PLEASE HELP! MY CHICKEN HAS SOUR CROP AND MAY BE DYING, I HAVE TRIED ALMOST EVERYTHING!

[findlesticks]

My Chick Chick became ill with sour crop 10 days ago, I took her to the vet who diagnosed sour crop, he emptied her stomach and gave me antibiotics for her, that was 8 days ago with no improvement. He said if no improvement in 1 week then I should consider putting her to sleep! to me that sounds drastic.

Her crop is still filling up, she is lethargic, she drinks water and only eats a tiny amount of food, she is bone thin.

All week I have been trying different methods to get rid of it:- probiotic yoghurt (she ate a small amount and will no longer eat it) I tried a small amount of red wine (she hates that too) I tried apple cider vinegar in her water, she now won't eat eggs, she cannot eat pellets (she tries but keeps being sick on them). I have tried coconut oil too.

Last night I managed to get hold of some probiotic powder to put in her water but she seems to know that there is something in it and is avoiding it! luckily she ate some mealworms last night and this morning but no longer seems interested in food.

she wanted to go outside with the other hens so I let her but she comes back very lethargic, I let her out so that she could have fresh air and see the others.

I keep her warm and comfortable inside on a night and most of the day, with food and water available, one minute she seems to perk up the next she looks like she is knocking on heavens door, is there anything else out there I can try??? I am desperate

 

[BantamLover21]

I'm sorry about your hen.

Does the crop ever go down? Its possible that she has some sort of blockage further along in her digestive tract, like the gizzard, that is preventing food/water from passing through. Unfortunately, if that were the case, there is nothing you can really do, and it would be better to put her down.

One possible treatment (that I don't think you've tried yet) is dosing her with an anti-fungal medication, like Monistat. It isn't 100% effective, but several people have reported success. It may be one last thing to try before giving up. I don't have personal experience treating sour crop with an anti-fungal medication, so I can't tell you for sure how to use it. Hopefully other BYCers who have experience with that will come along and help you.

Good luck!

 

[findlesticks]

Thank you for your help, chick chick died in my arms last Friday, I am totally grief stricken, she was very weak and thin, I actually thought that she was improving then suddenly overnight she deteriorated.
I now make sure all my hens have pro-biotics and I keep an eye on their crop and watch them carefully, I never thought I would feel this bad about chick chick, my chickens are my pets and I am dreading any more illnesses.

 

[BantamLover21]

Thank you for your help, chick chick died in my arms last Friday, I am totally grief stricken, she was very weak and thin, I actually thought that she was improving then suddenly overnight she deteriorated.
I now make sure all my hens have pro-biotics and I keep an eye on their crop and watch them carefully, I never thought I would feel this bad about chick chick, my chickens are my pets and I am dreading any more illnesses.

I'm sorry for your loss.