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

[CedarAcres]

I just had one with sour crop two months ago. Basically her crop had been plugged up by eating some really huge strands of grass that she got her little beak on! They came out the other end totally undigested in big clumps. I have an avian vet that we're friends with so she treated my chicken. She ended up having an infection in there so she was on an antibiotic for a week & reglan (rx from the vet that encourages the crop to empty) for a week. I noticed that once things started "moving along" again, she started acting better. It took a few days for the crop to really go down & empty as it should. I isolated mine so I could really keep an eye on what she was eating & what was coming out. Once her poop started looking better, she was improving. Hope she feels better soon!

 

[TwoCrows]

I love success stories too, especially when it comes to animals.

So I've been checking up on her every couple of hours and I have noticed that she hasn't moved much, just been sitting in the corner. I'm pretty sure she isn't eating anything, maybe not even drinking, if she is, then she's real sneaky. But seeing the way she behaves I kinda doubt it. Should she be eating a little? And should I 'make' her eat some food?

The best way to test their appetite is to offer them something you know they can't refuse. When one of my birds is sick, is use meal worms for the test. They are easy to break down in the birds system and if they refuse these, then there is a problem. So try some meal worms on her.

Also, go sit with her. Is she doing a neck squiggle thing with her neck? I call it the snake dance with the neck. This usually indicates a souring crop. When the crop does go sour, they do lose their appetites.

You could try offering up some hard boiled eggs to see if she will eat, however I would not go so far as to force food on her. Hopefully she is not suffering from something else and the crop issue is a secondary problem.

Let me know about the neck squiggle thing and if she will eat the meal worms.

 

[Chicken15]

Okay so I went to go check on her and I noticed her beak had crumbs of layer feed on it haha. She must not eat much since I haven't seen her eat it but its good to see that she does.

I'm not sure what meal worms are (or where to get them for that matter), so I did some digging and found a couple of small worms in the back yard, fed them to her and she gobbled them up like a mini t-rex lol.

I grabbed a handful of the feed and held my hand out and she started munching away at it, was great to see her eat. Definitely put a smile on my face. She actually ate a good amount, about 3-4 small handfuls, still much much less than normal but it's better than nothing! Right? Even one of my other mischievous hens decided to join in and start stealing the feed out of my hand, EVEN though the feeder full of it is less than a foot away! Talk about spoiled rotten!

I also gave the bird some water by pouring a small cup of it next to her beak and she ended up drinking a little, I figured its good to moisten the feed she just ate. I checked her crop and it has gotten a little bit bigger from all the food. So afterwards I put her in the coop on the roost since that's where she wanted to go.

Gotta check her crop tomorrow and check any stool she may have left, HOPEFULLY she will start feeling better. So far I'd guess she improved a little bit but she still likes to stand still, feels light, looks weak, and likes to constantly close her eyes, so it's anybody's guess at this point. I did notice that she leaves poo's so that must mean her digestive system is indeed functioning, right?

At least tonight I can relax, feeling releived that she is eating. But all I can do now is hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

 

[TwoCrows]

Ok...I am glad to hear that she is eating. Chickens are food hounds. And will usually eat whether they are hungry or not. When they don't eat, then you know you have trouble on your hands. And gobbling down worms is a good sign. So I wouldn't worry too much just yet that she isn't eating enough. She is eating and will eat when she gets hungry enough. But I just wanted you to test her to make sure. And in the future, use this as a gauge as to whether they are feeling well or not.

Depending on how long she suffered with this problem, she may be tired from not having felt good for quite some time. Each chicken will act different when sick. I can tell when my Miss Molly, the one that is prone to crop issues gets sick, she stands with her eyes closed. Refuses to sit. Will even fall asleep at night on the roost bar standing. So only you know what is normal and these are signs that you can look for to keep tabs on your hen. Anyway, don't judge how she feels yet as her crop may still be inflamed and irritated. But she is eating, and that means a lot. Let her eat when she needs too. AND she is pooping. Pooping is good even if a tiny bit. You will know she is feeling better when the poop comes more frequent and is large. Slow crops produce small infrequent poops. When she starts leaving you golf ball sized poop, then you know she is healed. But if she is still dropping small tiny amounts of poop, then her crop is still slow. So you want to keep her eating only her damp layer feed for now.

