Should I Treat Sour Crop while also Treating Respiratory Infection?

[Stephoney]

My lovely year and a half old Australorp, Betty, has come down with a respiratory infection. She’s got boogers, coughs, sneezes like a rooster crows- the whole nine yards. I started her on .5 Tylan 50 orally last night and brought her inside to the luxury hen suite next to our deck slider so the other hens could swing by to say hello through the door. Today she’s still weezing and sneezing, but seems alert. I’ve offered her yogurt, scrambled eggs, layer feed, dried soldier fly larvae, watermelon and corn. She turned up her beak at everything except the corn and watermelon and a small bit of water. Though not exactly the breakfast of champions, I was counting it as a win since she hadn’t eaten much the day before. I just got her out for a second dose of meds and realized that her crop felt squishy and large. I know antibiotics can sometimes cause the good bacteria to be killed off and lead to sour crop, but i just started the medication last night. I have successfully treated hens with Monistat in the past. My question is, should I be treating her for sour crop while I’m also treating her for the respiratory infection or should I wait? I know the corn and watermelon are a bad idea with sour crop, but I’m worried about her not eating at all. I can force some yogurt into her. We’ll probably both be wearing it afterwards- not the most cooperative hen. Also, she’s having a hard enough time breathing as it is with her respiratory infection and I don't want to cause her any more distress than I have to. Anyone have a similar issue?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

She’s got boogers, coughs, sneezes like a rooster crows- the whole nine yards. I started her on .5 Tylan 50 orally last night

I just got her out for a second dose of meds and realized that her crop felt squishy and large. I know antibiotics can sometimes cause the good bacteria to be killed off and lead to sour crop, but i just started the medication last night. I have successfully treated hens with Monistat in the past.

How much does she weigh?
Injectable Tylan 50 dose is 0.25ml per pound of weight given orally 3 times a day for 5 days.

I would wait and check her crop first thing in the morning before she's had anything to eat/drink all night to determine if it's emptying/functioning correctly or not.

Do make sure she's drinking well.

Do you notice any lesions, white/yellow pasty material inside her beak? Any bad odors?

Have you ever had respiratory illness within your flock? Added new birds recently?

 

[Stephoney]

Good Evening,
Thanks for responding to my questions. Betty weighs somewhere between 5 and 6 pounds. I’ve been giving her .5 3x/day (once last night when I first dosed her and 3 times today). It seems it’s starting to kick in. She was mostly lethargic and hadn’t really eaten much until the dose this evening. I gave her more feed, grit, BSF worms, and a fresh clod of grass to pick at. She went for it for at least an hour, munching on just about everything and drinking a lot of water. She’s still sounds congested when she breathes, but the sneezing is down to only a few times tonight. I’m hoping her crop looks/feels normal tomorrow after such a good night. I’ll check it tomorrow to see if it’s empty. As for lesions, I haven’t seen any on her or in her mouth. I can’t smell anything like what I’ve smelled on other hens with sour crop. Her eyes are clear and her face isn’t swollen.

I’ve been watching the rest of my flock for any signs of infection. So far, so good. No one seems out of sorts, no sneezing or raspy breathing. I have hard plastic coops that I cleaned with Oxine on all walls. The inside of the greenhouse is a little trickier to disinfect- it’s pretty large. I cleaned the windows and roosts and as many surfaces as I could. Betty is a pretty quiet, shy chicken and only hangs out with a few of the flock when she’s free ranging. They seem fine thus far.

I haven’t had any respiratory illness in my flock thus far- this is a first. I added 3 month-old chicks about a month ago. They are housed separately from the other hens- no contact with them. I’m pretty careful about keeping waterers and coops clean. We do have wild birds that come into the automatic door in the greenhouse. That’s the only thing I can think of.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Betty weighs somewhere between 5 and 6 pounds. I’ve been giving her .5 3x/day (once last night when I first dosed her and 3 times today).

She went for it for at least an hour, munching on just about everything and drinking a lot of water. She’s still sounds congested when she breathes, but the sneezing is down

If she weighs 5-6lbs then you are underdosing her. Dose was posted above and is quoted below again for your convenience. I recommend that you adjust what you are giving her.

Drinking a lot of water, I sure would check the crop too. Hopefully it's emptying. If it's not and you feel she's on the road to having a sour crop, then I would prepare for treating her. Antibiotics can make a crop problem worse. You can start with coconut oil, but you may need an antifungal as well. https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

Injectable Tylan 50 dose is 0.25ml per pound of weight given orally 3 times a day for 5 days.

