Help help, Pendulous Crop in Pullet!

[heatherbeast]

Lilly is a 5 month old Bielefelder pullet. Yesterday, I noticed her spit up some white and yellow liquid, but it didn't smell sour or yeasty.

Her profile is off, and after examining her, it looks like she has pendulous crop. The contents are soft, flabby, and about the size of an orange. Her keel feels sharp, so I think this may have been going on for a while.

Is this possibly vice-related? She is the smallest of her 4 siblings. Maybe gobbling up too much at once? Also, it HAS been hot here recently, could she be drinking too much water too quickly? I have separated her for now. I plan to feed her SMALL portions, and get a crop bra for her. Should I prophylactically treat her for sour crop? How long should I keep her separated?

 

[Eggcessive]

Have you checked early in the morning before she eats or drinks to see it her crop empties or goes down? You might need to separate her with water only (and possibly electrolytes or a dose of Poultry NutriDrench daily,) for a day or two to let her crop empty. Massaging a soft puffy crop can cause them to vomit and aspirate, but you might try massaging in a downward motion to move crop contents along to the gizzard. I am not an expert on crop treatments. Others, such as @azygous and @TwoCrows know more about that. Some use stool softener (doccusate sodium) or miconazole (Monistat cream) to treat crop disorders. Some also recommend chilled coconut oil cut into pieces and offered to help soften crop contents if there is a crop impaction. Here is some info to read:
G https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

Here is a picture of the crop in a chicken:
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url...ved=0CAgQjRxqFwoTCMj9kNO9tvICFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD

 

[heatherbeast]

Have you checked early in the morning before she eats or drinks to see it her crop empties or goes down? You might need to separate her with water only (and possibly electrolytes or a dose of Poultry NutriDrench daily,) for a day or two to let her crop empty. Massaging a soft puffy crop can cause them to vomit and aspirate, but you might try massaging in a downward motion to move crop contents along to the gizzard. I am not an expert on crop treatments. Others, such as @azygous and @TwoCrows know more about that. Some use stool softener (doccusate sodium) or miconazole (Monistat cream) to treat crop disorders. Some also recommend chilled coconut oil cut into pieces and offered to help soften crop contents if there is a crop impaction. Here is some info to read:
G https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

Here is a picture of the crop in a chicken:
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https://prestigequeen.com/chicken-anatomy/&psig=AOvVaw0SpaTQ8Wd6FmLA0HwdDIrj&ust=1629235563552000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAgQjRxqFwoTCMj9kNO9tvICFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD

Thank you, I like the coconut oil lube job idea. I can start her on Rooster Booster this evening, and then check her crop and add the coconut oil in the morning. Also, edited to add: Maybe distended crop is the best name for this girl's trouble, and that she is in good spirits so far.

 

[heatherbeast]

Crop did NOT empty overnight. Giving coconut oil chips now. How long should I wait before trying other treatments?

 

[avjudge]

Not an expert, but I read a lot when one of my chicks developed impacted/sour crop.

If it didn't go down overnight and it feels like a water balloon, it's sour crop. That usually happens subsequent to something else - slow or impacted crop - but I believe the yeast overgrowth that causes the sour crop will last after the initial problem is resolved, so you have to clear up the yeast problem (sour crop) and then see if you still have a crop-emptying problem and then deal with that (which is where coconut oil and/or stool softener and crop massage come in).

So *if* that feels like a water balloon (and it looks like it does from your picture!) the first thing you should do is miconazole or nystatin treatment. Miconazole is the easier to get (vaginal yeast cream). Nystatin is available as Medistatin from bird-supply stores online but that's more money & time to get.

You'll find lots of directions/suggestions on dosing online. I have a bunch of oral syringes from cats over the years, so used one of those. I stuck the syringe mouth in the ointment tube and squeezed with one hand while I pulled back the plunger with the other. I settled on 2ml per dose but others use less (1" squeezed out from the skinny mouth of the tube) or more (a part of a suppository, which is much higher % miconazole).

Good luck! My chick recovered, but it took a while. The miconazole seemed to work, then it didn't, so I gave second week's course, then got some medistatin and gave that for a week, then gave up. I also gave probiotics (and then switched to a feed that includes them) and did try a crop bra for a while, too, wondering if the sour crop had stretched it out. A few weeks after I gave everything up, I noticed that it had gone down, though still felt a bit doughy, and I massaged it a bit. A while later it appeared to have completely resolved and she seemed normal. Now, a month later (now age 16 weeks) she continues to do well. I feel I basically lucked out!

 

[heatherbeast]

Not an expert, but I read a lot when one of my chicks developed impacted/sour crop.

