I think it's sour crop, what to do

[lapsarian]

Hi all,
My hen Polka Dot has been doing some weird movements with her neck and head, definitely after she eats. She bobs her head up and down and side to side. someone suggested that it might be a crop problem, so this morning I went out to check her crop first thing and it was kind of big and squishy. As I was holding her and massaging the crop just a little bit, she kind of threw up. It was seriously smelly, folks... poor girl. I massaged a few more times and more stinky liquid/mucus came out of her mouth. her crop then seemed a bit smaller. should I continue doing this? so is this sour crop?? what do I do?

I am a new chicken owner, my 14 girls are 9 months old and I really don't want to lose one (especially Polka dot, she is a favorite)!

thanks,
Lee Ann

 

[speckledhen]

Withdraw food for at least 24 hours. Water with apple cider vinegar with mother of vinegar (sediment), 2 Tablespoons to a gallon. Only allow water for her for at least 24 hours. Then if the crop starts going down, offer soft stuff, plain yogurt (unsweetened) and scrambled eggs. Then bread with olive oil, a nutritious oil with lots of benefits. Keep checking the crop. She'll probably be okay, but NO FOOD or scratch, so she'll have to be separate. I lost one to this and cured one. Moldy feed is often the cause--check composted shavings piles which can have pockets of moldy feed, around waterer, etc to remove the cause.

Massage the crop gently, BUT do not push upward. She can aspirate and choke to death.

 

[lapsarian]

thank you for the advice. I think I pushed upward on her crop once this morning, when she "threw up" a bunch, but she seems to be OK. I hope I didn't make her worse...

I'm going to bring her in the house now with just ACV water for the next day. I'll keep you updated.

I'm also going to check on their feed, but we have it rigged up so it stays pretty dry... what else causes this?

 

[speckledhen]

Hard to say. She may just be predisposed to it. My feed stays bone dry, too, but some of them were putting their heads through the fence that surrounds our compost pile when the pile got so big that it was close to the edge. My hens most likely got into a pocket of old feed at the bottom. It can happen in ways you just cant predict, I guess.

 

[lapsarian]

Ok, so I have her inside now, and her crop is pretty hard now that I've had a chance to really massage it well... is that really bad? is it something other than sour crop, do I do anything different?

 

[speckledhen]

If it's hard, it may be impacted or just full of feed. A sour crop really feels sort of gassy, most like a half-inflated balloon. Wish I could feel it for you and tell you what it was. The really bad smell usually signals sour crop, but if she ate something nasty, her breath still could smell a bit off, like garlic or other highly aromatic food.
For impacted crop, you'd put a few CCs of oil down her then massage the crop to break up the mass. That involves stopping food for a period as well, especially things that are fibrous.

 

[lapsarian]

thanks cynthia
so basically, I should keep her on just water for the next day or so no matter what it is? I guess I'll see how her crop feels tomorrow. right now it does feel pretty hard, but when I was massaging her crop she was kind of burping in a really stinky way. I wish I had more experience with this.

and an added problem is that in two days, we are heading out of town for a week. I have folks coming to take care of the chickens, but not actually staying at out house so I will have to put her back with the others... any thoughts on that?

again, thanks for helping

 

[speckledhen]

Well, I cant say what to do when you're going out of town since we never do that. I'm not sure if it's possible to have an impacted AND sour crop at the same time, but I suppose it could be. The ACV will help set up a good pH while the crop tries to empty. You're right, no one can really deal with that type of situation when they dont know chickens, so I have no idea what to do about that.