 

[Stephoney]

Hello Again,

Thank you for correcting my dosage. 1.25 mL sounds like a lot. I worry that her kidneys are going to take a toll. I’ll start her on that for her mid-day dose and hope to see a more rapid recovery. Her crop felt empty this morning, thankfully. Maybe my worries about sour crop were premature. She’s not eating much yet today, but she seems to be resting comfortably afte a few sneezes and coughs early on. Her poop was runny green and white, but also with some big plops of brown. Thankfully we have vinyl plank throughout the house so it’s an easy clean up. She found a mirror to keep her company this morning. Here’s a few photos of her as of around 9 am. How long should I keep her inside- after the dosages or when they’re finished, assuming she’s no longer coughing or sneezing?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Does she lay eggs or is there any bloat or fluid in her abdomen?

It's good that her crop emptied. I would give some probiotics.
As for when to put her back with the flock, that's up to you. If she's well enough to go back now and you can treat her while she's with the flock, then she could go back now or you can wait until treatment is finish then start re-integration. Whatever is causing the symptoms, if it's respiratory disease, the others have already been exposed to it.

 

[Stephoney]

She hasn’t laid an egg since mid-February. She and a few other hens started in late January, then suddenly all 3 stopped. No reason that I could figure out. I wonder now if it was because she was already beginning to feel sick. She only started looking sick a few days ago- more withdrawn, sneezing. The other hens started laying eggs again about 3 weeks ago, but not Betty. As for her abdomen, she is a bit squishy like possibly water belly. It doesn’t typically cause her any issues, aside from breathing a bit harder when she’s sitting down. It’s been that way since last year. I read up on it and it didn’t sound like there was any cure other than drawing fluid from her from time to time to temporarily alleviate the symptoms.
I added some probiotics to her water and all the other waterers in the yard. Hopefully she can avoid sour crop altogether. As far reintegrating her with the flock, that would be great since she’s getting pretty depressed sitting inside. It shouldn’t be too much of a problem to give her meds. Today I took her out in my front yard to hunt for bugs and give her a change of scenery. She ate a few worms and morsels, but immediately went to the fence where she could hear the rest of the flock. Do you think it would be a good idea to have soluable Tylan on hand for the entire flock? I know you said they’ve already been exposed, but I haven’t heard a sniffle out of any other hens so far. I don’t know what the incubation period is for respiratory infections though.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

She may be having some reproductive issues that are contributing to some of her symptoms as well.
Hopefully she'll come around and recover for a while.

There's no need to treat the whole flock if they are not symptomatic. Treat only birds that show obvious signs of illness.

 

[Mamatomany123]

She hasn’t laid an egg since mid-February. She and a few other hens started in late January, then suddenly all 3 stopped. No reason that I could figure out. I wonder now if it was because she was already beginning to feel sick. She only started looking sick a few days ago- more withdrawn, sneezing. The other hens started laying eggs again about 3 weeks ago, but not Betty. As for her abdomen, she is a bit squishy like possibly water belly. It doesn’t typically cause her any issues, aside from breathing a bit harder when she’s sitting down. It’s been that way since last year. I read up on it and it didn’t sound like there was any cure other than drawing fluid from her from time to time to temporarily alleviate the symptoms.
I added some probiotics to her water and all the other waterers in the yard. Hopefully she can avoid sour crop altogether. As far reintegrating her with the flock, that would be great since she’s getting pretty depressed sitting inside. It shouldn’t be too much of a problem to give her meds. Today I took her out in my front yard to hunt for bugs and give her a change of scenery. She ate a few worms and morsels, but immediately went to the fence where she could hear the rest of the flock. Do you think it would be a good idea to have soluable Tylan on hand for the entire flock? I know you said they’ve already been exposed, but I haven’t heard a sniffle out of any other hens so far. I don’t know what the incubation period is for respiratory infections though.

The thing is, respiratory infections never go away. The birds become carriers for life. Some will show symptoms while other don't. I would try wetting her feed and having her at that. While treats are nice,you want her getting good nutrients from her feed, especially while she's sick. Wild birds will bring more than a respiratory problem,especially now with avian flu going around. That would be the first thing I fix.

 

[Stephoney]

She may be having some reproductive issues that are contributing to some of her symptoms as well.
Hopefully she'll come around and recover for a while.

There's no need to treat the whole flock if they are not symptomatic. Treat only birds that show obvious signs of illness.

She may be having some reproductive issues that are contributing to some of her symptoms as well.
Hopefully she'll come around and recover for a while.

There's no need to treat the whole flock if they are not symptomatic. Treat only birds that show obvious signs of illness.

Yes, I wondered about that. The weather, too, has been in a rediculous flux here in Washington. We’ve had temps drop down to freezing again and snow this past week. I wondered if the cooler temps made her stop laying. She was very consistent before, an egg a day for 5 out of 7 days. I’m really hoping that she makes a full recovery soon. She was eating plenty while free ranging after I let her back out with the flock today. Her crop looked nice and full when I gave her the evening dose of meds. If others get sick and I’m not able to medicate in the middle of the day will that be a problem? I’m a teacher on spring break so luckily I can take time to medicate Betty. Next week we’re back to school though. I don’t think I’ll be able to make it home for the second dose if another hen comes down with symptoms.