carlaashdown
Songster
Sour crop is frustrating to me, because there is no definitive treatment. I’ve never had a chicken with crop issues for this long, usually resolves in a few days.
About five weeks ago, my (then) 8 month old girl had what was probably a leg sprain and was limping. This prompted me to bring her inside.…and subsequently discovered she had an impacted crop. It likely occurred the day before, because I’d moved some things around in their pen and she gorged herself on all the goodies underneath. I called the chickens in for bad weather, but she was determined to get all of whatever was there (bugs and dirt for sure, maybe some tiny rocks - they have a secure covered, enclosed run and coop). THEN she ate a ton of grit either that night or the next morning. I’m guessing because she was instinctively trying to clear things out, but unfortunately a crop full of grit made things worse.
Prior to this, she was laying daily and perfectly healthy. None of my other chickens are sick either.
It took weeks of massaging, olive oil, mineral oil, and the cinnamon/ginger/cayenne/lemon juice mixture to clear things out. Slowly but surely we made progress. At one point, she passed a smooth rock that was about the size of a dime. Off and on during this time, she’s had sour crop also, as everything was slow moving. Occasionally doughy. It does not seem like she has a blockage now, when I massage her crop I can’t feel anything other than the food she eats - but it’s full, watery, and gassy. (I can’t smell it though, because I can’t smell very well anyway).
WHAT WE FEED AND WHAT WE’VE TRIED:
They have two waterers - one with ACV added, and one with probiotics added.
We have well water.
They eat Purina Flock Raiser crumbles with a brewers yeast and vitamin added (Fresh Eggs Daily).
Free choice oyster shell.
I also bake, crush, and feed their eggshells back to them (Free choice in a feeder beside the oyster shell).
Free choice grit.
Massaging several times a day.
Olive oil.
Coconut oil.
Mineral oil.
The cinnamon, ginger, cayenne, lemon juice mixture.
Baking soda.
Miconazole for weeks.
Scrambled eggs, soft mash of her food, etc.
HydroHen.
Nutri Drench.
Her poop is normal. When she had the blockage, she pooped small amounts, small pieces, but now it appears normal.
She is active, doesn’t appear sick, except when her crop is full and she’s miserable.
Her crop is contracting often and it’s strong. I can feel it when I’m holding her or massaging. It seems to be working like it should.
She is very thin now. Obviously not getting the nutrition she needs.
None of my other hens are sick nor have been sick.
She was laying daily for months until this happened. She laid twice after I brought her in for the leg sprain, then stopped. She has not laid now in four weeks. Has no signs of being egg bound.
The leg sprain resolved in a few days and is now fine.
QUESTIONS:
I have ordered Acidified Copper Sulfate, will be here Thursday. Should I try that??
I have also ordered a crop bra. Although her crop doesn’t appear to be pendulous. Yet.
Should I treat the whole flock with Safeguard just in case? No diarrhea or signs of worms in any of my chickens.
We do not have a local avian vet.
Any new suggestions or something I‘m missing?
Like most of y’all here, my chickens are pets. And of course, this one is special and my son’s favorite.
Thank you in advance for reading and any advice you have to offer.
About five weeks ago, my (then) 8 month old girl had what was probably a leg sprain and was limping. This prompted me to bring her inside.…and subsequently discovered she had an impacted crop. It likely occurred the day before, because I’d moved some things around in their pen and she gorged herself on all the goodies underneath. I called the chickens in for bad weather, but she was determined to get all of whatever was there (bugs and dirt for sure, maybe some tiny rocks - they have a secure covered, enclosed run and coop). THEN she ate a ton of grit either that night or the next morning. I’m guessing because she was instinctively trying to clear things out, but unfortunately a crop full of grit made things worse.
Prior to this, she was laying daily and perfectly healthy. None of my other chickens are sick either.
It took weeks of massaging, olive oil, mineral oil, and the cinnamon/ginger/cayenne/lemon juice mixture to clear things out. Slowly but surely we made progress. At one point, she passed a smooth rock that was about the size of a dime. Off and on during this time, she’s had sour crop also, as everything was slow moving. Occasionally doughy. It does not seem like she has a blockage now, when I massage her crop I can’t feel anything other than the food she eats - but it’s full, watery, and gassy. (I can’t smell it though, because I can’t smell very well anyway).
WHAT WE FEED AND WHAT WE’VE TRIED:
They have two waterers - one with ACV added, and one with probiotics added.
We have well water.
They eat Purina Flock Raiser crumbles with a brewers yeast and vitamin added (Fresh Eggs Daily).
Free choice oyster shell.
I also bake, crush, and feed their eggshells back to them (Free choice in a feeder beside the oyster shell).
Free choice grit.
Massaging several times a day.
Olive oil.
Coconut oil.
Mineral oil.
The cinnamon, ginger, cayenne, lemon juice mixture.
Baking soda.
Miconazole for weeks.
Scrambled eggs, soft mash of her food, etc.
HydroHen.
Nutri Drench.
Her poop is normal. When she had the blockage, she pooped small amounts, small pieces, but now it appears normal.
She is active, doesn’t appear sick, except when her crop is full and she’s miserable.
Her crop is contracting often and it’s strong. I can feel it when I’m holding her or massaging. It seems to be working like it should.
She is very thin now. Obviously not getting the nutrition she needs.
None of my other hens are sick nor have been sick.
She was laying daily for months until this happened. She laid twice after I brought her in for the leg sprain, then stopped. She has not laid now in four weeks. Has no signs of being egg bound.
The leg sprain resolved in a few days and is now fine.
QUESTIONS:
I have ordered Acidified Copper Sulfate, will be here Thursday. Should I try that??
I have also ordered a crop bra. Although her crop doesn’t appear to be pendulous. Yet.
Should I treat the whole flock with Safeguard just in case? No diarrhea or signs of worms in any of my chickens.
We do not have a local avian vet.
Any new suggestions or something I‘m missing?
Like most of y’all here, my chickens are pets. And of course, this one is special and my son’s favorite.
Thank you in advance for reading and any advice you have to offer.
) so when I had this issue with Winona, who also happened to be my favorite chicken, just shy of 7 weeks old, I knew I just needed to keep going until something good happened.
I hope I never decide I want to move on campus, because I'll have to be sneaking chickens into a dorm 
I read somewhere that both garlic and plain yoghurt (for the probiotics) were helpful, so I pressed a clove of garlic and mixed about a quarter of a clove with some PLAIN yoghurt and thankfully my girl ate it all up. She's always loved dairy. 
Then I watched Netflix while holding her on my lap and manually massaging the squish for over an hour, and managed to shove everything into the proventriculus. More yoghurt and garlic the next day and controlling what she ate (low starch and mostly proteins and fat) and it cleared up quickly. She was only sour because everything is slowing down now that she's an old lady and nearing the end, but I'm definitely going to try the same thing again when next a bird goes sour. 
