I'm pretty sure my hen has sour crop, need advice

[merryreader]

Just an update on my 7 year old hen that had a crop issue. She had all the symptoms of sour crop, white runny poop, wasn't eating and very lethargic. I set her in front of water with Sav-A-Chick electrolyte solution for 4 days.She drank heavily for that first day. If it had been hot and dry, I would have suspected dehydration.Still probably still was, but from the illness, not any heat. I put a 1/2 capful of the sulfur medication in the water on the 2nd day (for 1 day). Gave her Gyne-Lotrimin,1cc 3 times a day by mouth, (for 3 days). I wet her grain down, mixed in raisins and sunflower seeds and mixed up some oatmeal with raisins.(Hens LOVE oatmeal with raisins). She is a strong hen. She went from me setting her on the low roost at night, to herself jumping to the top again. She's out free ranging on the back lawn like nothing happened now. I don't know what remedy worked, but I covered all the bases.

 

[TwoCrows]

I'm stuck on this thread and don't even have my hens yet lol. I'm trying to learn what I can now so if something crops up I can, hopefully, be on top of it. While we are waiting to hear how the hen is... what causes this? I plan to free-range {safely} my hens, we won't really have grass per se... we have things like chickweed {in abundance}, dandelions, hensbit, etc. + I plan to give them whole grains with access to grit of course. I've started my meal worms {for winter really}, and will do some sprouting of fodder for winter also, they will prob get ACV w/ the mother routinely in their water {I'm going to start making my own batches for us and the doggies anyway}, along with some kiefer as well... so now I'm concerned with this crop issue. Should I be? Or just be aware?
Thanks!

No need to be worried about this sort of thing, however I think everybody that keeps a lot of chickens will have to deal with this issue eventually. Some birds are just prone to it. Just as in humans, some people's digestive systems can handle all sorts of harsh foods, mixing different types, etc.. and never experiencing any distress. While other people have delicate GI tracts and the tiniest bit of some food sends them off into indigestion, heart burn or diarrhea. So chickens are the same way. Maybe it is something in the digestive juices, possibly the gizzard is not working correctly, maybe the chicken doesn't have enough access to gizzard stones, possibly the ph is off in the birds body. And consuming large amounts of stiff vegetation like grass, weeds, etc... only makes it harder for the bird to break down and move it fast enough thru the system.

Old age and possibly having some other issue in the body going on. If you as a person had some problem with your spleen for instance, you might have diarrhea all the time, however just treating the runs will not cure the spleen issue. So with the chicken. Bacterial or viral infections can also cause the crop problems. If they have something else going on in the body, the sour crop may be a secondary thing to what ever is ailing them. If the GI tract is moving slowly, the crop will suffer. The crop is a holding tank for food waiting to be moved thru the stomach and into the gizzard. If something is slowing the food from moving out of the crop for too long, the crop's ph balance gets thrown off and the good bacteria are taken over by the bad bacteria and the food begins to rot. When the ph is off, it causes the crop to become slow and over a few days can grow a yeast infection. At this point, the crop will stop all together.

But to get back to the point of how it gets this way, there are so many different reasons a crop goes bad. And in this case of Chicken15's bird, since we don't know if there is something wrong elsewhere in this birds body, all we can do is treat the only symptom we know of, the slow/sour crop. Hopefully this bird finally turns the corner on the crop issue or possibly throws what ever else is ailing her.

So, to make a long story short, LOL, it never hurts to know how to make your birds as comfortable as possibly during times of illness. And this thread will hopefully help many birds out as slow and sour crops do "crop" up (no pun intended LOL) occasionally, many times just a simple case of indigestion, and can be cure quickly if caught on time.

I will tell you, that I personally think it is very important to physically check every birds crop on a regular basis. Because of my prone hen, ALL my birds get a crop fondle at least 2 times a week each morning before any food is consumed. The hen that is prone, get a check EVERY morning with out fail. (and while we are on the subject of checking your birds, do a foot pad check once a week as well for pokes, holes or infections.)

Oh...and one more thing....If you ever pick up a bird, and it's crop is full and mushy and it loses the contents of it on you, then that bird needs to be vomited immediately. Do not wait til morning as that stuff is poison and needs to come out. Waiting til the following morning works for the times during treatment, since you don't know if the crop is just full from food or water. If the crop is spilling out any time of day, no matter during treatment or before you even knew about it, the bird needs to have it vomited out.

