HELP!! sour crop? bloated-huge crop on frizzle

[sonew123]

Ok Be fore anyone asks Here is what happened and what I have done thus far.

1.) Picked up my 3 month old frizzle today-she looked odd. She looked like a perpect black bowling ball-head and neck tucked into body.

2.) Looked her over and found her crop was swollen like a huge balloon-no food just air filled and empty.

3.) Massaged her crop to see if I could feel anything-nothing. She didnt fight me. I felt her bones and there was no "meat" on her. SO skinny. I didnt notice at all before because she was so fluffy-fat looking actually.

4.) Brought her up to my house and put her in a large plastic tote.

5.)Put newspapers down so I can check her stool and stop her from eating any bedding that may have caused this.

6.)Made her some very oily eggs ( instead of getting her to swallow just oil) I did them together since I knew she would eat the eggs. Oil for helping her pass what may be plugging her up.

7.) So in a flat bowl I put yogurt on the left( with a few drops of No IRON Poly-Vi-Sol in it)-mashed wetted food in the middle-and oily eggs on the right.

8.) Fresh water-I dont have ACV.

9.) She immediatly ate a good chunk of the eggs and drank lots of water.

10.) I waited for a while and went in to check her-picked her up to massage her crop again and she puked ( or spewed/slimed out) the egg and water mixture Not all of it, but whatever was in her throat Im sure.

11.) She has pooped several times but it was watery with miniscule pieces of digested pellets. So no consistency at all.

Now Im worried it's something in her throat?? Her beak does look a little too long so I will clip it down a small amount tonight-I have been researchign and reading all the past threads on this and did what I could or had-can anyone else give me suggestions I have not mentioned? I have a meeting to go to and wont be home until 9:30 and I ws hoping when I got home to see more answers I can do for her from all you awesome folks. She is "talking" and moving around and seems to have energy despite her weak/bony underlying frame. I goin there and just talk to her and she "talks back"... This is so sad thank you for your help everyone

 

[raroo]

It could be something blocking her crop from passing the food into her gizzard. Usually an impacted crop is hard and firm, but a soft crop does not always mean a sour crop. I have a hen who's crop blocks from her eating too much driveway grit. There is no hard impaction, just a big bloated soft crop. The food softens inside her crop, but the rocks block the pathway so she can't pass the food. When her crop is too big I can't feel anything, so I let her go about 12 hours overnight with no food and by the morning her crop goes down enough so that I can feel towards the very bottom of her crop and detect a clump of rocks and grit. Then I give her small meals of her crumbles soaked in hot water and a teaspoon of olive oil and a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar every hour and massage her crop afterwards. Usually by the next day her crop has gone down and she is able to pass the soft food but I can still feel the rocks. So I just continue to give her small soft meals and keep massaging her crop until she has passed the rocks (this can take four or five days, but as long as she can pass the soft food and is getting enough to eat its OK). When the rocks are passed I give her a small solid meal of her crumbles right before her bedtime and see if she has digested it by morning. If she hasn't, I continue with the soft meals and test again the next night. If she has, then I give her small solid meals throughout the day.

So for your hen I would start by letting her go overnight with no food and see if any passes during the night.
Squeeze her crop gently and smell her breath for any foul odors.
If her crop feels the same the next morning, give her a tiny meal (a tablespoon) of her crumbles soaked in hot water and a teaspoon of both oil and ACV. Massage her crop well and do this every couple hours all day. No food again at night, and repeat every day until you start seeing improvement. You can give her a bit of yogurt or sprinkle some acidophilus in her soft meal to keep the good bacteria going. You should start seeing marked improvement after a couple days. Put electrolytes and vitamins in her drinking water too. If her crop is still huge and bloated after a few days then she might need crop surgery.
Once her crop goes down to normal and you can't feel any obstruction, keep giving her soft meals without the oil and vinegar for a few days to let her crop recuperate, and then start introducing solid food again.

