Molting hen with crop issues

[GracePoultry]

I don't have time to read the replies right now so if somebody already posted this here I'm sorry but this saved my chicken with sour crop.

 

[TinaRew]

Unfortunately I don’t have monistat or any antifungal cream Her crop doesn’t feel sour, but sometimes it smells a bit sour. She has not had liquidy or gassy crop and has never vomited.

Her crop feels full and firm, but I do not feel an impaction. If anything it might be somewhere else. It’s hard to tell, though. I’m keeping her away from hard feed and only giving her soft stuff, and she’s being hand fed water with probiotics and electrolytes in it.

If she smells sour, it’s possible that’s what you’re dealing with and you’d either need to continue the ACS or get monistat suppositories. Mine will never drink the ACS so I’d always have to syringe it, but I don’t always use it. She could have an impaction leading to sour crop but even with soft foods and what you’re doing may not be enough. Are you massaging throughout the day? Have you tried giving oil and massaging? If she’s not drinking (have you seen her drink?) she’ll need fluids through syringe as you really gotta hydrate the crop if she’s impacted so it has a better chance of breaking up. Do you have her separated in an area that you can tell if she poops even if it’s all liquid?

 

[guest226]

If she smells sour, it’s possible that’s what you’re dealing with and you’d either need to continue the ACS or get monistat suppositories. Mine will never drink the ACS so I’d always have to syringe it, but I don’t always use it. She could have an impaction leading to sour crop but even with soft foods and what you’re doing may not be enough. Are you massaging throughout the day? Have you tried giving oil and massaging? If she’s not drinking (have you seen her drink?) she’ll need fluids through syringe as you really gotta hydrate the crop if she’s impacted so it has a better chance of breaking up. Do you have her separated in an area that you can tell if she poops even if it’s all liquid?

Her breath smelled fishy on and off recently, although right now it doesn’t smell fishy. And her crop does not have sour liquid in it. She drinks water if it’s given in a certain way but she jist drank a lot of it.

Her crop, with water, feels soft. I’m just concerned as she hasn’t pooped all of today (12 pm now)

I massage twice a day and have done for a month. I used to give coconut oil each time and she would gladly eat it, but she’s been refusing her favorite foods lately. So i hydrate her and then massage.

 

[guest226]

If she smells sour, it’s possible that’s what you’re dealing with and you’d either need to continue the ACS or get monistat suppositories. Mine will never drink the ACS so I’d always have to syringe it, but I don’t always use it. She could have an impaction leading to sour crop but even with soft foods and what you’re doing may not be enough. Are you massaging throughout the day? Have you tried giving oil and massaging? If she’s not drinking (have you seen her drink?) she’ll need fluids through syringe as you really gotta hydrate the crop if she’s impacted so it has a better chance of breaking up. Do you have her separated in an area that you can tell if she poops even if it’s all liquid?

And yes, she’s in a big cage in my warm laundry room. I am watching her all day and she hasn’t pooped.

 

[TinaRew]

Her breath smelled fishy on and off recently, although right now it doesn’t smell fishy. And her crop does not have sour liquid in it. She drinks water if it’s given in a certain way but she jist drank a lot of it.

Her crop, with water, feels soft. I’m just concerned as she hasn’t pooped all of today (12 pm now)

I massage twice a day and have done for a month. I used to give coconut oil each time and she would gladly eat it, but she’s been refusing her favorite foods lately. So i hydrate her and then massage.

It’s great she’s drinking! I would try massaging more often (we shoot for about 4x a day if we can for several minutes each time to help stimulate digestion), but you may be at the point that you need to try something else. I’d look into trying the digestive enzyme that’s cellulase and doing 1 stool softener gel before bed and see if that helps her to empty by the next day. If she’s empty, she’ll be more likely to be hungry and eat again. Our girl refuses fav foods too when she sick, so we have to get creative! Like throwing black soldier fly larva in water to get her to drink, or giving her low sugar fruits to entice her to eat since she will eat that. Or we give food to her and her sisters as she’s more likely to eat and do what they’re doing when she’s with them.

 

[PastyButtsMom]

My hen's crop just feels super full of feed. I'm planning on fasting her and giving her a liquid only diet for now, also I might take her into the house for the day. I might start Copper sulfate treatment!

Is your hens poop very watery or very dry?

For some reason, my hen started having a pale/purplish comb... I don't think she has breathing issues, but I suppose nutritional deficiencies can make circulation bad. I'm gonna bring her inside because it is pretty cold outside, and she seems chilly

And yes, she’s in a big cage in my warm laundry room. I am watching her all day and she hasn’t pooped.

How’s she doing now? Hoping for good news

 

[guest226]

How’s she doing now? Hoping for good news

Thank you for asking. Shes doing a lot better! Her crop empties and her poop firmed up mostly. Her crop is still a bit slow, but overall it moves a lot faster and her comb is no longer purple Her behavior went back to normal, too!

I noticed an increase in her appetite shortly after i started the antibiotic dose (enrofloxacin) every day. She had a downhill turn after the first day- she was hobbling and looked very lethargic and was overall sick. I thought she was egg bound.

The next day she seemed to recover and was doing a lot better. I stil haven't been seing consistant egg laying. To my shock she recovered and regained strength very fast without much help from probitocs or anything else. Im thinking she might have had a bacterial infection, OR it just happened to coincidentally get better with time!

 

[TinaRew]

Thank you for asking. Shes doing a lot better! Her crop empties and her poop firmed up mostly. Her crop is still a bit slow, but overall it moves a lot faster and her comb is no longer purple Her behavior went back to normal, too!

I noticed an increase in her appetite shortly after i started the antibiotic dose (enrofloxacin) every day. She had a downhill turn after the first day- she was hobbling and looked very lethargic and was overall sick. I thought she was egg bound.

The next day she seemed to recover and was doing a lot better. I stil haven't been seing consistant egg laying. To my shock she recovered and regained strength very fast without much help from probitocs or anything else. Im thinking she might have had a bacterial infection, OR it just happened to coincidentally get better with time!

This is interesting! That is likely my next step with our girl!

 

[guest226]

This is interesting! That is likely my next step with our girl!

Just make sure to be careful! Antibiotics mess up the gut flora in hens, so it is importsnt to make shre your hen doesn’t have super sour crop. When my hen started it her breath was a bit smelly but her crop did not have liquid in it.

Make sure your hen is getting probiotics- small amounts of greek yogurt daily or probiotic powder like Flock Fixer prior to antibiotics

 

[TinaRew]

Just make sure to be careful! Antibiotics mess up the gut flora in hens, so it is importsnt to make shre your hen doesn’t have super sour crop. When my hen started it her breath was a bit smelly but her crop did not have liquid in it.

Make sure your hen is getting probiotics- small amounts of greek yogurt daily or probiotic powder like Flock Fixer prior to antibiotics

Oh yes, I know, it's definitely last resort. We have tried EVERYTHING for the past month and no change - from treating sour crop (which I'm not even convinced it ever went sour, but just in case because of no change), to oil and massage, digestive enzymes, stool softener, homeopathic concoctions, removing food, doing soft foods, we do vitamins and electrolytes/probiotics daily...etc. We have literally been through the ringer with her. I do believe this was brought on with her molt, as we did this song and dance last year for 2.5 months including a crop surgery!! Also brought on by the molt! So I think it causes a very very slow crop for her and that of course brings a whole host of issues. So if she doesn't turn a good corner in the next week, we'll try the antibiotics as a last resort.