Hen just died, feeling guilty - was it sour crop??

[tamtam84]

Yesterday morning, my Black Star named Raven died in my arms. She was just over 7 months old. It was pretty traumatic for me since I'm new to keeping chickens and she was my first to go.

I noticed 2 days ago that she had been in the nesting box all day and I felt her crop and it felt weird. Pretty squishy and felt like there was no food in there. She was acting lethargic and I had a bad feeling that she was very sick. I figured I would check on her the next morning and prayed that she would get better overnight. I let all the chickens out of the coop the next morning and they all ran out like normal except Raven. She was just standing in the coop motionless.

I brought her inside and she didn't fight or move at all and I got really scared. I searched on this forum and found entries about sour crop and most of the advice I saw first said to hold her upside down and massage her crop. I did this and a lot of very sour smelling liquid came pouring out of her mouth. After that she seemed very weak and couldn't stand on her own. She was just laying in my lap with her eyes closed breathing very slow and shallow breaths.

She kind of sounded like she was wheezing or gurgling, so I thought I needed to get more fluid out of her crop. I turned her up again and massaged her crop and nothing came out. I put her down and she collapsed then started convulsing wildly and was gone in a matter of seconds.

After I cried for a good long while, I researched sour crop more and saw that many people said DO NOT try to empty the crop. Now I'm worried that I may have caused her to aspirate and I feel so guilty. I loved her so much and she laid the best dark brown eggs. She was the first out of my 8 hens (now 7) to lay and was my husband's favorite.

I know I shouldn't feel guilty about it, but I can't help but think I should have done something differently. I just can't believe she's gone.

I've been lurking on here since last August when I got my girls and this is my first post so I hope I did it right. I think I just need a little encouragement and figured that fellow chicken lovers would understand why I feel so badly

Thank you for reading.

 

[Kittymomma]

so sorry. Sometimes the learning curve can really bite. It's hard to say if she would have made it or not. I look at emptying them out as a last resort if other methods don't work because of the risk of aspirating, but there's no guarantee that doing things differently would have had a better outcome.

Don't beat yourself up over this. It's hard to accept sometimes, but you did your best and even though you lost her you DID try to save her. She surely would have died if you had done nothing so don't be thinking that you killed her.

 

[VTGIRL]

TamTam don't feel bad, it wasn't your fault!!! I totally did the same thing last summer with one of my splash silkies Phyllis.. I think I caused her to aspirate using the "turn them upside down" method! I was(and still am) so ashamed of myself but I didn't know any better and neither did you. I think we've both learned our lesson and can chalk it up to learning.

 

[tamtam84]

Thank you guys for the kind words. I'm feeling better today. I think I just needed to get that off my chest. I knew going into this that I would have some heartache and I'm trying to accept that fact that it's a part of having chickens. I just get so attached to all my animals that I'm devastated when something happens. But I'd rather them know how much I love them than not get attached. They bring so much joy to my life!

 

[sunraysia]

I made the exact same mistake this morning, I feel so bad I don’t think i’ll ever be able to unsee how she convulsed afterwards, I’m just trying to see this as a learning experience but it’s such a scarring one I just wish there was more warnings about not turning chickens upside down with them not having a gag reflex! It’s way too risky

 

[Antoaneta48]

I did the same. And I feel awful! Unfortunately I did read just the wrong advises on the net. Most say to massage and try to empty the crop a few times per day. So I did. And I lost my baby, and I just have hard time forgiving myself. It’s true she was not acting herself the last few days, not eating and not hanging out with the others. I just wanted to help her and I killed her, and I feel awful!

 

[anncahill]

Yesterday morning, my Black Star named Raven died in my arms. She was just over 7 months old. It was pretty traumatic for me since I'm new to keeping chickens and she was my first to go.

I noticed 2 days ago that she had been in the nesting box all day and I felt her crop and it felt weird. Pretty squishy and felt like there was no food in there. She was acting lethargic and I had a bad feeling that she was very sick. I figured I would check on her the next morning and prayed that she would get better overnight. I let all the chickens out of the coop the next morning and they all ran out like normal except Raven. She was just standing in the coop motionless.

I brought her inside and she didn't fight or move at all and I got really scared. I searched on this forum and found entries about sour crop and most of the advice I saw first said to hold her upside down and massage her crop. I did this and a lot of very sour smelling liquid came pouring out of her mouth. After that she seemed very weak and couldn't stand on her own. She was just laying in my lap with her eyes closed breathing very slow and shallow breaths.

She kind of sounded like she was wheezing or gurgling, so I thought I needed to get more fluid out of her crop. I turned her up again and massaged her crop and nothing came out. I put her down and she collapsed then started convulsing wildly and was gone in a matter of seconds.

After I cried for a good long while, I researched sour crop more and saw that many people said DO NOT try to empty the crop. Now I'm worried that I may have caused her to aspirate and I feel so guilty. I loved her so much and she laid the best dark brown eggs. She was the first out of my 8 hens (now 7) to lay and was my husband's favorite.

I know I shouldn't feel guilty about it, but I can't help but think I should have done something differently. I just can't believe she's gone.

I've been lurking on here since last August when I got my girls and this is my first post so I hope I did it right. I think I just need a little encouragement and figured that fellow chicken lovers would understand why I feel so badly

Thank you for reading.

I did the same thing. My chicken was lethargic, yellow poop, just sitting there. Brought her inside, put her in a box and loved on her all day. Then tried the sour crop maneuver and she threw up, seemed better then collapsed and started convulsing and died. Three posts said to do it. I feel terrible

 

[BigBlueHen53]

None of you should be blaming yourselves at all! I think we need to run this by Admin and see if we can get those wrongful posts removed or edited somehow.

@casportpony, how about it, is this even possible? We are BYC, we can't perpetuate harmful advice!

 

[Artsy_Teacher]

Thank you guys for the kind words. I'm feeling better today. I think I just needed to get that off my chest. I knew going into this that I would have some heartache and I'm trying to accept that fact that it's a part of having chickens. I just get so attached to all my animals that I'm devastated when something happens. But I'd rather them know how much I love them than not get attached. They bring so much joy to my life!

This is a tough lesson we are all learning together. Every single time I lose one (I have lost two, and I have a sick one now), I second guess so many things and feel so guilty. When I take one to the vet (which has only happened with this last one, except for a necropsy), I worry I am spending too much. I have had my small flock for almost three years, and I never imagined I could get so attached to these girlies!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

You cannot blame yourselves for doing in good faith and with the very best of intentions what you assumed to be "best practices" and sound advice from a respected and supposedly reputable source! I mean, I get why you all feel the way you do, I do, I get it. But please try to let yourselves off the hook, this was NOT y'all's fault! We need to do better. My heart goes out to all of you and I can't tell you all how sorry I am you've all had these experiences! This just breaks my heart for you all. I hope we can fix it so it doesn't keep happening. to you all.