my chicken is... puking

[tinychicky]

is this sour crop? a clear liquid kind of trickles out her beak and when i press on her crop a whole bunch comes out. her eyes are clear, but she has been staying in the nest box for a while. at first i thought she was going broody, but i'm not so sure now. she still tucks eggs under her though, so this is a good sign, right? i've put her in a seperate cage with fresh water and some dry bread. is there anything else i can do for her? i really don't want her to die as her sister passed away only last year and her father isn't looking too good either, so if you have any advice or experience with this please let me know. thank you in advance.

 

[cthrash1]

Don't give her anymore dry bread, and make sure she has some grit available to break it down in her crop. If she is broody and you're going to give her food in her nest then make it feed and grains to keep her healthy. When I want to spoil mine I go to the health food store and pick up rolled oats, raw shelled sunflower seed, raw shelled pumpkin seed, some whole oats, flax seed(both kinds), steel cut Bulgar wheat, and raw natural grits(not the instant). I mix all these together with a little grit and keep in gallon ziplocks as a treat... When I give it to my broodies I mix it in with their normal feed. If you shop at just the right day at our health food store you can find some markdowns and sales... I usually end up with about 3 full gallon ziplocks and that lasts me over a month because they don't get it every day, would too expensive that way.

 

[cthrash1]

Oh and search in the forums for sour crop treatment or something like that in case it is. I remember seeing something about holding the chicken with it's head hanging down beak toward the ground and very gently massaging the crop to release it out through the mouth. I don't know for sure if it is the correct procedure but aparently it worked for whoever I was reading about at the time.

 

[Minniechickmama]

I have two with sour crop, one is on the mend, the other I am going to have to do surgery on as she is not getting better after two months of treatment.
First, try giving her some mineral oil, about a Tablespoon or so each day to lube up her tract to let it work through. Only give her water with apple cider vinegar (about a Tablespoon per cup of water) for 3 days. Keep massage her crop, however, if she is puking, you need to turn her upside down and you can make her puke out the excess nastiness. There will be gassiness building up and lots of clear mucous, and this will help alleviate some of that. Do not feed her anything for 3 days, maybe even longer if she isn't too skinny. If it seems to be getting better, then slowly give her plain active yogurt to replenish the flora she needs in her digestive tract. Then you can add some egg yolk, and then some (start slow) starter crumbles. Stay away from grains and grasses until she is recovered. It can take a while, but they can usually recover if they are not too bad off. Mine have gotten it from grass they did not pass, which is actually impacted, but it was not severe. I would puke them out a couple of times a day to keep the mucous down. This is fairly easy and it makes them feel better. They will struggle at first, but then they calm down.
Worst case scenerio would be you would need to cut her open and clean the crop out. There are websites and accounts of doing that on here. If nothing else is working, it may be worth a shot since she will just waste away and die if you can clear this up.
Feel the crop and see if there is a mass in there or if it is just mushy to start.
Good luck.
Theri

 

[tinychicky]

thanks, i'll try that. i really hope it doesn't come to surgery because seeing as i'm 14 and i wouldn't trust my parents to do it ...

well i hope she gets better. thank you for all your advice!!

 

[Minniechickmama]

I just got done doing the surgery on my hen. She was bad off and full of grass that wasn't going through. She graduated from sour crop to impacted crop. Now I have to watch her to see if she gets an infection. It went well, but there was at least a cupful of gunk that I cleaned out of her.
Hopefully you won't have to do that. I have one that cleared up with the Apple Cider Vinegar. It took almost a month, but she is doing great now. I can't put her out yet because the boys outside are just too rough and she is still weak.
Let me know how it goes.

 

[tinychicky]

so, the apple cider viniger worked great! she actually just decided to drink it straight for some reason and cleared up the next day! she is eating and drinking fine, but one thing i've noticed is that her face, comb and wattles are now very pale. it may just be the extensive heat (it's 100 out today, omg!!) but i'm not sure. thanks for all your help, anyway!

 

[Loveschickens28]

dont press on her crop she stores her food in their till it is time to go through her maybe its because she just ate