Sick hen - Just figured out it's SOUR CROP - update - PLEASE HELP

[ChickenWisperer]

Okay, so after lots of researching and bad revolutions today, I just figured out that she has sour crop - as her symptoms tell me ("puking" that has horrible smell, crop that feels gaseous and watery, green and watery poo, some lethargy, doesn't seem to want water).

So, I'm about to perform the crop evacuation as Jen described, then go from there, putting garlic or cider vinegar in the water and feeding her live bio yogurt. I'm keeping her isolated in the house in a show cage, keeping her warm and the cage dark, and allowing supervised visits in the kitchen so she can walk around.

I thought she was getting better, but obviously she's not. I hope that I can correct this in time and that my bad experience can help all the other people on this board who encounter the situation.


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I just went outside to check on the girls, and holly was underneath the laying boxes. I'v got a heat lamp for the roosts, but she was on the floor. She was shaking her head, like she couldn't swallow - wasn't moving. When I picked her up, she vomited a yellow liquid. I put her on roost, she jumped up one pole. I put some scratch in front of her - she pecked, but didn't really eat. I can't tell if she's lathargic, or just sleepy....Shes in the middle/last stages of moult....


Guys, PLEASE help! I'm so scared, I don't know what to do! I'm about to go back out and get her, and birng her in......

 

[Attack Chicken]

Holly sounds like just on another thread I posted on. Sometimes if you put to much pressure on her crop after she just drank the will vomit or puke on you (had this happen tons of times...) I'm bumping you up so someone can help

 

[ChickenWisperer]

Thanks! I don't think it's that, cause I didn't touch her crop........idk, I guess it could've been...

 

[Jenski]

Quote:
Hey, ChickenWisperer! Sorry about your girl. Make sure she's warm and safe tonight, and be sure to check her crop first thing in the morning so you can figure out whether it's really an issue or just a coincidence. The crop should be flat before their first feeding. If you can see it bulging, and/or if you can feel of it and it's baggy/squishy/hard or anything else NOT flat, you may have an issue. They should have nothing more than a few small rocks in the bottom of the crop first thing in the a.m.

Feel free to call me tomorrow if you still have problems . . . or PM me if you can't find my number . . . good luck!

Jen

 

[ChickenWisperer]

Thanks so much jen!

I've got a video of it now -

 

[JayDe]

I'm sorry I can't help, but I'm interested in the outcome. I hope your hen feels better and someone has some experience with that motion on the video.

 

[Jenski]

From the video it looks to me like she has something stuck in her esophagus and/or crop. CW, I got your PM and I will call.

This blockage could be solved as simply as dropping a few drops of olive oil down your bird's throat. There are risks to this depending on the type of blockage and how bad it is, but as she is obviously breathing OK I would try this before more expensive paths. If she just gobbled a long piece of straw or grass, it may be just this simple.



I have more info below for those interested, and/or if this treatment does not work and there are not other symptoms. -------

Whether it is crop impaction (food/straw/grass lodged tightly in crop) or stasis (crop stops moving food through) for whatever reason, the stuff has to come out - - and the sooner the better. IMHO, for more severe blockages/stasis, the safest way is to get it to come back up the way it came. The risks with crop stasis and crop impactions are 1) if the feed/grass/goo stays in the crop too long, it ferments and can cause food poisoning; and 2) if you try to squeeze blockages up manually or use drugs to get them going the other way, you could cause more severe blockage.

For anyone else watching this thread, there are lots of folks on the forum who have successfully treated crop issues - - and there are plenty of folks who have failed. In my own experience, I have usually sent birds with severe crop stasis to my avian vet so he can evacuate the crop with suction. Some folks have tried this at home with squeezing and/or gently tilting bird upside down, but there is a great risk of suffocating the bird this way. I know of a couple of folks who have lost birds by doing this.

Of course, my vet has not always been successful either, so I guess you have to choose your risks.

Once the crop is safely emptied, the bird can be monitored and fed liquid with electrolytes (half-strength Gatorade if you don't have bird-specific products), and then liquified food. If the crop does not start moving again very soon, we administer Reglan under our vet's instruction. Reglan stimulates peristalsis (the autonomic muscle function that moves food through the digestive system). This powerful drug is also used for people (prescription only, and it is a clear liquid). We have had good luck administering it in moistened food, but your vet (or you, if you know how) can also inject directly into the crop if the bird refuses to eat.

In my own experience, the 3-part process of 1) crop evacuation; 2) peristaltic stimulation; and 3) gentle re-introduction of solid food has worked in most situations, whether the crop issue was from a fungal infection, eating something toxic, or some other undiagnosed issue. The only failure I have had so far was a cockerel who secretly snuck into the older hens' grit/oyster shell cup and filled his crop completely full. He was already too dehydrated/starved by the time we figured out what was wrong to have a chance at recovering from a major crop evacuation.

Hope that information helps others. If there are experienced folks who would like to add to or correct this or any treatment info, please feel free to chime in.

 

[ChickenWisperer]

Thank you so much Jen.

I'm going to try the oil method soon. Her poo is largely liquid and is green - it smells pretty foul. This has been a bad sign before - is it now?

 

[Jenski]

Quote:
Welllll, that depends somewhat on what she has been eating. Remember that once or twice a day she will have those nasty caecal poos. Bright green, though, could possible indicate bad food. The oil-drenched bread could also affect her droppings, though.

It's not a bad idea to double check her feed and make sure it smells and looks OK.

Is it possible she could have gotten into something she should not eat? Compost, refuse pile, old rotten veggies?

Is the oil helping at all? Is she still doing that neck thing?

 

[ChickenWisperer]

Quote:
Welllll, that depends somewhat on what she has been eating. Remember that once or twice a day she will have those nasty caecal poos. Bright green, though, could possible indicate bad food. The oil-drenched bread could also affect her droppings, though.

It's not a bad idea to double check her feed and make sure it smells and looks OK.

Is it possible she could have gotten into something she should not eat? Compost, refuse pile, old rotten veggies?

Is the oil helping at all? Is she still doing that neck thing?

I'll look again, but all of their food looks good. I never thought about the possibility of the oil affecting it.

It's possible, but I'm not sure how she could've - they haven't been able to free-range for the past 3 or so days, and the run is bare (not to metioned has a roof and the wire is buried underneath the ground). I haven't seen the girls eat straw before, but is it possible that she was eating feathers because of the molt and they got clogged?

It really does seem to be!!! Her appetite is GREAT, and I haven't seen her do the weird neck bob thing. I let her out in the kitchen this afternoon to stretch her legs and walk around, and she pecked at the floor and ran from us like we were gonna get her and take her back to the cage.

We called the vets office, but the oil is the only other thing she could offer in the way of advice and she thinks we are heading in the right direction.

Again, thanks for all your help Jen!