 

[sonew123]

Quote:
Thank you very much-thats the kind of info I was looking for. tonight, Ill take away food-I hate to do that considering she is so skinny but if its in her best interest-Ill try it tonight. Oh and I did smell her breath and couldnt smell anything bad no foul odor? I hope it doent get to the pointof crop surgery:-( Thank you and will keep you posted~

 

[sammi]

link to crop problems info and treatment:

http://fowlfacts.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=afflictiondiseaseff&action=display&thread=1188


more info and info about crop tubing:


http://happyhenhouse.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=natural&action=display&thread=5257

 

[tulie13]

You mentioned you don't have any ACV - most people recommend a special organic Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar, but you can use "regular" from the grocery store. The most important thing is to acidify the water that she is drinking. This will cut down on the growth of yeast/fungal organisms in the crop if it is not passing food through.

You might try the baking soda water flush, followed by ACV water, in fact I'd put some down her throat after the flush (to bring the acidity level up). Can you feel anything possibly blocking her crop exit? If you can find a blockage and feel whether it is hard like rocks or another solid object (button? earring? - chickens eat ANYTHING!!!) or if it feels like a mass of grass/leaves that can help you figure out your treatment.

Good luck, keep us updated on what you find and how she responds.

 

[raroo]

Quote:
Thank you very much-thats the kind of info I was looking for. tonight, Ill take away food-I hate to do that considering she is so skinny but if its in her best interest-Ill try it tonight. Oh and I did smell her breath and couldnt smell anything bad no foul odor? I hope it doent get to the pointof crop surgery:-( Thank you and will keep you posted~

Don't feel too bad taking her food away- she can't pass it through anyway. This is probably why she feels skinny. When the crop is blocked adding more solid food into it will make it worse.

How is she this morning? Has her crop gone down at all?

Its good that there isn't any bad odor, it means that the food in her crop isn't rotting. The ACV will help keep it that way too. I like to mix it directly in with the soft meal to make sure she gets it. I find that when eating soft meals mixed with water they drink less, so she won't get as much ACV if it is just mixed in her drinking water and not her food. I also prefer to give them soft meals of their crumbles or pellets rather than solid things like eggs because it has more of the nutrition they need and is also easier to pass. I make the soft meals quite watery at first mixed with the oil and ACV. So far this method has worked every time for me. My hen has blocked her crop about 6 times now over the past year from eating too many rocks and this method clears her up within a day or two. Lots of massaging is key to work the oil into her crop and to separate the mass that's blocking it. Massage in a downward pinching motion so she doesn't puke and choke. You might not notice an improvement until tomorrow morning after a full day of oil and massage.

Another thing is to try and pinpoint exactly what caused the blockage. Some common ones are grass clippings, hay, shavings, too much grit or rocks, or a large misc. object.

 

[sonew123]

She was the same this am-I will have alot of time to work on her tonight Thank you so much for all the details with this-I cant find any ACV-yet...I will take her food away tonight though-she drinks alot of water and still has pure water poops with a little food partivles in it..

 

[raroo]

Most grocery stores should have apple cider vinegar. It doesn't have to be the special organic one with the "mother"-that one is hard to find, but the regular kind should be with the other vinegars... Heinz makes one. The main purpose of using it is for its acidic content. The "mother" is just good bacterial content. You can give her acidophilus or plain yogurt for her good bacteria. You can pulp up some tomatoes for acidity in the meantime.

 

[sonew123]

Quote:
It's working!!!! Her crop is half the size it was yesterday and she is perkier. I masde more eggs with tons of olive oil-wet mash and lots of water-he poohs are pastier now. Im still going to keep her in the house until I see normal poos and her crop is normal. I forgot how much it smells to have a chicken in the house! pee-yooooo..Im going to bath her probably-she is stinking up my bathroom

I love her though so it is worth it. Ill wait until her crops goes down more-I dont want to freak her out or freeze her! Thanks again-Ill let you know how it is going tomorrow