My underweight hen now has sour crop as well. How do I deal with this?

[Kawkawkaye]

I’ve got a hen who’s pretty underweight, due to a previous issue. The issue was sorted out a week ago, and she started to get better, but now she’s gotten sour crop, to make things worse.
If she didn’t have sour crop, I’d be satisfied with her weight, and wouldn’t intervene by force feeding her if she’s feeding by herself. But she does has sour crop and now she’s ten times weaker than she already was, and I’m guessing that she won’t last more than a day, going by how weak she seems.

She’s super lethargic and pale and so so sooo needs food and some sort of nutrients, but I’ve read that you shouldn’t feed them with sour crop– you should at least wait for the fluid to drain. But it’s gonna kill her! I’m so conflicted.
Tried home-treating her today with vinegar water and a fennel seed tea mixture, but it hasn’t had any effect.
Would feeding her yoghurt and boiled egg while she still has sour crop make it worse? I know you’re only meant to feed it to them afterwards but she honestly won’t live another day at this rate. I need to do something, but I don’t know what!

 

[CluckNDoodle]

It may be helpful to explain what her other issues were so that others can better assist you. If the sour crop was due to impaction or antibiotics I'm sure that makes a difference as well.

I've only dealt with sour crop once so I'm confident someone else will have something better to say but I didn't stop feeding my chicken while she had sour crop if that makes you feel better. I gave her extra grit in scrambled eggs and added RopaPoultry to her water, which is an oregano and vitamin supplement. I also gently massaged her crop daily very carefully, only rubbing the areas with solid food trying to break up anything that may have been causing an impaction, which was likely responsible for the sour crop in my case. Just be careful with this depending on how severe the case is and make sure you don't cause the chicken to aspirate by pushing fluids up.

I hope your chicken pulls through!

 

[Kawkawkaye]

It may be helpful to explain what her other issues were so that others can better assist you. If the sour crop was due to impaction or antibiotics I'm sure that makes a difference as well.

I've only dealt with sour crop once so I'm confident someone else will have something better to say but I didn't stop feeding my chicken while she had sour crop if that makes you feel better. I gave her extra grit in scrambled eggs and added RopaPoultry to her water, which is an oregano and vitamin supplement. I also gently massaged her crop daily very carefully, only rubbing the areas with solid food trying to break up anything that may have been causing an impaction, which was likely responsible for the sour crop in my case. Just be careful with this depending on how severe the case is and make sure you don't cause the chicken to aspirate by pushing fluids up.

I hope your chicken pulls through!

Thank you!
I can’t feel any blockages, and it’s not doughy or anything, just liquid. This particular chook gets stressed easily, and everytime it happens, she fasts. This time it was because her best friend chook in the flock got sick (not contagious– an egg burst in her abdomen and she was very poorly for a while). So we think the stress compromised her immune system, which is what caused this. Well that’s my theory, anyway, just from several articles I’ve read. She doesn’t have an official diagnosis, I’m just spectating from the outside.
Our circumstances are different, but I think you’ve given me the confidence to try feeding her tomorrow. My mum read today that yukults help, and are a strong probiotic (I don’t know if you’ve heard of them– basically they’re probiotic fungus-stuff that boosts the immune system– intended for human consumption)

 

[Kawkawkaye]

While I think of it, can blockages happen in the inner digestive system of the chook? I can’t find anything while feeling the crop.
Apparently sour crop can occur without blockage, but I’m just trying to rule out some more causes.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Yes, sour crop can happen without a blockage. It's from a fungus, basically like a yeast infection in her crop. I'm not familiar with yukults so I can't say how it would work with a chicken but I do know oregano is safe for chickens and is naturally antifungal and antibiotic.

With her being as weak as she sounds I would at least offer her some sort of vitamin supplement to give her a boost. As I mentioned above, I used Ropapoultry because it covered both bases with oregano and vitamins but Nutridrench is a great vitamin supplement as well and is what I typically reach for when I'm concerned about a chicken.
Other than that I would be careful to thoroughly clean all of their water containers just to be safe.

With your description I worry that taking a more aggressive approach to the treatment while she's already sick may be too hard on her delicate system. I have my fingers crossed for a quick recovery!

 

[Kawkawkaye]

Yes, sour crop can happen without a blockage. It's from a fungus, basically like a yeast infection in her crop. I'm not familiar with yukults so I can't say how it would work with a chicken but I do know oregano is safe for chickens and is naturally antifungal and antibiotic.

With her being as weak as she sounds I would at least offer her some sort of vitamin supplement to give her a boost. As I mentioned above, I used Ropapoultry because it covered both bases with oregano and vitamins but Nutridrench is a great vitamin supplement as well and is what I typically reach for when I'm concerned about a chicken.
Other than that I would be careful to thoroughly clean all of their water containers just to be safe.

With your description I worry that taking a more aggressive approach to the treatment while she's already sick may be too hard on her delicate system. I have my fingers crossed for a quick recovery!

That’s my concern too... it’s hard not knowing which issue is going to kill her first (not to sound bleak)