Is this sour crop and what should I do next??

[Apags18]

Can't help but giggle a bit over your description of her being dramatic.

Not sure what you can do. It would be nice to see if a bra does help. It sounds like she's doing well, except with the rooster.

You can try fitting the bra a bit differently. You may want to read through this thread by @azygous she shows adjustments she made over time to get a better fit, you may find it helpful.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/making-a-crop-bra-for-a-hen-with-pendulous-crop.1464848/

Haha believe me I’ve giggled too watching her with the bra. At one point I thought she was going to kill herself with the damn crop bra! Haha!! At least she is acting herself! She’s always been the crazy one in the bunch lol. I’ll check the link too! Thanks for the feedback!

 

[Apags18]

Ok so I went out this morning super motivated and hopeful that this time the crop bra will work. She was even more ridiculous! I watched videos last night and read up on how to tie the crop bra around the chicken. I’m doing everything the way it’s explained. I spent almost 30 min with her trying to get this bra on her! At least she’s still got a lot of energy. But picking her up today she does feel as if she’s lost some weight. I’m going to do more research and try and find a vet who will see chickens. I know we have none close to us but even if they are an hour away I may be willing to drive her out there. At this point I’m worried she’s just going to waste away. I’ve tried feeling for something stuck in the crop and all I can feel is a lot of fluid. It literally feels like a water balloon and sometimes when I’m massaging the crop she burps or acts like she’s going to throw up and I can smell whatever is in there and it doesn’t smell good. So going to look up this morning if there are vets within a couple hours from us that would see her.

 

[Apags18]

Ok so I found a vet who sees chickens! They were almost an hour away, but I wanted to give it a go, since nothing else has worked. I took her today and they did an x-ray (i didn't have to pay for it because they did it without asking, which was fine!) and saw that she had about three times the amount of grit that should be in her crop. They flushed the grit out and were able to het her to vomit what couldn't be flushed out. Just some bedding, larvae, grit, and a little straw. They said it smelled terrible and that it def went sour. They want me to continue the medistatin for another 1-2 weeks. They said she looks great otherwise and that she was super feisty while they were working on her, which is great. Here’s hoping this will work and she will heal up!

 

[Apags18]

Also…they said not to give garlic anymore. Said it can cause anemia in birds. I’d never heard that before. They also said, because they found a good amount of larvae, to give her a break from them. I told the vet that she had some larvae before bringing her in, but she said to limit the treats for now while the crop heals.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Ok so I found a vet who sees chickens! They were almost an hour away, but I wanted to give it a go, since nothing else has worked. I took her today and they did an x-ray (i didn't have to pay for it because they did it without asking, which was fine!) and saw that she had about three times the amount of grit that should be in her crop. They flushed the grit out and were able to het her to vomit what couldn't be flushed out. Just some bedding, larvae, grit, and a little straw. They said it smelled terrible and that it def went sour. They want me to continue the medistatin for another 1-2 weeks. They said she looks great otherwise and that she was super feisty while they were working on her, which is great. Here’s hoping this will work and she will heal up!

Also…they said not to give garlic anymore. Said it can cause anemia in birds. I’d never heard that before. They also said, because they found a good amount of larvae, to give her a break from them. I told the vet that she had some larvae before bringing her in, but she said to limit the treats for now while the crop heals.

I'm glad you were able to see the vet.
Sounds like she was getting impacted a bit. Hopefully the flush has helped tremendously and her crop will now heal.

Keep me posted on how she's doing!

 

[Adolph Otto]

How's your hen? I'm dealing with a similar situation here. Frustrating!

 

[Apags18]

How's your hen? I'm dealing with a similar situation here. Frustrating!

Hi! Sorry you are dealing with this too! It has been frustrating! So it’s been over a month, probably almost a month and a half. She’s acting completely fine and normal. She’s very active, laying eggs almost daily, and really fights me when I try and pick her up.

I took her to a vet about an hour away from us, as we have no vets closer to us that will see chickens. They found that she had a ton of grit in her crop and were able to flush it out. Not sure if she knows there is something wrong with her crop and she was eating more grit to help break up whatever was in there and then she ended up with too much? But the vet also helped her to vomit everything else up and it had a terrible smell so she def has sour crop. They gave me a prescription for nystatin but I haven’t filled it yet as I found medistatin online. The vet said I can use that if I want and gave me the script for nystatin if I’d like to use that instead. She told me to give her the medication twice a day for 7-14 days. You can buy medistatin online. I don’t have my dose on hand as I’m out of town and my parents are watching her, but it’s about 1/2 teas twice a day.

