How to treat sour crop

[Eggsitter]

My bantie hen w sour crop just died - not from sour crop but from tumors causing the sour crop. My vet knew w/in a few minutes after feeling grape-sized tumors on her bottom. He said sour crop doesn't make them as sick as she was, lethargic & weak.
She was starving & I didn't know bc up until the end she ate like a horse. The vet said the tumors were causing that appetite.
I put her down at the office. I had just gone in for nystatin.
Total shock. I feel bad I let her suffer thinking it was only sour crop & vent gleet.
Feel your chickens for lumps. I hope you never find any.

 

[Eggcessive]

My bantie hen w sour crop just died - not from sour crop but from tumors causing the sour crop. My vet knew w/in a few minutes after feeling grape-sized tumors on her bottom. He said sour crop doesn't make them as sick as she was, lethargic & weak.
She was starving & I didn't know bc up until the end she ate like a horse. The vet said the tumors were causing that appetite.
I put her down at the office. I had just gone in for nystatin.
Total shock. I feel bad I let her suffer thinking it was only sour crop & vent gleet.
Feel your chickens for lumps. I hope you never find any.

Mareks disease can cause tumors pretty much everywhere along nerves in chickens. Tumors throughout the digestive tract are very common. I would wonder if your bantam hen might have had Mareks. Did your vet mention it? I'm sorry that you lost her.

 

[Eggsitter]

Hi Eggcessive,
He said the tumors could be caused by a number of issues but given my experience with the other hen who died w classic Marek's I'm confident it was. How long does it take for Marek's to cause tumors?
If this is an example then from time of exposure it took between 2-3 years. She died at 4 years old and was exposed at almost 2.

 

[Eggcessive]

I haven't treated Mareks, but others on BYC have posted about having birds who have lived within a flock who have lived for quite a while until they succumb to it. Some chickens never get it even after being exposed, and seem to have a natural immunity. Some chickens will only get the eye form of Mareks (one of the 4 kinds,) but all types of Mareks involve tumors growing on nerves in eyes, organs, skin, and elsewhere. Here are a couple of good links to read about the disease:
https://extension.unh.edu/resources/files/Resource000791_Rep813.pdf
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/poultry/neoplasms/mareks_disease_in_poultry.html
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq

 

[silkie16]

I know this is an old thread so wish I'd seen it sooner but iv just joined up, so much info regarding sour crop unfortunately too late for my beautiful black silkie hen (silk) who passed away early hours of this morning my daughter is devastated silk was her favourite she followed her all round the garden she even came in some days and would sit on Ellie's shoulder and watch TV lol, rip Silk you will be greatly missed

 

[Eggcessive]

I know this is an old thread so wish I'd seen it sooner but iv just joined up, so much info regarding sour crop unfortunately too late for my beautiful black silkie hen (silk) who passed away early hours of this morning my daughter is devastated silk was her favourite she followed her all round the garden she even came in some days and would sit on Ellie's shoulder and watch TV lol, rip Silk you will be greatly missed

Sorry that you lost your chicken. Losing a chicken now an then is pretty common when raising them. I had never seen a crop problem for 5 years while housing dozens of chickens. This year, I lost 2 hens to sour crop. Sometimes the crop issue is secondary to another illness. Doing a necropsy at home to look at the internal organs can sometimes reveal other problems.

 

[storminator2018]

chickenbaguette, one of my hens has sour crop. Do you wait until the crop is empty to start giving her the yogurt mixed with feed? I massaged her to force her to vomit out the liquid 4 days ago and have been giving her water mixed with apple cider vinegar ever since, but denying her food. Her crop has shrunk down to the size of a tennis ball and is no longer squishy. Would you recommend giving her yogurt now or waiting for the crop to empty completely?

 

[chrissiemids]

One of my old hens has sourcrop. I have emptied gunk out of crop and given yogurt thru a syringe. She still not looking good, very thin. Acv in water. It's a wait and see with.

 

[chrissiemids]

PS. I have also sent for sourcrop conditioning tablets from a place called Osmond's at a cost of £6. Don't know if it will work but it's cheaper than Nystatin which usually needs a prescription.

One week later and she is gone, all this treatment and she still went down,not eating etc. I think hybrids aren't meant to last past about 3 years. Any chick's l have now will be purebreds.

 

[shannon6017]

I know this thread is older but I am dealing with sour crop in my hen. I have not been comfortable enough to vomit her so I have her inside in a crate. I haven't given her food in over 24 hours. I have water in with her but I don't think she is drinking much. I am giving her water and ACV in a dropper on her beak. I have been massaging her crop several times a day. It has gone down but I don't think it is completely empty. I don't know how long I should withhold food from her? should I give it more time before I try to give her yogurt or put grit in with her? Thank you in advance for your help~!