It has to be viral???

[Sterkfarm]

Hi Everyone, I need a diagnosis! A few weeks ago I had quite a few of my flock get really water-balloony crops, get weak and die. Not everyone that had the watery vomity crops died but everyone that died had the gross squishy crops. There has been zero change in the feed, I feed a chick and grower crumb. I fed a full panel antibiotic and electrolyte to the gang. Everything cleared up. I scrubbed down the feeders/waterers thinking waterborne/food borne. The booster with penicillin and neomycin was a last ditch effort. It seemed to work. Which would rule out the cocci as all signs point to antib's being useless against it.

No symptoms since, everyone is thriving. Until now.

I've brought in a few new birds, about 4 weeks old. They have been vaccinated for ILT and mareks. They now have the exact same symptoms as the others. Squishy watery crops that ooze when you pick them up. Weak and light (underweight) when picked up. I have had them for a week!?!?! WHAT is going around my coop? It's not cocci/mareks/ILT/parasites. What avian virus is this????? There is no runny eyes or nose or anything overtly respiratory. Just squishy gross crops, huddled, weak, then dead or back to life and immune. 4 week olds don't all suddenly get sour crop at once so lets take that off the table. They re all eating commercial amprolium med starter. is there a Doctor in the house?
Oh also by the way NOTHING is available OTC here like it is in the US. We have peni/oxytetra/neochlor. And amprolium only in feed. GAHHHH !!!!!

 

[suleo]

Sounds scary! I had one of my hens die in July and then another with vent gleet this past month! That was scary but nothing like you are going through! I would make sure they aren't eating something while free ranging (plants) that might be toxic. Also have your water tested perhaps! I hate to say it but"canary in a coal mine?"

Giving my girl's plain yogurt and/or oatmeal with organic buttermilk everyday in small moderation and putting apple cider vinegar (with Mothers in it) in one water container (not good for sour crop!)and Avia charge in the other water container.

 

[Sterkfarm]

Avia charge? What does that mean? And I have been doing acv but I stopped because it was corroding the waterers and I worried the iron from the rust might be doing more harm than good...oh also not any messy/pasty/gleety butts. I checked on the regular.

 

[Eggcessive]

Do you have any way of getting a necropsy to find the cause, done by your ministry of health or whatever is available there? I still think I would try to get Amprol to treat for cocci, since this keeps happening. Some strains of cocci don't cause the blood in the stools. I have never had coccidiosis in my flock, so I don't know if they ever have sour crop with it. A lot of people use ACV for sour crop, some don't.

 

[suleo]

It is full of vitamins , minerals, antioxidants ,etc. (McMurray Hatchery online -where my girls came from)but you should never use it in metal containers because it will corode them. They also have an immuno charge that I use in the colder months. I use plastic thermal bowls (think I got them at shopthecoop). Keeps water cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. Still have to change 2x a day in the winter but I don't run electricity to my coop. Afraid of fire. In the winter I also use these pads called snugglesafes that I bought online to keep my girls warm Just heat them in the microwave for very cold nights.

What are you feeding them? My girls get egg layer mash/pellets and crumbles, cracked corn, sunflower seeds,Omega-3 (ground flax seed), mealworms in moderation, oyster shell and grit daily, and lettuc, kale or spinach daily, grapes and/or blueberries, peas and melon on occassion. Plus now the yogurt/buttermilk etc thing that I described. They also free-range when I am home. Spoiled ladies!

Seriously though I would check out the possibilty of any toxins. Plants they might be eating or water.

 

[suleo]

Also make sure they aren't eating moldy food. If you wouldn't eat it they shouldn't! Hardest thing for me is my Rosie likes to eat wet pellets and mash from the run off when I hose out the run and coop! I'm sure that is what made her sick!

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

If it were my flock I would start bleaching the waterers regularly and try to rule out some kind of fungal infection of the crop:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/630307/sour-crop-cured-with-monistat
here is one interesting thread

If you have a good relationship with a vet maybe you can ask if the vet concurs.

I don't know what the problem is, but thought you might find the thread handy.

 

[suleo]

Check out the thread on using Monistat. That person also talks about a watery balloon filled crop! Good luck and let me know how it goes.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Also make sure they aren't eating moldy food. If you wouldn't eat it they shouldn't! Hardest thing for me is my Rosie likes to eat wet pellets and mash from the run off when I hose out the run and coop! I'm sure that is what made her sick!

x2 I have lost chickens from wet feed on the ground.

 

[Sterkfarm]

I'll try and address all your thoughts in order here: I did not know some cocci strains did not cause bloody stool. That's huge. Amprol is only available by scrip here though and my vet is nervous about poultry...my birds eat only commercial feed mill grade crumbles that never gets wet and they don't free range. Because I have fairly young birds in the barn I try and sequester them until I know I can trust them to be in the outdoor run safely; I don't relish very young birds being exposed until they re at least at POL. So the indoor house is all pine shaving bedding which is dry, feed is in a dry hopper, and there is ventilation which sucks out stale air and dust. I do think fungal/bacterial/waterer. Though I did Lysol them after the first round so they were basically sterilized. I might test the outside water for E Coli though....that's worth looking into. Again, I can't see how all of a sudden three 4 week old birds in a cage are getting sour crop. (I keep my babies isolated in a big brooder cage until they're big enough to integrate). I've had birds for 7 years and never anything like this nor a single incident of sour crop. All my birds have been from our local reputable hatchery until this year, we started fresh with breeds from multiple sources. Lesson learned.