I spoke with her vet yesterday on the phone to update her and she doesn’t like that her crop is still enlarged. I told her that I think her crop may be a tad smaller, but even in the morning it still feels like a water balloon. I have her scheduled for next Thursday to take her back to flush out everything again and I’m going to take her medication with me and ask them to dose her as well as she fights me so hard when I try to feed it to her. She said I can call her back if she seems to improve and cancel the appointment. I’m also hopping she improves because she fought them so hard last time, the vet said they may have to use a little gas to calm her down so she doesn’t fight them as much. I’m def a little worried about any anesthesia. So praying she improves before then!

It has been frustrating because it’s been so long and I’m worried she will have pendulous crop. I have tried multiple times to put a crop bra on her, watched videos and read articles on how to properly put one on her, and gotten help holding her down and she will not keep it on. She throws herself against the wall, flops around, and almost strangled herself trying to get it off . She was so dramatic lol. So I stopped trying for a bit because she was starting to become afraid of me. She’s always been one of my friendlier hens and now she’s not letting me get too close to her, which I don’t blame her.

Anyway, sorry this is so long! I had another hen who had sour crop a few months ago and I healed her with just the monostat suppository method. I’d give her a third of the suppository, melted over a scrambled egg, and she ate it. She was better in about two weeks. But you can get medistatin online. I googled the dose and compared it to what the vet told me and for a hen who is about 5lbs you’d give 1/2 teas of powder twice a day. I mix it with water and syringe feed her on the side of her beak. But now with her fighting me I’m sprinkling it on her egg.

Ok I’ll finish now since this is so long, but hopefully this can help you a bit! Let me know how your chicken is doing!

 

[Adolph Otto]

Your story is nearly identical to mine. The crop seems smaller but that water balloon consistency persists. Thanks for the update. I might look into the Medistan. Just curious, was your vet visit expensive?
I too completely gave up on trying to give the Monistat straight orally. I hide it in some feed gruel or scrambled egg. Please keep us posted.
Stephen

 

[Apags18]

Your story is nearly identical to mine. The crop seems smaller but that water balloon consistency persists. Thanks for the update. I might look into the Medistan. Just curious, was your vet visit expensive?
I too completely gave up on trying to give the Monistat straight orally. I hide it in some feed gruel or scrambled egg. Please keep us posted.
Stephen

Yes the vet bill was expensive. I mean every time I take my cat to the vet the bill is crazy! But I was willing to pay to try and get some help. It was a little over $100. My family and I are really trying hard to get her better so that I don’t have to take her back. I just hate don’t doing anything and they she does slowly from not getting proper nutrition. My parents are continuing to give her the meds and I will be back in a few days so I will reassess her and update!

 

[Apags18]

Ok so another update (yes I’m still dealing with this lol). She’s still doing “fine” and acting herself. The vet called to get an update on Truffles about a week after the crop flush. I told her she was still acting normal, eating and drinking well, pooping normal and laying eggs, but that her crop was still looking pendulous. I was still giving the medistatin twice a day. The vet wanted to have her come back in and try the flush again. I just took her back this past Tuesday and they flushed out her crop and got her to throw up whatever was still in there. Her sour crop is pretty much gone and the smell was pretty much gone, but there was still a ton of grit in her crop. She wants me to continue the medistatin for another two weeks. She also gave me an anti-inflammatory med to give because they went down her throat with a tube and to help with any possible swelling. The anti inflammatory does have an egg withdrawal so no eating her eggs for two weeks after finishing the med. After the second crop flush, her crop felt the smallest it has been in two months, but since then and since she has been eating and drinking, her crop is back to its pendulous look. I found another post on this site where someone was talking about their experience with sour crop and it sounded identical to mine. They were giving monistat and doing a ton of crop massages to help heal their hens pendulous crop. I may try the crop bra again when I get home, but she really fights me hard when I try to put that on her. I’m really going to try the crop massages. I’ll also continue the medistatin and nystatin (I got a prescription for it from the vet, but the medistatin is pretty much the same thing, and did work) as prescribed. The vet weighed her on both visits and she actually put on a few ounces at the second vet visit so at least she’s not starving. Lol!