Hi there, I was away for a few weeks and one of the people looking after my chickens accidentally left the lid on their treadle feeder off and it rained... (I'm sure you know where this is going) so the food got wet. I didn't want to waste it all so I left them to eat as much as they could in a few days. Just to clarify they left the lid off the day before I got back! I then was sick and had my mind on other things so when I went to check on them when I remembered 4 days later the food was moldy and all my chickens have sour crop.
I have a mix of different breeds in my flock but everyone is ranging from 6 months to 2 1/2 yrs. The older girls are molting and one of my hens has never been well since her last molt and has lost a lot of weight over the past year so I'm not sure how much longer she's going to last but she's a fighter. I have 14 chickens in total!
On Sunday I shut them in their coops with only diluted acv to drink and no food. On Monday morning I think everyone's crop was pretty much empty so I gave them Growers Pellets, dried calciworms with cayenne pepper, garlic powder and oregano mixed with hot water (I let it cool a bit.) On Tuesday morning only the sick hen and one of my white leghorns crops weren't completely empty so everyone except the two went out to free range to find grit (I do not buy grit as I have a gravel drive so I figure they have plenty.) The other two were shut in a gravel run where there isn't really any foraging to do. The all had the same food and drink as yesterday. Tuesday night at least 3 of the birds crops felt normal again. The leghorn that was shut in with the sick hen had a very swollen crop that felt like a huge water balloon. This morning (Wednesday) everyone that was free ranging yesterday accidently got let out before I could feel their crops. Only one had a noticable crop. They two shut in seem to be getting better. I am still giving them the acv and wet food.
So I have some questions...
How do I know when they are better?
When do I stop acv and start yogurt?
When should I get an anti yeast treatment if they aren't getting better?
Also for the future what is the best treatment I could get here in the UK?
Thanks in advance!
I have a mix of different breeds in my flock but everyone is ranging from 6 months to 2 1/2 yrs. The older girls are molting and one of my hens has never been well since her last molt and has lost a lot of weight over the past year so I'm not sure how much longer she's going to last but she's a fighter. I have 14 chickens in total!
On Sunday I shut them in their coops with only diluted acv to drink and no food. On Monday morning I think everyone's crop was pretty much empty so I gave them Growers Pellets, dried calciworms with cayenne pepper, garlic powder and oregano mixed with hot water (I let it cool a bit.) On Tuesday morning only the sick hen and one of my white leghorns crops weren't completely empty so everyone except the two went out to free range to find grit (I do not buy grit as I have a gravel drive so I figure they have plenty.) The other two were shut in a gravel run where there isn't really any foraging to do. The all had the same food and drink as yesterday. Tuesday night at least 3 of the birds crops felt normal again. The leghorn that was shut in with the sick hen had a very swollen crop that felt like a huge water balloon. This morning (Wednesday) everyone that was free ranging yesterday accidently got let out before I could feel their crops. Only one had a noticable crop. They two shut in seem to be getting better. I am still giving them the acv and wet food.
So I have some questions...
How do I know when they are better?
When do I stop acv and start yogurt?
When should I get an anti yeast treatment if they aren't getting better?
Also for the future what is the best treatment I could get here in the UK?
Thanks in advance!