My hen suffered with her first case for 2 straight months. Some days early on, she was vomited 3 times a day, morning, noon and night. But vomiting can save the bird. If you get all that gunk out of there EVERY day and allow the bird to heal, and it may take a long time, but it is worth giving them the chance at survival. There is no guarantee, but at least you did all you could.

 

[TwoCrows]

Just an update on my 7 year old hen that had a crop issue. She had all the symptoms of sour crop, white runny poop, wasn't eating and very lethargic. I set her in front of water with Sav-A-Chick electrolyte solution for 4 days.She drank heavily for that first day. If it had been hot and dry, I would have suspected dehydration.Still probably still was, but from the illness, not any heat. I put a 1/2 capful of the sulfur medication in the water on the 2nd day (for 1 day). Gave her Gyne-Lotrimin,1cc 3 times a day by mouth, (for 3 days). I wet her grain down, mixed in raisins and sunflower seeds and mixed up some oatmeal with raisins.(Hens LOVE oatmeal with raisins). She is a strong hen. She went from me setting her on the low roost at night, to herself jumping to the top again. She's out free ranging on the back lawn like nothing happened now. I don't know what remedy worked, but I covered all the bases.

Good Job! Glad to hear she is back to good health.

 

[casportpony]

Oh...and one more thing....If you ever pick up a bird, and it's crop is full and mushy and it loses the contents of it on you, then that bird needs to be vomited immediately. Do not wait til morning as that stuff is poison and needs to come out. Waiting til the following morning works for the times during treatment, since you don't know if the crop is just full from food or water. If the crop is spilling out any time of day, no matter during treatment or before you even knew about it, the bird needs to have it vomited out.

I have to disagree. Often a bird will drink a bunch of water and *any* pressure on the crop will cause the bird to spit up/spill it's contents while being handled and sometimes you'll see water come out of their mouth when they put their heads down to peck at something.

I have well over 300 chickens and I have never had to vomit one.

-Kathy

 

[TwoCrows]

Quote: I know what you are talking about here and maybe I need to rephrase this....if the bird is obviously sick...sitting in the corner, eyes closed, fluffed up, isn't standing, and you know this bird is ill, the crop spills out the moment the bird is moved....THEN it does need to be vomited. Not a simple case of drinking too much water. The two do need to be distinguished between.

 

[casportpony]

I know what you are talking about here and maybe I need to rephrase this....if the bird is obviously sick...sitting in the corner, eyes closed, fluffed up, isn't standing, and you know this bird is ill, the crop spills out the moment the bird is moved....THEN it does need to be vomited. Not a simple case of drinking too much water. The two do need to be distinguished between.

But even then I wouldn't. Remember, well over 300 chickens and I have never had to vomit one. I would start by bringing the bird inside and trying to diagnose the problem. I would try to rule out intestinal blockage from ascites, cancer, stuck egg or EYP. If I couldn't find a blockage, I would leave the bird alone and see if the crop cleared and how long it took... I'd probably also worm it, since parasites can cause impactions.

I strongly believe that most of these slow crop issues can be resolved by giving fluids with a feeding tube, which is how I have treated mine.

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

Source:http://www.avianweb.com/slowcrop.html​

Crop Emptying Problems - Slow Crop / Sour Crop​

Breeder Resources​

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A chick's crop must empty completely once every twenty-four hours. If it doesn't, there is a good chance that a sour crop could be developing in the chick. If the chick is suffering from a gas-filled crop (Candida) - please go to this website.

Common Causes & Resolutions:

• Until the slow crop is resolved, provide supportive care as outlined on this page.
  
• Baby food is fed either too cold or too hot: The temperature of the formula should be at least 105 degrees Fahrenheit. Closely monitor the temperature with a digital thermometer.
  
• Baby formula is too thick: Feeding a formula that is too thick will result in dehydration and crop stasis. On the other hand, feeding the formula to thin will prevent your chick from getting proper nutrition, potentially leading to starvation and death. The consistency of the formula fed must be appropriate for the age of the chick.
  
• Dehydration of the chick - fluid replacement is a necessity to safe the life of the chick.
  
• Chick is chilled: The environmental temperature for chicks ten days or older are 88-92 degrees Fahrenheit; younger chicks: 96-98 degrees F.
  
• Overfeeding the chick will result in overstretching the crop. Inexperienced breeder very easily overfeed the chicks. It is important for the breeder to know when to stop feeding. In an overfed chick, the crop loses its ability to push the food from the crop into the digestive track, causing the food to remain in the crop and turning sour (bad). Breeders and vets have successfully used a crop bra to support the crop. I made crop bras out of an elastic bandage - please refer to below illustration.
  