If it didn't go down overnight and it feels like a water balloon, it's sour crop. That usually happens subsequent to something else - slow or impacted crop - but I believe the yeast overgrowth that causes the sour crop will last after the initial problem is resolved, so you have to clear up the yeast problem (sour crop) and then see if you still have a crop-emptying problem and then deal with that (which is where coconut oil and/or stool softener and crop massage come in).

So *if* that feels like a water balloon (and it looks like it does from your picture!) the first thing you should do is miconazole or nystatin treatment. Miconazole is the easier to get (vaginal yeast cream). Nystatin is available as Medistatin from bird-supply stores online but that's more money & time to get.

You'll find lots of directions/suggestions on dosing online. I have a bunch of oral syringes from cats over the years, so used one of those. I stuck the syringe mouth in the ointment tube and squeezed with one hand while I pulled back the plunger with the other. I settled on 2ml per dose but others use less (1" squeezed out from the skinny mouth of the tube) or more (a part of a suppository, which is much higher % miconazole).

Good luck! My chick recovered, but it took a while. The miconazole seemed to work, then it didn't, so I gave second week's course, then got some medistatin and gave that for a week, then gave up. I also gave probiotics (and then switched to a feed that includes them) and did try a crop bra for a while, too, wondering if the sour crop had stretched it out. A few weeks after I gave everything up, I noticed that it had gone down, though still felt a bit doughy, and I massaged it a bit. A while later it appeared to have completely resolved and she seemed normal. Now, a month later (now age 16 weeks) she continues to do well. I feel I basically lucked out!

Excellent instructions, thank you. I am baffled at the lack of yeast or sour smell from her beak, or her spit up the other day. I have access to tremendous amounts of gentian violet, so I'll start her on that, and start looking up the other threads about dosing.

 

[heatherbeast]

Reading up on the gentian violet to reduce sour crop, NO THANK YOU! You have to BRUSH or SWAB it on the affected surfaces. I am using unfiltered apple cider vinegar added to her water instead. For slow crop, I have been adding a few crumbles to the coconut oil chips and massaging in the wishbone area several times a day, and it seems to be working! Slow going, but her 'water balloon' is a bit smaller a little after 2 days of treatment.

That said, I saw this in her poop this morning. It is concerningly fleshy. Any speculation on this?

 

[avjudge]

I never smelled anything at all unusual (sour or yeasty). I've read that from other people, too. My chick did throw up a little bit once when I was handling her and I didn't notice a smell then either.

Sorry, I can't be any help on the droppings - I never saw any unusual contents in my chick's droppings and as a new chicken owner I don't have any other experiences to call on. I have read in a thread here that chickens can shed bits of the intestinal lining, I believe possibly as a result of coccidia, so that might give you something to research. I hope someone who knows a lot more than me will chime in here.

 

[heatherbeast]

I never smelled anything at all unusual (sour or yeasty). I've read that from other people, too. My chick did throw up a little bit once when I was handling her and I didn't notice a smell then either.

Sorry, I can't be any help on the droppings - I never saw any unusual contents in my chick's droppings and as a new chicken owner I don't have any other experiences to call on. I have read in a thread here that chickens can shed bits of the intestinal lining, I believe possibly as a result of coccidia, so that might give you something to research. I hope someone who knows a lot more than me will chime in here.

Thank you,

We are going to be in this for the long haul it seems. I have gone through multiple cycles now of pulling her off food, putting her back on small amounts of crumble with coconut oil. She has been receiving apple cider vinegar the whole time. Lilli's crop swells up, and drains over a 2 day course of food withdrawal.

SLOW CROP?

Partially blocked crop?

Is it time to cut her @$$ open?!

Help plz @azygous and other seasoned hands

 

[Eggcessive]

The red tissue in the dropping above looks odd, like it might be blood. Sometimes eating berries can cause something like that, but blood can also be from coccidiosis, worms, or eating something sharp. I don’t think she has sour crop yet, since there is no sour or bad odor, but it could progress to that.

I forgot to mention in my first post that a crop bra is how many people help to keep a pendulous crop from getting too big. That should be done once her crop goes down some, and the position of it can be tricky to get right. Both @azygous and @coach723 have written about their experiences with crop bras. I would make one or buy one to use. My experience with crop problems has not been a lot so I would rather they would advise.

Another treatment some do is use acidified copper sulfate in the water for a few days. I think that jefferspet.com sells it, and the dosage is 1/4 tsp per gallon for 3 days. Hopefully your hen will get better, but this may be a chronic problem. If it turns sour, that can be much harder to treat.