this she was markedly better the next morning after a couple of doses of miconazole. This time has me worried.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Does she have food available during waking hours?

Sometimes worms could be the underlying condition that is slowing a crop. Reproductive disorders is also common.

 

[awagnon]

Does she have food available during waking hours?

Sometimes worms could be the underlying condition that is slowing a crop. Reproductive disorders is also common.

I am hoping it's not reproductive although she is a hybrid bred for egg production like the Comets. She's 2 years old. She hasn't laid and egg in MONTHS. She has never acted egg bound however.

I am trying to treat is as a case of sour crop since all symptoms point to that. I just syringed her second dose of miconazole to try to get any yeast in her crop taken care of. No runny nose, stuffed up/crusty nares, or wheezing from her.

I am not leaving food out for her as her crop is FULL of liquid. I have read not to feed the regular feed when they have sour crop as the yeast feed on the ingredients in the fee. When I massage it and jiggle it you can actually HEAR sloshing! I offered her scrambled egg in coconut oil this morning, NO interest at all. I also tried to give her some plain yogurt w a bit of molasses....still NO interest. Any idea how I can get her to take in some yogurt? I don't want to syringe feed her and over fill her crop. Should I try to get her to throw up the liquid? I am so afraid of her aspirating, so I really don't want to do that if there's something else I can do for her.

She did take a bit of coconut oil in voluntarily, but I don't think it was enough to matter.

She's only on the ACS water and I see her sip on that throughout the day. Not really pooping very much, but when she does it is still very liquid. She is standing from time to time on her own and turns around in the crate without falling over. She will lay down from time to time, but she's alert and looking around at the housework activity when she's resting. lol

When she has had this in the past, she usually shows marked improvement in a day. I caught this the day it began as her crop was normal the day before so it's not been going on long. ALL of her flock mates are fine out in the run and laying as usual so I don't think this is anything she might pass around.

If she's not better in another day or so, would it be OK to worm her and keep her on the ACS water for the 5 days?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Not sure if the Miconazole is necessary since you are treating with ACS.

She may have a blockage further down.

I provide feed during waking hours, but some withhold feed, that's up to you.

Let's see if @azygous has any other suggestions.