I have a 3 mo old red sexlink chicken with what I believe is sour crop. I have been massaging it, "burping" her but the swelling has not gone down. I have only been feeding her hardboiled egg yolks with yogurt. Should she be getting something else? Should I be feeding her anything until I know the crop is empty? (I'm a brand new chicken mom & I'm panicking a little!) Thanks for any help you can offer!
How do you know if a chicken's crop is empty?
- Thread starter rachlamb
- Start date
The crop should be emptying over night.
Fills up all day long and empties during the night which means it should be empty first thing in the morning.
Do you feed "regular" chicken feed?
And offer grit?
Fills up all day long and empties during the night which means it should be empty first thing in the morning.
Do you feed "regular" chicken feed?
And offer grit?
Glenda Heywoodo
Songster
Well I would use the soda water treatment
IMPACTED CROP AND CANKER AND WHAT DO ABOUT THESE CHICKEN PROBLEMS
The crop is a part of the oesophagus (food pipe) where the initial stages of digestion can occur. The crop is found at the base of the neck where you can sometimes feel the contents whether they are food, grit or water.
There are two common conditions of the crop: crop impaction and sour crop.
Crop impaction is where there is a problem with either the crop or the proventriculus (the stomach) where food fails to move from the crop to the stomach. There are two potential causes for this obstruction, either there is a foreign body which is blocking the passage of food such as string/plastic or long grass or the second possible cause can occur when the normal muscular contractions fail and movement of food is prevented from passing into the digestive system. Such causes can be problems with the nervous system which controls the muscular contractions; one such condition is Mareks disease.
These birds present as dull, with little or no appetite, and have a firm impacted crop.
The treatment can involve giving the bird supportive care such as fluids and hoping that the problem resolves itself but ideally surgery under a local anaesthetic to remove the offending material followed by washing the inside of the crop with sterile saline is recommended.
If your chicken has an enlarged crop it is important to ensure it has not recently eaten as after feeding, chickens often have an enlarged crop which shrinks back down as the food is digested. If you think your chicken has an impaction, monitor the size of its crop over several hours to prevent unnecessary surgery.
If the obstruction is not caused by a foreign body but instead by motility problems, then even with surgery the condition can reoccur.
Prevention is as always much better than the cure. Prevent your chickens from accessing foreign materials such as string/plastic and your birds are not given access to very long grass. It is important that adequate grit is provided for your birds to help digest the feed and grass ingested.
ORAL CANKER
Canker is a condition mostly associated with pigeons and is caused by a tiny parasite called trichomonas. This parasite is often spread through contaminated drinking water. The parasite causes a ‘yellow button’ of pus to form in your bird’s mouth. This can stop your bird from eating normally leading to weight loss.
What to look for
•Weight loss
•Birds picking up food then dropping it
•A cheese-like plaque in your birds mouth (see photo)
•A reluctance to eat
Treatment
Treating canker or suspected canker is a job for a vet who will likely prescribe an anti-parasitic medication.
Prevention
Ensure that your birds' drinking water is changed daily. Try to keep the drinkers in the chicken house to discourage wild birds from sharing your birds’ water.
Sour Crop
Sour crop is a yeast infection in the crop leading to thickening of the crop wall, dilation of the crop and birds losing condition and possibly dying. Sour Crop is caused by a disruption of the normal bacteria that inhabit the crop with an overgrowth of Candidia (a fungal species) often occurring.
The crop is a part of the oesophagus (food pipe) where the initial stages of digestion occur. You will find it at the base of your chickens neck and you can sometimes feel the contents whether it is food, grit or water. We frequently get phone calls from anxious owners who have birds which appear off colour and have an enlarged crop. These chickens have often stopped eating and are dull with bad breath and they will also have large fluid filled crops.
CROP IMPACTATION AND SOUR CROP:
There are two common conditions of the crop: crop impaction and sour crop.
The route cause is often difficult to determine but you should check the condition of your feed store and always ensure your chickens have fresh feed. Bizarre diets and mouldy food are thought to be potential causes of Sour Crop.
Treatment is also difficult as there is no specific treatment for sour crop. The use of copper sulphate has been successful but this must be carried out under veterinary supervision. Manually emptying the crop is difficult and the underlying fungal/yeast infection needs to be controlled. The crop can also become impacted, in which case removing feed and manually massaging the crop can be of use.
In many cases a dilated crop is difficult to treat and the prognosis is not good. This treatment involves draining the crop. One method, which we do not recommend, is to turn the bird upside down and let the fluid be regurgitated however there is a real risk of choking with this treatment. Chicken Vet recommends the use of local anaesthetic and to drain and wash the crop with sterile saline. (This is a veterinary procedure).
