How to isolate a chicken with sour crop from the rest of the flock?

[susannalynnwilds]

Hello. I have a chicken who very recently developed sour crop. I need to isolate her from the rest of the flock but am wondering what is the best way to do this? We have a dog crate placed towards the back of the yard that she is in right now, but I fear she doesn't have enough space and that this is stressing her out even more. Would it be better to keep her enclosed in the run while the others free range? My only fear in doing this is that she might try to peck at the ground and eat whatever she can forage in the run. There is also a small bush in the run that she might try to peck at (however she has shown no interest in eating today). Basically I just want her to have enough space so she isn't stressed out. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[azygous]

I never isolate my sour crop patients. I see no reason for it. It's not true that you need to withhold food. Just avoid foods high in carbs. Plain crumbles or pellets are fine. Most sour crop patients have very little appetite, so you want to make food available so they can begin to eat and put weight back on as soon as they begin to feel better.

How are you treating her sour crop?

 

[susannalynnwilds]

I've been reading everywhere that you are supposed to isolate chickens and withhold food for sour crop. Right now she is still in her dog crate, with apple cider vinegar/garlic water available. Should I just go ahead and let her out? She also has been laying soft, broken eggs.

 

[azygous]

ACV and garlic are preventatives not cures. If you are indeed dealing with sour crop, it's a yeast infection. It needs a yeast killer. I wrote an article for this website on treating crop disorders. You might want to see if you've diagnosed your hen correctly and it's sour crop she has or another crop disorder. https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

The poor egg quality should also be addressed before your hen has an egg break inside her. Short term concentrated calcium citrate can set her right in a short time. This is what I use.

One tablet directly in the beak once a day until eggs are coming out with normal shells. Then return to oyster shell as the daily Calcium supplement.

 

[susannalynnwilds]

ACV and garlic are preventatives not cures. If you are indeed dealing with sour crop, it's a yeast infection. It needs a yeast killer. I wrote an article for this website on treating crop disorders. You might want to see if you've diagnosed your hen correctly and it's sour crop she has or another crop disorder. https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

The poor egg quality should also be addressed before your hen has an egg break inside her. Short term concentrated calcium citrate can set her right in a short time. This is what I use. View attachment 2824006One tablet directly in the beak once a day until eggs are coming out with normal shells. Then return to oyster shell as the daily Calcium supplement.

Thank you. I really appreciate your helpful knowledge. I let her out of the crate and she seems to have more energy and she is eating her pellet food. I am hoping this is a good sign.

As for her egg issue, I will definitely get some calcium citrate. Thank you so much for the attached article and photo. Do you have any tips as to how best to administer the citrate? I've read that coating it in yogurt entices the chicken to eat it?

 

[azygous]

The best way to get a pill into a chicken is to pry open the beak and stick it in. Chickens have a straight chute directly to their crop and the pill just slides down into it. Chickens don't chew their food before they swallow as we do, so they won't choke.

 

[susannalynnwilds]

The best way to get a pill into a chicken is to pry open the beak and stick it in. Chickens have a straight chute directly to their crop and the pill just slides down into it. Chickens don't chew their food before they swallow as we do, so they won't choke.

Thank you. I truly appreciate it!

 

[Aunt Angus]

Just fyi: I isolate and withhold food if I need to diagnose a crop issue. Once I know what I'm dealing with, I'll adjust as needed. An impacted crop is a different problem than sour crop. I wonder if folks are getting those interposed...

I also find giving the yeast meds easy in chickens when the crop is indeed sour. I just get the cream on the edge of a finger, open their beaks, and scrape the cream in their mouths on the edge of the beak. That's worked well for me.

Good luck! @azygous knows what she's talking about!

 

[azygous]

I believe you're spot on @Aunt Angus that many folks confuse impacted crop and sour crop. The former should definitely not be stuffed further, while some sour crop patients seem to still retain an appetite unless the crop is totally stagnant (stasis). But with any crop issue, I've found that a chicken naturally will refrain from eating if the crop isn't allowing things to move through it.

I do not remove any chicken from their flock mates except in cases of severe illness where I need to closely observe the patient and have them in a convenient place for treatment, or for their own safety in case of severe injury or prolapse. All sick chickens recover so much quicker when they have the comfort of proximity to their flock.

 

[susannalynnwilds]

Thank you so much to the both of you. This thread has been extremely helpful and beneficial. I will adhere to the advice of you seasoned chicken owners and hopefully become as learned and helpful to newcomers as you were to me.

My girl is not extremely sick but she was acting awfully unusual this morning. Moving her neck and chest in a strange, circular motion, lethargic, hanging out by herself underneath a bush, uninterested in grazing or eating/drinking. At that point her crop felt squishy like a water balloon, and so I decided to isolate her. About an hour before their bedtime I let her out of isolation, and she appeared to be acting like normal, save for being frustrated and a little out of sorts. I am hoping she will be without issue tomorrow. I'm new to this and I care very deeply, and I'm doing all I can.