By the way...what color is the poop? It should be brownish now since that is the color of the layer feed. If it is still coming out green, then there is still irritation down in the bowels somewhere. Hopefully it clears up soon. Green diarrhea can also mean an infection in the GI tract as well.

Check her crop tomorrow morning and I will be keeping my fingers crossed that she is empty in the morning. As long as she is not wearing a baseball around her chest in the morning, and each morning the crop is smaller and smaller, she is on the mend. Chickens heal at different rates and as long as she continues to feel better even if a tiny bit each day, that is good.

Keep me posted on her progress.

 

[Chicken15]

Yeah that is true, I can tell when something is wrong, and she is practically screaming help. They really are food hounds, sometimes I have to cut off their food supply shortly because they'll eat sooo much and their crop becomes huge, it's like they don't know when to stop. I never really had problems with them eating so much though, I always thought it was pretty funny.

I forgot to mention in my last post that she isn't jerking her neck at all. She does what Miss Molly does, closes eyes while standing and wont sit, today she was sitting though so I'm not sure if that can mean she's either improving or getting weaker or tired. Also she can lower her head without spitting up now.

Her poop still has white in it, I forget exactly, it's hard to tell which is the most recent, but I'm pretty sure it had some dark green and brown mixed in it. I will check on her early tomorrow morning again, if the crop is empty then I shouldn't vomit her, but if its full then yes?

Anyways,

Thanks again for all the great advice. I'm sure if someone has similar issues they can use the great information provided in this thread.

 

[TwoCrows]

If your hen were Miss Molly, then I would say she is better in that she is sitting down. When Molly has been sick and standing most of the time, when she finally sits down, she is feeling better. So lets hope your hen is like Molly.

The poop sounds good actually. White in the poop is the urates coming from the liver and kidneys. So white capped poop is great. And the fact that it is mostly brown is excellent.

And yes, if there is anything in the crop, vomit her. I am hoping that she is empty in the morning. If it feels empty, than no need to attempt a vomiting. Only if you feel some swelling in the crop area. (there will probably be some swelling for a few days. Sometimes when Molly is recuperating and I think there is something in her crop and go to vomit her, nothing comes up. That tells me that I am only feeling the crop lining. You will get the hang of what her crop feels like when something is in it and you are feeling the crop lining.)

Oh...I wanted to ask you. Has she been laying thru all this? Or when did she lay last? And what color is her comb and face...pale or bright or medium red? These can be indicators to other things that may be causing the crop issues.

Well, try to get some rest. I know how stressful it is when one of your babies is sick. Check her in the morning and keep us posted on her healing.

 

[Chicken15]

She hasn't been laying, my hens dont really lay as frequently as they used to but she hasn't been laying for a while now, possibly 5-6 days. Her comb is sort of droopy at the tips, and is slightly darker than usual, but is still red. Her face seems normal if I remember correctly, just slightly darker.

The hens are all sleeping now so I can take some time to rest. Which I will use to research lol.

 

[casportpony]

Have you done a cloacal exam to check for masses? Stuff like egg binding, EYP, ascites and cancer can cause all of your hen's symptoms.

-Kathy

 

[TwoCrows]

As long as this is normal laying for her, then she is probably fine in that area. Miss Molly's comb drooped pretty badly on her first case of sour crop....when I didn't catch it in time. The comb condition is a good indication of good health in a chicken...red and stiff. When it is pale and droopy, then the hen is sick.

Take a look at her in the morning and make your assessments. It wouldn't hurt to do an over all exam of her. Feel her abdomen for hardness. It should be firm, not squishy or sagging. Feel around her breast for any lumps and such. And over all exam. How old is she?

 

[Chicken15]

I'm not sure I'd know what to look for in the cloaka, that sounds nasty though. I do know how to make her drop her feathers but I can't look at her area.

She wasn't a frequent layer really, they started slowing down but she normally lays every 4 days maybe, I can't remember exactly. I do remember that she lays early in the morning, and she likes to announce that she laid an egg.

Where exactly is the abdomen? I've been feeling around the breast area to compare the crop size, also I have checked the neck and the bottom side of her.

In a week she will be 3 years and two months old.