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

[Chicken15]

I will hand feed her damp feed until she no longer wants eat. Then I will use a dropper and give her some water on top of that. And afterwards check on the stool for signs of starvation/dehydration.

It's been very rainy this past week so I can't go check the coop as often as on a normal day. The hens will all be inside and she will have some company.
Her crop felt like her left breast, but just slightly bigger, not a very noticeable difference.

I don't think she eats unless she absolutely has to. That's why I like hand feeding her because its less work for her to do. Anyways I'll keep and eye on her and update if any habits change.

 

[casportpony]

According to the Harrison books, "Clinical Avian Medicine", the recommended amount of fluids is 30ml/kg every 6-8 hours.

From:http://avianmedicine.net/content/uploads/2013/03/07_emergency_and_critical_care.pdf

Supportive Care
SICK-BIRD ENCLOSURES
Sick birds are often hypothermic and should be placed
in heated (brooder-type) enclosures


b (Fig 7.7) in a quiet
environment (see Chapter 1, Clinical Practice). A temperature
of 85° F (29° C) with 70% humidity is desirable
for most sick birds. If brooders are not equipped with a
humidity source, placing a small dish of water in the
enclosure will often supply adequate humidity. A moist
towel that is heated and placed on the bottom of a cage
or incubator rapidly humidifies the environment, as indicated​

by the fogging of the acrylic cage front.

FLUID THERAPY
Oral Administration
Oral administration is the ideal method of giving fluids.
This method is more commonly used in mildly dehydrated
birds or in conjunction with subcutaneous (SC)
or intravenous (IV) therapy. Oral rehydration (30 ml/kg
PO q 6-8 h) also may be used in larger birds (eg, waterfowl)
that are difficult to restrain for parenteral fluid​

therapy.

ORAL NUTRITIONAL SUPPLEMENTS
Below are listed some of the oral nutritional supplements
that can be gavage-fed to debilitated birds. Various
hand-feeding formulas are on the market and, as a
whole, are far superior to the homemade formulas used
decades ago that contained monkey biscuits, peanut butter
and ground seeds. Commercially available hand-feeding
formulas for baby birds are often utilized in the treatment
of sick and debilitated adult birds. The quantity
that can be fed at one time to a sick bird is greatly
reduced from that of baby birds. On the average, a baby
parrot can accommodate 10% of its body weight per
feeding due to the elasticity of the crop and its rapid
emptying. Adult birds have a greatly decreased crop
capacity, averaging 3% of their body weight. Additionally,
sick birds are less tolerant of food in the crop and care
must be taken to avoid regurgitation and/or aspiration.
A sick or debilitated bird should always have its
hydration corrected prior to attempting to initiate​

oral gavage-feeding.

 

[Chicken15]

This was her most recent stool. She has been eating a little bit more in her own, I do give her water but not much since they normally don't drink much.

 

[casportpony]

This was her most recent stool. She has been eating a little bit more in her own, I do give her water but not much since they normally don't drink much.

To me that looks like classic dehydration/starvation poop. I have many older birds here with heat stroke, repro issues, as well as birds with Mareks's, so I spend a lot of time caring for them, which involves putting them in cages on my porch or on towels inside, so I have seen many poops that look like that and almost all of them will return to normal after proper hydration and feeding.

If you want to learn how to tube feed, PM me your number and I can talk you through it on the phone, it's much easier and safer than the dropper method.

-Kathy

 

[TwoCrows]

Chicken15....while Casportpony may be on to something here, and Casportpony I am not trying to over ride any of your knowledge here...and it is possible that she is dehydrated a bit, this type of poop is very common with a slow crop. The entire GI tract is slow and the outcome is always diarrhea. They can have diarrhea that looks just like this for a week after recuperating. And one of the reasons is that the GI tract flora is way off. And generally this is how the crop go slow in the first place. Not enough good bacteria for what ever reason.

Until the crop starts move properly, she is going to have diarrhea. AND if it is as warm as you say it is around your place, all chickens tend to get diarrhea.

So...if this were my Miss Molly, suffering from a slow or sour crop right now, I would do the one of the following....and I had mentioned this earlier...Mix up some ACV in water....2 or 3 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar to one gallon of water for all the chickens. ACV will help with diarrhea. Or....add some probiotics...human grade will work fine if you don't have poultry probiotics. Or...pedialyte..the stuff you give kids and babies...it has tons of electrolytes and things to help with over heating and also replaces salts lost with diarrhea.

Slow and sour crops take time to heal and the GI tract takes a beating during this time. I think she will be fine. But you need to replentish the things she is losing with the diarrhea and allow the crop to return to normal. It desperately needs good bacteria to return to normal.

 

[casportpony]

See figure 7.4:

http://avianmedicine.net/content/uploads/2013/03/07_emergency_and_critical_care.pdf

-Kathy​

 

[Chicken15]

She made a different stool this time, the white part had the consistency of ice cream (don't mean to ruin anyone's appetite). It seemed much thicker now, and there appeared to be a solid piece in the center, it was shaped like a big piece of layer feed.

 

[casportpony]

Have you weighed her yet?

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

She made a different stool this time, the white part had the consistency of ice cream (don't mean to ruin anyone's appetite). It seemed much thicker now, and there appeared to be a solid piece in the center, it was shaped like a big piece of layer feed.

I still say dehydration and starvation.

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

TwoCrows, what was the cause of your hen's slow/sour crop?

-Kathy