Sick chicken

[Kdlevesque]

I have a 3 1/2 year old buff orpington female that looked "off" this AM. Her name is Biscuit. I am accused of spending too much time with my chickens BUT normally if something isn't right, I notice fairly quickly. Anyway, I let them out in their tractor this AM and noticed that she was walking around, pretending to scratch around but really wasn't...if that makes sense. Her comb is more "floppy" than normal and the tips are a little purplish. After I put the other girls in the run, I picked her up to give her a check and as soon as I lifted her, a ton of yellowish, brown liquid came out of her beak. It was a lot and I didn't have to do anything to get it to come out. Does this sound like sour crop or could it be something else? She does not have diarrhea or respiratory symptoms. I did have one pass away last year after a very brief illness but otherwise, they have always been healthy. The eat Purina layer pellets, have clean water and have access to oyster shell. Any advice is appreciated.

 

[azygous]

Those are the classic signs of sour crop. It's enough to assume a yeast infection is making your hen sick and treatment is indicated.

Get some miconazole from the store, women's vaginal yeast cream. Give her about half an inch of the cream twice a day for a full seven days. Cut out all carbs during treatment.

You might want to read this to familiarize yourself with crop disorders and how to treat them. https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

 

[Eggcessive]

Those are the classic signs of sour crop. It's enough to assume a yeast infection is making your hen sick and treatment is indicated.

Get some miconazole from the store, women's vaginal yeast cream. Give her about half an inch of the cream twice a day for a full seven days. Cut out all carbs during treatment.

You might want to read this to familiarize yourself with crop disorders and how to treat them. https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

X2 sour crop. @azygous provided a good article. You can use Medistatin, a generic version of Nystatin, online for pigeons. Fluconazole is even better or a combination can be used. Look for it in fish supplies Fish Flucon online.)

 

[Kdlevesque]

Thank you so much for your replies. Do I give it to her in the cream form or should I mix it with a liquid? Also, do I need to separate her from the others? I really hate to do that because she seems happy in there. No one is picking on her. I do have a dog crate if I need to remove her. I appreciate all the advice. I told my husband that there are some very experienced chicken keepers On this website and that I trust their judgment.

 

[azygous]

Use the miconazole vaginal cream undiluted. I squeeze out the half inch of cream on my finger and wipe it inside the chicken's beak. If you order Medistatin, https://www.jedds.com/shop/medistatin/ you can mix it in with a morsel of food. I sometimes mix the powder dose in a pea size bit of coconut oil, let it chill in the fridge, and then slip it pill-like into the beak.

No need to segregate the patient when treating for crop disorders.

 

[Kdlevesque]

Thank you again! The article is awesome and I printed it out for future reference. I’m going to pick up some of the yeast cream and some Greek yogurt. I did see where scrambled egg is good as well so she will be eating like a princess.

 

[Kdlevesque]

well she seems to be holding her own. I just went out to check on her and she puked again but this time it wasn’t as much. I gave her a dose of the yeast cream. She also ate a scrambled egg. Fingers crossed that she does OK. Thanks again for the reply.

 

[Kdlevesque]

I just wanted to give you an update on my girl. She is doing very well today. She has now had four doses of the Monistat. She actually seems to like it. I always make sure I follow it with some kind of protein like a scrambled egg or plain Greek yogurt. Her crop was empty this morning and now it seems full of the food she’s been eating. It seems more firm and not squishy like yesterday. No vomiting either. She is actually moving around and scratching with her sisters.

 

[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.

 

[Eggcessive]

In my experience with crop problems, most of the crop issues were related to other problems, such as internal laying or oviduct cancer. Hopefully your hen will get better. Sometimes you can learn to put in a feeding tube into her crop, and pull out the crop contents, then flush her crop with electrolyte water. I wish I could be of more help, but I have yet to have one with sour crop make it even with treatment.