just cleared sour crop and chicken is not eating

[helppleaseono]

My pet four year old hen has been ill for a while now. About a week ago she had yellow, watery diarrhea and she wasn't eating so i brought her inside and discovered she had sour crop. I made her vomit the stuff out (I've done it many times now) and nothing has changed to this day. I have discovered she is losing weight rapidly (she basically feels like a bag of bones) since she doesn't eat much but she sometimes eats bugs when I take her outside, although that is basically the only circumstance where she eats by herself. Now her crop is much smaller but she still refuses to eat, although she is drinking. I made a thread about her before but now I know the problem can't be sour crop so I've made a new one because I'm completely clueless. I can't take her to a vet as there aren't any avian vets anywhere in my area or even hours away from here. Please help my sick hen, I'm afraid she might die of starvation if I can't help her soon.

 

[Shezadandy]

My pet four year old hen has been ill for a while now. About a week ago she had yellow, watery diarrhea and she wasn't eating so i brought her inside and discovered she had sour crop. I made her vomit the stuff out (I've done it many times now) and nothing has changed to this day. I have discovered she is losing weight rapidly (she basically feels like a bag of bones) since she doesn't eat much but she sometimes eats bugs when I take her outside, although that is basically the only circumstance where she eats by herself. Now her crop is much smaller but she still refuses to eat, although she is drinking. I made a thread about her before but now I know the problem can't be sour crop so I've made a new one because I'm completely clueless. I can't take her to a vet as there aren't any avian vets anywhere in my area or even hours away from here. Please help my sick hen, I'm afraid she might die of starvation if I can't help her soon.

I would tube feed her. There are a bunch of videos and posts out there, so I won't go into the how-to's, but here's what I would have available:

1. Kaytee exact Hand feeding Baby bird formula - powder, sold at Petsmart

2. Puppy feeding tube - this is a tube that will fit on the edge of a FEEDER syringe, which is the kind that has the tapered, pointy tip, not the smaller one made for needles. Usually PetSmart has them, your local feed store might too- or you can order from Jeffers or valley Vet

3. Couple of FEEDER 35ml syringes-- some like the 60mls, but frankly, I have pretty big hands and can never get the plunger to go down with one hand. If you have a helper, maybe, but a 35ml is much more manageable if you're doing it by yourself

4. Molasses

5. Poultridrench AND a 1ml syringe - makes it easy to draw the right dose straight from the bottle- pouring that stuff is really messy.

6. Warm water.

It will take some experimentation, but the mix needs to be able to go out the puppy feeding tube holes with ease. Once you've got the consistency right, then suck it up through the syringe (easier than pouring it into the syringe). Wait until you've got the right consistency before you add the poultridrench (see back of bottle) and I usually add about 2ml of molasses.

It's a little nerve wracking the first couple of times - but as you wrote, if she doesn't get nutrition, she's going to die- so don't be afraid!!!

 

[micstrachan]

I agree syringe feeding would help sustain her. I had a hen who stopped eating after sour crop and helped her with syringe feeding kaytee exact with other supplements.I’d put no more than 0.5mL in her beak at a time so she could swallow. It took patience. She did not like the ordeal, but seemed to perk up afterward. Her appetite eventually returned.

Edited to say, I meant tube feeding at the top of this post.

 

[casportpony]

Crop feeding videos

These are using a crop needle, not a plastic tube.

This one uses a tube like I use

Duck crop looks like the one on the left:

​

 

[helppleaseono]

Thank you all for your replies! I'll look into getting one of those puppy feeding tubes right away. Although, now I'm not sure if the crop is fully cleared. Just a second ago her crop looked bigger than it should be considering she had only eaten like 5 bugs today, so i pressed on it to feel and she burped (it smelt awful). Does this mean the bacteria/yeast/whatever is still alive? I don't want to make her vomit again because I don't want the 5 bugs she has eaten to be for nothing.

 

[helppleaseono]

Thank you all for your replies! I'll look into getting one of those puppy feeding tubes right away. Although, now I'm not sure if the crop is fully cleared. Just a second ago her crop looked bigger than it should be considering she had only eaten like 5 bugs today, so i pressed on it to feel and she burped (it smelt awful). Does this mean the bacteria/yeast/whatever is still alive? I don't want to make her vomit again because I don't want the 5 bugs she has eaten to be for nothing.

This happened two more times but every time the burp passes her crop feels like sand or tiny pebbles?? (she is still not eating by herself)

EDIT: I tried vomiting her again and it was HEAPS. I'm not sure where its coming from because her crop is so small. She still isnt eating and she seems really tired. I'm not sure if its because its night or because or because of all the vomiting I made her do but she seems really tired. I looked around and I can't find any puppy feeding tubes anywhere. I saw I could buy it online but amazon only had shipping for a month from now and I doubt she will either make it to then or need it by then. I'm freaking out, I've had this chicken as a pet for many years and she is very dear to me. Please help.

 

[DobieLover]

This happened two more times but every time the burp passes her crop feels like sand or tiny pebbles?? (she is still not eating by herself)

EDIT: I tried vomiting her again and it was HEAPS. I'm not sure where its coming from because her crop is so small. She still isnt eating and she seems really tired. I'm not sure if its because its night or because or because of all the vomiting I made her do but she seems really tired. I looked around and I can't find any puppy feeding tubes anywhere. I saw I could buy it online but amazon only had shipping for a month from now and I doubt she will either make it to then or need it by then. I'm freaking out, I've had this chicken as a pet for many years and she is very dear to me. Please help.

I'm really sorry to read your girl is going through this.
Unfortunately, crop disorders can result from some pretty serious reproductive disorders.
But going back to the crop, you said you emptied it out and it smells horrible but did you ever treat the yeast infection? You can use miconazole to treat the yeast infection. Please give this article a read.

 

[Shezadandy]

This happened two more times but every time the burp passes her crop feels like sand or tiny pebbles?? (she is still not eating by herself)

EDIT: I tried vomiting her again and it was HEAPS. I'm not sure where its coming from because her crop is so small. She still isnt eating and she seems really tired. I'm not sure if its because its night or because or because of all the vomiting I made her do but she seems really tired. I looked around and I can't find any puppy feeding tubes anywhere. I saw I could buy it online but amazon only had shipping for a month from now and I doubt she will either make it to then or need it by then. I'm freaking out, I've had this chicken as a pet for many years and she is very dear to me. Please help.

https://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail...itemguid=3269e695-7b6a-11d5-a192-00b0d0204ae5

OR

https://www.jefferspet.com/products/feeding-tube-14fr

 

[Shezadandy]

This happened two more times but every time the burp passes her crop feels like sand or tiny pebbles?? (she is still not eating by herself)

EDIT: I tried vomiting her again and it was HEAPS. I'm not sure where its coming from because her crop is so small. She still isnt eating and she seems really tired. I'm not sure if its because its night or because or because of all the vomiting I made her do but she seems really tired. I looked around and I can't find any puppy feeding tubes anywhere. I saw I could buy it online but amazon only had shipping for a month from now and I doubt she will either make it to then or need it by then. I'm freaking out, I've had this chicken as a pet for many years and she is very dear to me. Please help.

Also, my favorite in-depth link on crop problems. Sometimes the crop issue is the last thing we see before something else claims them, as mentioned above. But, if it's truly crop related, the info below has seen them through.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...d-sour-crops-prevention-and-treatments.67194/