Pendulous Crop or Sour Crop

[Clevelcj]

I have a BA who is approx 6 months old. Two days ago i noticed her crop was quite distended (approx. the size of a tennis ball). I isolated her the next morning and kept her off of food for approximately 24 hours. She had access to water with ACV, which she seemed to be drinking normally. That night and this morning, I have been massaging the crop and it is starting to shrink. The crop is very squishy and maleable.
This morning i gave her some plain yogurt with a small amount of pellets in it and she ate it right up. Her poop looks normal and she does not appear to be distressed (minus being isolated). She has been pooping a lot as if everything is passing through fine, but the crop does not appear to be shrinking at an equal rate. My question is, is this sour crop, or could it be a pendulous crop even though she has not had crop damage before?

 

[azygous]

Unless you check the crop last thing before roosting and first thing in the morning before permitting access to food and water, you really can't know for sure what condition the crop is in. Here's an article I wrote to help you figure out what's going on. https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

The crop is normally the size of a golf ball to a tennis ball during the day, and it empties and refills as a chicken eats and drinks throughout the day. As long as a chicken is behaving normally, pooping normally, and eating normally, you need not be concerned about the crop size.

However, if a chicken isn't interested in food and is drinking water exclusively and in large amounts and is lethargic, then you need to monitor the crop. The article will help you determine which crop disorder, if any, your chicken might have and how to treat it.

 

[Clevelcj]

Unless you check the crop last thing before roosting and first thing in the morning before permitting access to food and water, you really can't know for sure what condition the crop is in. Here's an article I wrote to help you figure out what's going on. https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

The crop is normally the size of a golf ball to a tennis ball during the day, and it empties and refills as a chicken eats and drinks throughout the day. As long as a chicken is behaving normally, pooping normally, and eating normally, you need not be concerned about the crop size.

However, if a chicken isn't interested in food and is drinking water exclusively and in large amounts and is lethargic, then you need to monitor the crop. The article will help you determine which crop disorder, if any, your chicken might have and how to treat it.

The Crop recently became much more distended. On both nights, I have felt the crop last thing at night and first thing in the morning. In both cases the crop was very slightly decreased in size, but still much more pronounced than it had been even 3 days before and much larger than any of my other hens. I am additionally still able to feel that the crop is full of some liquids and solids.
She is acting and pooping normally, but such a distended crop out of nowhere that does not decrease much in size (maybe 10%) during the night has me worried. I will continue to monitor, but if you have any further information based on this reply, please let me know. thank you.

 

[azygous]

If a crop isn't flat and empty come morning, it's safe to assume a crop disorder of some sort. The next step is to determine which so you then know how to go about treating it to get it back to normal.

A squishy, liquid-feeling crop in the morning would indicate a yeast infection, especially if the poop is white and watery or "cottage cheesy". You would treat the yeast with an anti-yeast medicine such as miconazole.
You don't normally want to massage a sour crop or make the hen vomit as the sour liquid can back up into the airway.

A hard, lumpy crop, perhaps smelling like a stopped up garbage disposal, likely is an impacted crop. You would treat this condition with several doses of mineral oil, coconut oil or olive oil. You might need to add a stool softener. You might also need to treat a sour smelling impacted crop with an anti-yeast medicine after breaking up the impaction with oil and massage.

If all attempts to treat a crop disorder fail, and the crop continues to be full and refuse to empty, and if it is overly large and hangs down low from the chest wall, you may have a pendulous crop that needs support in order to empty. This condition may be temporary if the hen is young, but permanent in older hens with poor muscle tone on their chest wall. A support device is helpful to keep the crop functioning.

Occasionally, but not very frequently, a crop defies all attempts to treat. There is usually an underlying serious health issue in these cases that needs to be addressed. Often these cases end up being fatal.

 

[GretchenM]

I realize this is an older thread, but if anyone is still listening... ;-) Where do you find a crop support device?

 

[azygous]

You can make your own. Simple starter pattern here. https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

 

[GretchenM]

I was afraid someone was gonna say that... ;-)