Sick hen with sour crop that won’t eat

[Wildlife watcher]

I have a very sick chicken that I suspect has a sour crop. Having no knowledge of sour crop, I suspect she may have had it for a while and is very skinny and sick. I have been treating her with small daily doses of miconazole and her crop is getting smaller and she will eat a few pieces of canned corn (no real nutritional value) and not much else. I’ve offered her crickets, oatmeal, scrambled eggs with little luck. I have force fed her some crickets and eggs but she isn’t very happy about it. Tomorrow will be day 4 of the micronazole, but she is still very lethargic, doesn’t move much, her body seems bowed up, and her tail is down. She does seem to drink a reasonable amount of water, and she seems to poop pretty regular although it’s runny and yellow. My question is does anyone know of a food that she might eat, or should I just continue force feeding her eggs and crickets. Does anyone have any advice for pulling this hen from the brink of starvation? Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[Aapomp831]

Do not feed a chicken with sour crop. If the crop is sour, it means that it has been impacted for quite some time and the food is not going down to the stomach. Instead it ferments as it sits and causes a candida yeast infection (sour crop). But first you need to figure out if the crop is just impacted or has turned sour... a sour crop will have a horrific smell to it. If that’s the case, stop feeding immediately and offer nothing but garlic water. I’ll post a video that explains how to heal a chicken naturally of sour crop.

 

[Aapomp831]

 

[Wildlife watcher]

Do not feed a chicken with sour crop. If the crop is sour, it means that it has been impacted for quite some time and the food is not going down to the stomach. Instead it ferments as it sits and causes a candida yeast infection (sour crop). But first you need to figure out if the crop is just impacted or has turned sour... a sour crop will have a horrific smell to it. If that’s the case, stop feeding immediately and offer nothing but garlic water. I’ll post a video that explains how to heal a chicken naturally of sour crop.

How do I make garlic water?

 

[Eggcessive]

How old is she? The only times I have seen a chicken with sour or impacted crop is when there is something elese going on. That could be a reproductive disorder or ascites causing pressure inside the abdomen. Many times the gizzard stops working, and it is very hard to treat. I have never had success in treating a sour crop. Here are a couple of articles that you may have already seen:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...ntion-and-treatments-of-crop-disorders.67194/

 

[Wildlife watcher]

How old is she? The only times I have seen a chicken with sour or impacted crop is when there is something elese going on. That could be a reproductive disorder or ascites causing pressure inside the abdomen. Many times the gizzard stops working, and it is very hard to treat. I have never had success in treating a sour crop. Here are a couple of articles that you may have already seen:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...ntion-and-treatments-of-crop-disorders.67194/

She is only 8 months. She has been laying well and was probably sick a week or so before I noticed she wasn‘t doing well. Her crop the first morning was large and squishy so I assumed she had sour crop. However, I never smelled a bad smell from her mouth. I started treating her with micronazole four days ago, although I have only been treating her in the a.m. After reading your article it looks like I need to treat twice a day. She is slightly better although I am still having to force feed her Greek yogurt and scrambled eggs. She will only eat whole canned corn on her own, but I just read where she shouldn’t be eating carbohydrates. I plan on keeping her on micronazole for 2 or 3 more days. She is just still very lethargic, and doesn’t walk around, preen or act interested in much. She is very thin. Do you think there is hope of a recovery?

 

[EggSighted4Life]

She is just still very lethargic, and doesn’t walk around, preen or act interested in much. She is very thin. Do you think there is hope of a recovery?

There's always hope for recovery.. but force feeding a failing bird could be what kills them... She won't starve to death but dehydration can be deadly fast.

What do he dropping look like or is she passing any?

Stop with the corn.. don't offer it again.. it's NOT helping anything and could be making things worse... remember just sitting around she isn't using up any energy and the eggs you're feeding are 34% protein and 64% fat.. they will be filling her up quite a bit while providing nutrients that are easily digestible..

Sorry you guys face this!

 

[catballou]

She is only 8 months. She has been laying well and was probably sick a week or so before I noticed she wasn‘t doing well. Her crop the first morning was large and squishy so I assumed she had sour crop. However, I never smelled a bad smell from her mouth. I started treating her with micronazole four days ago, although I have only been treating her in the a.m. After reading your article it looks like I need to treat twice a day. She is slightly better although I am still having to force feed her Greek yogurt and scrambled eggs. She will only eat whole canned corn on her own, but I just read where she shouldn’t be eating carbohydrates. I plan on keeping her on micronazole for 2 or 3 more days. She is just still very lethargic, and doesn’t walk around, preen or act interested in much. She is very thin. Do you think there is hope of a recovery?

Did your chicken make it? I have one now who isn't doing well at all.

 

[Wildlife watcher]

Did your chicken make it? I have one now who isn't doing well at all.

She is still alive and kicking but has never been quite right. i let my 7 hens free range and she does better when she is out grazing and bugging. She’ll eat worms and grubs but I have never seen her eat the chicken pellets. Her poop is very watery and sometimes it looks like she hasn’t digested the grass she has eaten. I believe she has something wrong with her digestive system but for the life of me I don’t know what to do for her other than to make sure she eats. She is very thin and I’m keeping my fingers crossed she makes it thru the cold weather.

 

[catballou]

She is still alive and kicking but has never been quite right. i let my 7 hens free range and she does better when she is out grazing and bugging. She’ll eat worms and grubs but I have never seen her eat the chicken pellets. Her poop is very watery and sometimes it looks like she hasn’t digested the grass she has eaten. I believe she has something wrong with her digestive system but for the life of me I don’t know what to do for her other than to make sure she eats. She is very thin and I’m keeping my fingers crossed she makes it thru the cold weather.

How old is she? The only times I have seen a chicken with sour or impacted crop is when there is something elese going on. That could be a reproductive disorder or ascites causing pressure inside the abdomen. Many times the gizzard stops working, and it is very hard to treat. I have never had success in treating a sour crop. Here are a couple of articles that you may have already seen:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...ntion-and-treatments-of-crop-disorders.67194/

Well, my hen died last night. I'm tempted to cut her open and see if I can find out what happened but #1,I don't know good from bad, and #2, I'm a little squeamish about doing that to her.