Hen had sour crop a week ago and is now lethargic

[CrystalAnn86]

Hello, I have a 2.5 year old buff Orpington hen. About a week ago she was acting off and when I picked her up a bunch of sour dark liquid came out of her beak. I pulled her from the other chickens and withheld food for 24 hours and gave her water only, with probiotics. Massaged her crop and about 48 hours later she was doing better. No more sour smell, crop was empty in the mornings and she was eating and drinking. I gave her a few more days separated from the others and then put her back in the coop.
She was fine for a few days, eating, drinking, roosting at night etc. Then I noticed that she started moving more slowly and was not roosting at night but sleeping in the nesting boxes. She spent most of her day either laying in the run or standing in one place. She would come out in the mornings with the rest and eat and drink. At first I thought she was just getting used to being back outside from her sour crop, but she seemed to get more lethargic as the days went by. I've pulled her out again so I can track her food, water and poops more easily and also to confirm whether she's laying eggs or not. She seems to have lost weight and her poops are mostly liquid and dark. This morning she would only drink a small amount of water but wouldn't touch the scrambled egg I gave her. She seems very weak. I'm not sure what to do now. Her crop appears empty in the morning and soft and squishy in the evening so I don't think anything is impacted there.

 

[azygous]

Most of the time when a chicken has sour crop, there is another more serious underlying issue. It could be infection or a tumor or worms. You won't be able to know for sure without a vet doing some examinations. But you can do some treatments at home.

I would start with tube feeding her to pull her back from starvation. Have you tubed an animal before? If not, I can instruct you. You can buy a small animal feeding kit from a vet or you can order from Amazon.

Another treatment would be to give her a round of an antibiotic if you have any on hand.

The third is to worm the flock if you haven't wormed them lately.