Hen spit up liquid

[Brightbird]

I let my chickens out to free range a while ago and my dad just told me he saw one of the hens spitting up a brownish liquid. I didn’t see it happen but when I watched the hens, none of them seemed sick at all and there was no more spit up. The problem is I’m not sure which one did the spitting, other than knowing it was one of the Rhode Island Reds.

Online sources all seem to claim sour crop. Is it possible for chickens to have sour crop without showing other signs of illness? If so, what would be the way to treat it if it can be treated? I’ve read of getting some kind of test done at the vet to determine the specific cause, but sadly that won’t be an option for me. The vet comes in from out of town only one day a week and doesn’t care for chickens.

They haven’t been fed their normal feed yet today but they have been given a big bucket of fresh water for while they free range, which they all drank out of for a few minutes.

None of the hens are lethargic or otherwise under the weather at all, but they are going through a pretty tough molt. I’m not sure if the molt would have anything to do with this but I thought it’d be good to note just in case.

 

[Brightbird]

A bit of an update. I went out to check on the hens again and one of the Rhode Island reds had a pretty full crop, squishy not hard. Although I don’t know if that’s because of sour crop or if it’s because she just got done drinking a ton of water. I tried to open her beak but she ran off a little away from me, I think I moved too fast and spooked her, I’ll try to move slower to see if that’ll keep her from getting scared and running. I’ll keep my eye if her to see if she shows any other possible signs of sickness.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Is it possible for chickens to have sour crop without showing other signs of illness?

It's possible that this is the early signs!

Very often a chicken will drink a lot of fluid to move a blockage.. which if not moved may become sour. Either condition will usually limit the birds intake of food/treats before long. Lethargy may not onset until day two or so when no nutrients are coming in.

Monitoring over night and checking before feed or water in the morning may give you a better picture..

See if this article helps at all..

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

Hope everyone is thriving!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

They haven’t been fed their normal feed yet today but they have been given a big bucket of fresh water for while they free range, which they all drank out of for a few minutes.

Although I don’t know if that’s because of sour crop or if it’s because she just got done drinking a ton of water.

How many birds do you have?
If they are drinking a big bucket of water in just a few minutes, you may want to provide more water/additional water stations/buckets for them.
They need access to fresh water free choice during waking hours.

I agree, I'd re-check the crop first thing in the morning before she eats/drinks to see if it's emptied. Could be she drank so much so fast, she spit water up, especially if they are competing for food/water.

 

[Brightbird]

How many birds do you have?
If they are drinking a big bucket of water in just a few minutes, you may want to provide more water/additional water stations/buckets for them.
They need access to fresh water free choice during waking hours.

I agree, I'd re-check the crop first thing in the morning before she eats/drinks to see if it's emptied. Could be she drank so much so fast, she spit water up, especially if they are competing for food/water.

We have 6 hens and a rooster. I think it would be best to give them at least a couple so they have a choice, especially if they were competing. I’ll go find a temporary container that I can clean out for it. I may actually have more than one I can give them.

As for the hens, it looks like all of their crops have emptied completely overnight. I’m not sure if that means the hen that spit up is out of the clear or not but I’ll keep an eye on her throughout the day and make sure her crop continues to work normally.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

You need to physically feel of her crop in the am before she's had anything to eat/drink to make sure it's emptying.

Checking during the day when she's been eating/drinking is not the way to gauge function.

Providing more than one water container/station is a good idea.

 

[Brightbird]

I felt all the chickens crops this morning and they were all empty. I’ve been watching them for a few days and there have been no more spit up incidents, nor do any of the hens seem lethargic or uncomfortable. I’ve given them two more water containers so hopefully that’ll help reduce competition by a bit. I’ve opened all the Rhode Island reds beaks as well and I didn’t smell any bad smells.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I felt all the chickens crops this morning and they were all empty. I’ve been watching them for a few days and there have been no more spit up incidents, nor do any of the hens seem lethargic or uncomfortable. I’ve given them two more water containers so hopefully that’ll help reduce competition by a bit. I’ve opened all the Rhode Island reds beaks as well and I didn’t smell any bad smells.

That's great news!

Good job, I think you have resolved the issue by adding more water containers