- Apr 24, 2013
- 10
- 1
- 22
Hello everyone,
I'm hoping for some advise. I have an 8/9 week old white orpington pullet who I noticed on Monday night seemed a little lethargic and when I picked her up noticed she had a crop full of water. As I picked her up, some drops of water also came out of her mouth. From what I've read, this is often a symptom of Sour Crop. However, I'm not totally sure that's what it is, and also even if it is sour crop, I'm not sure exactly how to treat it. Hoping you guys can help!
These are her exact symptoms:
Crop full of water. Less active than normal, but still walking around and pecking with the others (I have 8 total pullets this age and 4 older, year old hens). When I picked her up, drops of water came out of her beak. She is still pooping, it's pretty runny and dark brown with the white coating. She is not eating or drinking anything on her own at all in the cage. We've had to syringe all substances.
Here is how we have treated her so far:
Monday night- noticed the problem, separated her from the flock and put her in a large wire crate in the house. Because water was already coming out of her mouth, I massaged the crop a bit and quite a lot of water came out. The fluid coming out smells like chicken feed, but not noticeably sour, which makes me question whether it is sour crop. I kept up the crop massage for a little while and she seemed to regurgitate a lot of fluid and just a little bit of grains/corn/feed, then the crop felt quite empty. I did some research, thought it might be sour crop, so I started syringing her a couple (about 3)cc's of Mother's Apple Cider Vinegar. We left her overnight with water with a little apple cider vinegar in it. I put her on a bar to roost and she stayed put all night. Was pooping dark brown (and white) and fairly runny.
Tuesday- in the morning I tried giving her a little bread soaked in olive oil and fresh plain water, but she was not interested in either. We syringed about 1cc of olive oil and 3ccs of apple cider vinegar to her, and she put up a bit of a fight while that happened, but otherwise was pretty lethargic. She just stays in one place in the cage, sometimes sitting sometimes standing.
In the afternoon, we tried giving her a little pullet feed (corn and grains) to peck at, but still not interested. We syringed about 10ccs of lactose-free Kefir. I put her on a bar to roost for the night again and she stayed there. Went to bed with a pretty full crop. We weighed her and she is at 1lb 2.4oz, the other pullets her age weigh aprox. 1lb 7oz (although it's really hard to get them to stay still and be weighed).
Wednesday (today)- this morning she was still on the roost pole, had pooped even darker brown and not much white, fairly runny. She was still rather lethargic but walking around a little when I brought her down from the roost pole. Her crop was fairly full- it's hard to tell if it's going down at all. I syringed her another 10ccs of Kefir and 1cc olive oil.
My questions are: 1. Which liquid is best for us to focus on giving her? 2. Do you think this is a case of sour crop or something else? 3. What is the best course of action overall? and 4. Is there some advantage in giving her antibiotics before she gets too far gone, just in case? I'm not for the over-use of antibiotics, but a live chicken who didn't need them is better than a dead chicken, right? so if there's any reason to think it might help, should I start antibiotics right away?
HELP please!!
I'm hoping for some advise. I have an 8/9 week old white orpington pullet who I noticed on Monday night seemed a little lethargic and when I picked her up noticed she had a crop full of water. As I picked her up, some drops of water also came out of her mouth. From what I've read, this is often a symptom of Sour Crop. However, I'm not totally sure that's what it is, and also even if it is sour crop, I'm not sure exactly how to treat it. Hoping you guys can help!
These are her exact symptoms:
Crop full of water. Less active than normal, but still walking around and pecking with the others (I have 8 total pullets this age and 4 older, year old hens). When I picked her up, drops of water came out of her beak. She is still pooping, it's pretty runny and dark brown with the white coating. She is not eating or drinking anything on her own at all in the cage. We've had to syringe all substances.
Here is how we have treated her so far:
Monday night- noticed the problem, separated her from the flock and put her in a large wire crate in the house. Because water was already coming out of her mouth, I massaged the crop a bit and quite a lot of water came out. The fluid coming out smells like chicken feed, but not noticeably sour, which makes me question whether it is sour crop. I kept up the crop massage for a little while and she seemed to regurgitate a lot of fluid and just a little bit of grains/corn/feed, then the crop felt quite empty. I did some research, thought it might be sour crop, so I started syringing her a couple (about 3)cc's of Mother's Apple Cider Vinegar. We left her overnight with water with a little apple cider vinegar in it. I put her on a bar to roost and she stayed put all night. Was pooping dark brown (and white) and fairly runny.
Tuesday- in the morning I tried giving her a little bread soaked in olive oil and fresh plain water, but she was not interested in either. We syringed about 1cc of olive oil and 3ccs of apple cider vinegar to her, and she put up a bit of a fight while that happened, but otherwise was pretty lethargic. She just stays in one place in the cage, sometimes sitting sometimes standing.
In the afternoon, we tried giving her a little pullet feed (corn and grains) to peck at, but still not interested. We syringed about 10ccs of lactose-free Kefir. I put her on a bar to roost for the night again and she stayed there. Went to bed with a pretty full crop. We weighed her and she is at 1lb 2.4oz, the other pullets her age weigh aprox. 1lb 7oz (although it's really hard to get them to stay still and be weighed).
Wednesday (today)- this morning she was still on the roost pole, had pooped even darker brown and not much white, fairly runny. She was still rather lethargic but walking around a little when I brought her down from the roost pole. Her crop was fairly full- it's hard to tell if it's going down at all. I syringed her another 10ccs of Kefir and 1cc olive oil.
My questions are: 1. Which liquid is best for us to focus on giving her? 2. Do you think this is a case of sour crop or something else? 3. What is the best course of action overall? and 4. Is there some advantage in giving her antibiotics before she gets too far gone, just in case? I'm not for the over-use of antibiotics, but a live chicken who didn't need them is better than a dead chicken, right? so if there's any reason to think it might help, should I start antibiotics right away?
HELP please!!
