Running out of ideas on crop problem

[RoosterML]

@bevis i just finished dealing with sour crop. Here is what I did:
Induced vomiting to clear her crop.
Step 1 moved her by herself.
2- removed food and left only fresh water for 24 hours
3- boiled eggs and gave her the yolk only. Also added 2 scoops yogurt.
4- tried Monistat cream 1/2” on finger tip 2 times a day. I sprinkled
Some crumble feed on it so she ate it right off my finger tip.
5- after a couple days and worsening condition I came to the conclusion enough was enough and put her down.
I hope you have better luck with yours.

 

[Kdlevesque]

Once she started puking on her own, I did gently massage to get it out. It was absolutely disgusting. I actually dosed her with the monistat again Last night so she’d have 2 doses yesterday. When I went out this AM she was down scratching with the rest. I felt her crop AND it was empty! I am wondering if the meds would have worked that fast. I gave her another dose and she gulped down an entire scrambled egg. I could feel her crop refilling as she ate but it was more firm and felt like it was the food. She seems good but her comb is still a little droopy. I am hoping that we got it in time. Gonna continue this regime for 6 more days. She did not puke this AM.

 

[bevis]

Once she started puking on her own, I did gently massage to get it out. It was absolutely disgusting. I actually dosed her with the monistat again Last night so she’d have 2 doses yesterday. When I went out this AM she was down scratching with the rest. I felt her crop AND it was empty! I am wondering if the meds would have worked that fast. I gave her another dose and she gulped down an entire scrambled egg. I could feel her crop refilling as she ate but it was more firm and felt like it was the food. She seems good but her comb is still a little droopy. I am hoping that we got it in time. Gonna continue this regime for 6 more days. She did not puke this AM.

Thats GREAT news
DO NOT stop the 2 times a day monostat for 7 days to ensure that the yeast does not come back !

 

[bevis]

@bevis i just finished dealing with sour crop. Here is what I did:
Induced vomiting to clear her crop.
Step 1 moved her by herself.
2- removed food and left only fresh water for 24 hours
3- boiled eggs and gave her the yolk only. Also added 2 scoops yogurt.
4- tried Monistat cream 1/2” on finger tip 2 times a day. I sprinkled
Some crumble feed on it so she ate it right off my finger tip.
5- after a couple days and worsening condition I came to the conclusion enough was enough and put her down.
I hope you have better luck with yours.

Monistat is certainly not the go to for vage cream treatment. the Clotrimazole 2% is a much better choice and could have saved her life. you had more choices. sorry for her and you that you gave up that early in the process.

 

[RoosterML]

Monistat is certainly not the go to for vage cream treatment. the Clotrimazole 2% is a much better choice and could have saved her life. you had more choices. sorry for her and you that you gave up that early in the process.

Actually I don’t feel I gave up on her or the process. I think I did the responsible thing as the owner. She was not processing or emptying the crop at all. The only time it was going down is when I was emptying her crop for her. In the end it had swollen to softball size as she was standing next to the waterer and continuously drinking. Enough was enough and I feel I did what I could and nothing was left to be done.
I was not going to make her continue to suffer because I didn’t want to let go or hold onto “HOPE” that to me is animal cruelty.
One word of advice do NOT use the Axe and stump with a swollen crop.

 

[coach723]

Here is another link for a good article on crop problems:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...ntion-and-treatments-of-crop-disorders.67194/
As you are finding out, crop problems can be frustrating. There are numerous things that can be the ultimate cause and it can be frustrating figuring it out. Sometimes the ultimate cause is not known for sure until necropsy. The problem is sometimes in the crop itself, but often is farther down the digestive tract. The article I gave the link to discusses all of the possible causes. In older hens a slow, doughy, or impacted crop can be from reproductive problems which cause pressure in the abdomen and slow everything down. Impacted gizzards from eating foreign objects (hardware disease) are really difficult to diagnose. An xray might show it depending on what the object is, more often the cause is discovered at necropsy. I wish you luck, sometimes it can be resolved, sometimes not.
For @RoosterML , this may be helpful, this is how I do all mine:
https://www.muranochickenfarm.com/2017/06/the-easiest-way-to-cull-chicken.html

 

[Kdlevesque]

Actually I don’t feel I gave up on her or the process. I think I did the responsible thing as the owner. She was not processing or emptying the crop at all. The only time it was going down is when I was emptying her crop for her. In the end it had swollen to softball size as she was standing next to the waterer and continuously drinking. Enough was enough and I feel I did what I could and nothing was left to be done.
I was not going to make her continue to suffer because I didn’t want to let go or hold onto “HOPE” that to me is animal cruelty.
One word of advice do NOT use the Axe and stump with a swollen crop.

It’s always hard to do this. You did a humane compassionate thing. While mine is doing better, I know that she is not “cured” and I wouldn’t want her to suffer either. Having chickens is not for the faint of heart.

 

[Kdlevesque]

Well...she is not doing well today. I went out to check on them and she is just sitting in the nest box. Her crop was huge and mushy today and smelled horrible. Like spoiled milk. She vomited again when I picked her up so when we got done with that, I dosed her with the monistat. She will not eat the egg this AM. I feel defeated but I'm gonna keep trying.

