Impacted Crop or Sour Crop?

[Aunt Angus]

Yes by the way. She doesn't eat at night - none of my chickens eat at night (unless there is one who is sick and then I provide a light to keep it warm...low hanging light bulb (heat bulb).

Here are some pictures of my old girl. I included a side profile so you can see her crop bulge. It's bulging more now in the pictures because I let her eat some soaked layer crumble - about a 1/4 tsp at a time - 3 times today. She's been pooping a lot today. At least 10 times since this morning. And her poops were DRY. 3 or 4 would come out dry (a couple of them pretty good size for such a little chicken). Then another would come out looking wet - only to be followed by another much dryer poop.

In any case, all the poop has to be a good sign...I am now starting to think that her little intestines might have been blocked up...

She's lovely! ❤

I suggested overnight simply to see if it was emptying fully overnight. But if you don't give your flock access to food, then you don't need to worry about that step.

Let me change my question then: Have you checked her crop first thing in the morning, before letting her eat? That's a good way to know if it's blocked. But if she's pooping regularly, she's not (like you said).

It could be worms, then. Or a reproductive issue. Poor girl. I hope it's resolved soon.

 

[ChickensRsmart]

I apologize, I thought I gave you the link for treating crop issues. I didn't. That link I gave you was to your own thread. Chalk it up to a Geezer moment
Here's the correct article link for you to read through -very good info and what I use as a guide to treat my own birds
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

A crop issue is often caused by an underlying condition - reproductive disorders, worms, coccidiosis and infection are a few.
De-worming can be done to see if that helps with crop problems, however, I've found that reproductive disorders are an extremely common cause of crop symptoms.

Safeguard Equine Paste or Liquid Goat Dewormer can be used to treat poultry. Dose is 0.23ml per pound of weight given orally once a day for 5 days in a row. "Pea Size" is not good info.

Thanks again! I will go over this article. I am more hopeful today that she's going to recover...she's really pooping a lot - more like a normal chicken. But I have now got to try and figure out what led to the issue (If I can find out).

A good start I imagine would be taking a fecal sample and sending it off to a lab...I've done this before when I lost my horse to Salmonella. I took samples of wild birds, my chickens - even my dog's poop - and sent it off to be tested. They found the same strain of Salmonella in the wild bird feces...I just put the stools of wild doves, barn swallows, and a couple of other birds (smaller ones that I can't identify) that were always pooping in my horse's pasture - onto one of the sample containers. They found the same strain (Salmonella Uganda) in the wild bird poop...turns out this strain of Salmonella is deadly (in the top 3 of the most virulent forms) - but only deadly to cattle and horses... It was one of these birds types (at least) that carried it.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Pooping is good!

Yes, getting a fecal float would be helpful in knowing whether you need to de-worm her or not.

 

[ChickensRsmart]

She's lovely! ❤

I suggested overnight simply to see if it was emptying fully overnight. But if you don't give your flock access to food, then you don't need to worry about that step.

Let me change my question then: Have you checked her crop first thing in the morning, before letting her eat? That's a good way to know if it's blocked. But if she's pooping regularly, she's not (like you said).

It could be worms, then. Or a reproductive issue. Poor girl. I hope it's resolved soon.

Thanks again AA and WR.

Yes, her crop was not emptying - a check in the morning (before she gets to eat) showed that it wasn't going down.

She hasn't laid eggs for a number of years - I figured because of her age. I used to think also (maybe I'm wrong?) that a hen that doesn't lay eggs anymore will be safer from problems like egg yoke peritinitis or egg binding?

I will find out if it's worms - I suppose if it's not then it must be due to something like a reproductive issue? Or a tumor or some kind of mass...

 

[ChickensRsmart]

Pooping is good!

Yes, getting a fecal float would be helpful in knowing whether you need to de-worm her or not.

Thanks yet again WR. I will definitely do that first. I'd rather not give her a dewormer if I don't have to...

 

[ChickensRsmart]

Just an update on my little girl. Her fecal float came back clean - No parasites. Her crop is still slow to empty, but I am now trying a crop bra to see if it helps her. She still looks beautiful (and healthy) if not for having lost a lot of weight and having a slow crop...

I have been feeding her soft foods only - stuff that dissolves easily in water...soaked layer crumble (with water and olive oil), scrambled eggs, plain yogurt, bits of melon, apple (no skin), yam bits, etc...she wants to eat grain (or game bird mix), but I have been withholding it. She is still active and continues to hunt and peck around, and I think she would eat a whole lot more if she could eat what she wants to eat...the stuff that doesn't pass easily through her crop.

She has been sleeping indoors now for a couple of weeks (with a heat lamp on one side of her cage - so she can choose more or less heat). Every now and then, she will poop out a poop with one or 2 undigested grains in it - I've been inspecting every one of her poops. LOL. I've also found some fragments of grass in some of her stools - the grains and the grass bits had to have been her for at least 3 weeks - evidence of a blockage...or a partial blockage.

She will still straighten out her neck and shiver once and a while - not as often, but she still does it...particularly I've noticed recently - she will do it right after eating...as if there is discomfort in her crop.

She's been pooping healthy and normal looking poops (but not as many as her younger siblings). She's not drinking that much water during the day - and then at the end of the day, she drinks water like a camel...and then later the next day (twice she's done this now), she will go from normal looking poops, to a big poop with a lot of water...followed later by a lot of water with a little bit of poop. Then her poops will go back to normal looking again. I am not sure what to make of it.
I am wondering if perhaps this is also a sign of a partial blockage - or if perhaps the remaining contents of her crop is getting sour and this is her body's way of flushing it out? The stubborn content in her crop is still getting smaller, and I don't think it should be too much longer before it's finally gone....I wonder if I should even try to mess with it? Is she likely to need some kind of anti yeast medication, or should I just let it continue to improve on its own?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm glad to hear she's still doing ok-ish.

Have you tried treating for Sour Crop or given a stool softener to see if that will help get things moving?

 

[ChickensRsmart]

I'm glad to hear she's still doing ok-ish.

Have you tried treating for Sour Crop or given a stool softener to see if that will help get things moving?

Thanks WR.

What kind of stool softener would be best? Is it generally safe to use - or try? I get the sense that she's probably got a partial blockage...the only question is - what is blocking her...

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thanks WR.

What kind of stool softener would be best? Is it generally safe to use - or try? I get the sense that she's probably got a partial blockage...the only question is - what is blocking her...

Store brand or Ducolax brand is fine - just make sure it's stool softener stimulant free (not a laxative).
I've used stool softener with my birds before without any issues. Every case can be a little different.
The only other thing you could try would be a flush. I think @azygous recommends a molasses flush further in the comment section of her article.

 

[azygous]

Or an Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) flush. It will really scrub out a chicken's digestive tract. I recommend going the full one teaspoon of the salts mixed into half cup warm water tubed into the crop twice a day for three days. After that, if the chicken remains impacted, there is some organic reason for it.