HELP, HELP, HELP PLEASE... WHY IS MY HENS BREATH SMELL SWEET LIKE CORN

[TwoCrows]

Good info. A lot of other threads said to use oil, so I'm glad I saw this. Are there any situations where olive oil would be of use, or is it just wrong in all situations? What fungal meds would you use?

Oil is never good in any situation. It turns impacted crops harder and as for slow and sour crops, it slows them down even more. Chickens do not eat oil in their natural habitats and it is very hard to break down and digest.

 

[Toddrick]

Oil is never good in any situation. It turns impacted crops harder and as for slow and sour crops, it slows them down even more. Chickens do not eat oil in their natural habitats and it is very hard to break down and digest. 

I agree that it is probably hard to digest, but from solely a mechanical perspective it makes sense to me. (Kinda like adding oil to a ring stuck on a finger, or to a vent with an egg stuck inside). Adding oil and massaging would seem like the quickest solution for a mechanical blockage, because once the blockage slips into the gizzard the crisis is averted, even if it causes mild GI distress.

However, if oil is added and it does not open the blockage, I could see this making matters worse (as would adding almost anything). There are also risks to making the chicken vomit too though, like fatal aspiration. So I'm wondering if both methods have their place. Why do you suggest that oil turns crops harder? Is that just from experience? I'm just tryng to learn, because so know I'll have to confront these problems eventually myself.

This article says to use the oil for an impaction, and the vomit method for sour crop. But it says that sour crop is caused by a blockage, so I don't see the difference, other than with sour crop the fermentation process is already underway--which means it is further along, right? http://www.pocketfarm.co.uk/impacted-crop-and-sour-crop/

 

[TwoCrows]

Quote: Crops can become slow for many reasons if only because the good bacteria is gone from the crop itself. A slow or sour crop, many times is just a yeast infection. Oil will make the yeast infection worse. Oil is hard on the liver. So I cannot think of one good reason to give a bird oil.

If in fact this slow crop is caused by a blockage in the gizzard from grass or hard vegetation, oil will harden this blockage and block it up even more. Turns it gummy.

So I am sticking to my guns here, there is no good reason to ever give a bird oil.

 

[Toddrick]

I've been researching this more (yea, I have too much time on my hands heh) and found that it appears MONISTAT can be used as the (edible) antifungal. I plan on following TwoCrows vomit method followed by Monostat if/when I encounter this problem. This thread says to break the suppositories into thirds, and that the inert ingredients are just vegetable oil.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/630307/sour-crop-cured-with-monistat