• Bacterial, viral or yeast infections are another source of crop stasis. Vinegar: A Natural Approach to Avian Management
  
• Crop impaction by foreign body / material in the crop: chicks may be eating nesting substrate causing their crops to impact.
  
• Sour food in the crop caused by food remaining in the crop and fresh food being fed on top of spoiling food. To prevent this, it is necessary to make sure that the crop empties once a day. If it doesn't, add a little Applesauce or Papaya concentrate to the formula. Oftentimes this will result in the crop emptying normally. Alternatively, unflavored Pedialyte fed every two hours for the next twelve hours might help.
  
• Slow crop in babies is often caused by dehydration. Offering electrolyte solutions orally (primary choice) or warmed lactated ringers solution subcutaneously (secondary solution) may help resolve that. A veterinarian or someone experienced in this procedure should demonstrate or perform. The usual procedure for oral administration is to warm the solution to 100 degrees F. and for subcutaneous administration, to hold the syringe under hot running water for a moment. Test the temperature of the solution to make sure that it is not too hot / warm before administering. Do not heat in microwave.
  • Administer: a small amount of warm water, saline solution or Maalox / Digel or Mineral Oil (vet recommended). If the crop does not empty within a few hours, add lactobacillus and/or digestive enzyme.
    
  • Some are offering a more diluted formula to speed digestion, but babies need concentrated nutrition; the more watery the solution is, the less calories and nutrition they will get; thus causing weakness in the chick and further lowering its natural defense system.
    
  • Gently massaging the crop - Crop massage is tricky and needs to be done very carefully. It is very easy to aspirate the baby in the process. Care needs to be taken NOT to push the crop UP while massaging, as this would cause the chick to aspirate the food, resulting in aspiration pneumonia or immediate death. You may want to have a vet instruct you in how to do it correctly. Many avian vets are very willing to instruct breeders in such matters.
    
  • Emptying / flushing the crop with gavage -- this should only be the last resort as this is risky unless done by someone who is experienced and skilled in this procedure.
    
  • Once the crop is empty, vets and breeders may administer Pepto-Bismol, Nystatin, or Raglan syrup to help stimulate motility. Half an hour later feed some lactated ringers solution or Pedialyte mixed with some Bird Bene Bac, or other bird-specific probiotic. Another 20 to 30 minutes later, they may offer a small amount of Gerber oatmeal mixed with applesauce and bananas, baby cereal, and water - feeding less volume, but more frequently. Some breeders swear by feeding papaya to any bird with digestive problems (such as slow crop). Once motility is restored, gradually offer regular hand feeding formula.

Important Considerations:

• Any fluids / foods to be provided should be at least 105 degrees Fahrenheit.
  
• Environmental temperatures: Chicks ten days or older: 88-92 degrees Fahrenheit; younger chicks: 96-98 degrees Fahrenheit.
  
• The thickness / consistency of the formula fed must be appropriate for the age of the chick. Too thick a formula will prevent food from moving down the digestive system (crop stasis); too thin will not provide enough nutrition.
  
• It may be necessary for you to consult with your avian vet to assess the problem and institute life-saving measures.

Gas-filled Crop / Candida:

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Summary: In unfeathered babies, a Candida-infected crop will show signs of cheese-like lesions, and a grayish-white layer covers the crop lining. The often ulcerated and inflamed wall will be thickened and opaque, making the crop puffy and abnormal looking. If you suspect your baby to suffer from this, please go to this website.

 

[vetnursegaynor]

I have had a lot of sucess treating sour crop with Brandy. 3mls of Brandy followed by limited access to tepid water (tiny sips only) and no solid food for first 24 hours

 

[TwoCrows]

I have had a lot of sucess treating sour crop with Brandy. 3mls of Brandy followed by limited access to tepid water (tiny sips only) and no solid food for first 24 hours

Actually I have heard this as well. Alcohol will kill off yeast and their infections. What ever works!

 

[casportpony]

I believe the hen in question is suffering from a slow crop due to a reproductive or intestinal issue. It's been almost a week since the first post and I'm afraid that this hen isn't going to live. I will be very happy if I'm wrong, but 5-7 days is usually the amount of time these threads last and they almost always end they same way...

I really hope I'm wrong this time.

-Kathy