Although the exact cause for this condition has not yet been fully determined you can use antibiotics, which will kill off the friendly crop bacteria. Therefore using a prebiotic such as Beryl’s Friendly Bacteria may help restore the normal crop bacteria. This will coat the lining of the crop leaving less room for fungi to grow. Use Beryl’sFriendly Bacteria 48 hours after the end of the antibiotic course.
Furthermore, your vet may prescribe an antifungal that can be used to control the fungal overgrowth after surgery.
This condition commonly recurs often due to the fact that there may be an underlying cause that can be difficult to determine.
IMPACTED CROP AND CANKER AND WHAT DO ABOUT THESE CHICKEN PROBLEMS
The crop is a part of the oesophagus (food pipe) where the initial stages of digestion can occur. The crop is found at the base of the neck where you can sometimes feel the contents whether they are food, grit or water.
There are two common conditions of the crop: crop impaction and sour crop.
Crop impaction is where there is a problem with either the crop or the proventriculus (the stomach) where food fails to move from the crop to the stomach. There are two potential causes for this obstruction, either there is a foreign body which is blocking the passage of food such as string/plastic or long grass or the second possible cause can occur when the normal muscular contractions fail and movement of food is prevented from passing into the digestive system. Such causes can be problems with the nervous system which controls the muscular contractions; one such condition is Mareks disease.
These birds present as dull, with little or no appetite, and have a firm impacted crop.
The treatment can involve giving the bird supportive care such as fluids and hoping that the problem resolves itself but ideally surgery under a local anaesthetic to remove the offending material followed by washing the inside of the crop with sterile saline is recommended.
If your chicken has an enlarged crop it is important to ensure it has not recently eaten as after feeding, chickens often have an enlarged crop which shrinks back down as the food is digested. If you think your chicken has an impaction, monitor the size of its crop over several hours to prevent unnecessary surgery.
If the obstruction is not caused by a foreign body but instead by motility problems, then even with surgery the condition can reoccur.
Prevention is as always much better than the cure. Prevent your chickens from accessing foreign materials such as string/plastic and your birds are not given access to very long grass. It is important that adequate grit is provided for your birds to help digest the feed and grass ingested.
ORAL CANKER
Canker is a condition mostly associated with pigeons and is caused by a tiny parasite called trichomonas. This parasite is often spread through contaminated drinking water. The parasite causes a ‘yellow button’ of pus to form in your bird’s mouth. This can stop your bird from eating normally leading to weight loss.
What to look for
•Weight loss
•Birds picking up food then dropping it
•A cheese-like plaque in your birds mouth (see photo)
•A reluctance to eat
Treatment
Treating canker or suspected canker is a job for a vet who will likely prescribe an anti-parasitic medication.
Prevention
Ensure that your birds' drinking water is changed daily. Try to keep the drinkers in the chicken house to discourage wild birds from sharing your birds’ water.
Sour Crop
Sour crop is a yeast infection in the crop leading to thickening of the crop wall, dilation of the crop and birds losing condition and possibly dying. Sour Crop is caused by a disruption of the normal bacteria that inhabit the crop with an overgrowth of Candidia (a fungal species) often occurring.
The crop is a part of the oesophagus (food pipe) where the initial stages of digestion occur. You will find it at the base of your chickens neck and you can sometimes feel the contents whether it is food, grit or water. We frequently get phone calls from anxious owners who have birds which appear off colour and have an enlarged crop. These chickens have often stopped eating and are dull with bad breath and they will also have large fluid filled crops.
CROP IMPACTATION AND SOUR CROP:
There are two common conditions of the crop: crop impaction and sour crop.
The route cause is often difficult to determine but you should check the condition of your feed store and always ensure your chickens have fresh feed. Bizarre diets and mouldy food are thought to be potential causes of Sour Crop.
Treatment is also difficult as there is no specific treatment for sour crop. The use of copper sulphate has been successful but this must be carried out under veterinary supervision. Manually emptying the crop is difficult and the underlying fungal/yeast infection needs to be controlled. The crop can also become impacted, in which case removing feed and manually massaging the crop can be of use.
In many cases a dilated crop is difficult to treat and the prognosis is not good. This treatment involves draining the crop. One method, which we do not recommend, is to turn the bird upside down and let the fluid be regurgitated however there is a real risk of choking with this treatment. Chicken Vet recommends the use of local anaesthetic and to drain and wash the crop with sterile saline. (This is a veterinary procedure).
Although the exact cause for this condition has not yet been fully determined you can use antibiotics, which will kill off the friendly crop bacteria. Therefore using a prebiotic such as Beryl’s Friendly Bacteria may help restore the normal crop bacteria. This will coat the lining of the crop leaving less room for fungi to grow. Use Beryl’sFriendly Bacteria 48 hours after the end of the antibiotic course.
Furthermore, your vet may prescribe an antifungal that can be used to control the fungal overgrowth after surgery.
This condition commonly recurs often due to the fact that there may be an underlying cause that can be difficult to determine.
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