 

[bevis]

Well...she is not doing well today. I went out to check on them and she is just sitting in the nest box. Her crop was huge and mushy today and smelled horrible. Like spoiled milk. She vomited again when I picked her up so when we got done with that, I dosed her with the monistat. She will not eat the egg this AM. I feel defeated but I'm gonna keep trying.

Don't feel defeated. She knows you are trying to help her. Please read this. This is authored by twocrows. she REALLY knows her stuff about these issues and she has guided me through saving more than one chicken in the last 5 years. i personally follow her instructions to the letter. Here is copy and paste from her -

Apple cider vinegar is definitely acidic when it goes in. HOWEVER...once the body digests it, it turns the body alkaline. So it has an alkalizing effect on the body. At first the ACV may not alkalize on contact, but over a day or so, it is starting to alkalize the crop via digestion. And by adding ACV to a chickens water once a week keeps the crop in a healthy state all the time with less chances of souring.

I don't do the yogurt either. As Pwand has talked about, it produces a lot of mucus. So while there is ACV in the water, I add probiotics to the feed. Attack with good probiotics on all fronts. And by the way, ACV with the mother in it, has probiotics as well.

If the yeast infection goes unnoticed for a long period of time, it can get completely out of control and need medications. I have tried vet recommended Nystatin with absolutely no luck. The problem with Nystatin is, that it MUST come directly in contact with the yeast/fungal infection. So if there is ANY food in the crop, Nystatin just does not work. And because the chicken needs to eat all through out treatment, it seems to me to be a useless drug.

And as Pwand has mentioned and used, I have had SUPERIOR luck with vaginal cream. The Clortrimazole 2% works fabulous. I have not have much luck with Miconazole (monistat). I use a syringe (without the needle) and load in 1 cc of cream and dose the bird down the throat 3 times a day for the first few days. If the sour crop is not too far gone, 4 days later I can clear it all up.

I have a bird that is prone to sour crop. She will get it if someone even mentions raisins! (too sugary for her crop) Her first case of it was at 6 months old and it took me 2 full months to clear it up. She nearly died of not only of sour crop toxicity, but of starvation. I did not catch this sour crop until it was too far gone. She has had many more cases of it over the years, although because my sensitivity to her needs, she gets it very little any more. Although I now have a "crop obsession", LOL and everybody gets their crops fondled regularly.

So...the moral of the story is...add ACV to your chickens water once a week for good health, don't over do the acidic foods and be careful with free rangers. Check their crops on a regular basis first thing in the morning. If you catch it early on, sour crop can be cleared up in a few days.

 

[Kdlevesque]

Don't feel defeated. She knows you are trying to help her. Please read this. This is authored by twocrows. she REALLY knows her stuff about these issues and she has guided me through saving more than one chicken in the last 5 years. i personally follow her instructions to the letter. Here is copy and paste from her -

Apple cider vinegar is definitely acidic when it goes in. HOWEVER...once the body digests it, it turns the body alkaline. So it has an alkalizing effect on the body. At first the ACV may not alkalize on contact, but over a day or so, it is starting to alkalize the crop via digestion. And by adding ACV to a chickens water once a week keeps the crop in a healthy state all the time with less chances of souring.

I don't do the yogurt either. As Pwand has talked about, it produces a lot of mucus. So while there is ACV in the water, I add probiotics to the feed. Attack with good probiotics on all fronts. And by the way, ACV with the mother in it, has probiotics as well.

If the yeast infection goes unnoticed for a long period of time, it can get completely out of control and need medications. I have tried vet recommended Nystatin with absolutely no luck. The problem with Nystatin is, that it MUST come directly in contact with the yeast/fungal infection. So if there is ANY food in the crop, Nystatin just does not work. And because the chicken needs to eat all through out treatment, it seems to me to be a useless drug.

And as Pwand has mentioned and used, I have had SUPERIOR luck with vaginal cream. The Clortrimazole 2% works fabulous. I have not have much luck with Miconazole (monistat). I use a syringe (without the needle) and load in 1 cc of cream and dose the bird down the throat 3 times a day for the first few days. If the sour crop is not too far gone, 4 days later I can clear it all up.

I have a bird that is prone to sour crop. She will get it if someone even mentions raisins! (too sugary for her crop) Her first case of it was at 6 months old and it took me 2 full months to clear it up. She nearly died of not only of sour crop toxicity, but of starvation. I did not catch this sour crop until it was too far gone. She has had many more cases of it over the years, although because my sensitivity to her needs, she gets it very little any more. Although I now have a "crop obsession", LOL and everybody gets their crops fondled regularly.

So...the moral of the story is...add ACV to your chickens water once a week for good health, don't over do the acidic foods and be careful with free rangers. Check their crops on a regular basis first thing in the morning. If you catch it early on, sour crop can be cleared up in a few days.

Thank you for the article...I am going to try one more thing until I move to something else. I am going to make her a "crop bra" today and see if that speeds up crop emptying. She seems a little better after she vomited this AM. I think she feels better when she gets that nasty stuff out.