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.
