Slow crop

[APorter84]

I have a hen who was treated for sour crop and is mostly recovered from that. But I’ve found she seems to have a slow/pendulous crop issue now as a result. She gets out with the others and goes to town eating, fills her crop, then it doesn’t empty overnight leaving her with a half full crop still. So I bring her inside and fast her for 24hrs acv or probiotic water only. It then empties fine but the cycle begins all over again after I let her back out. I’ve tried keeping her in a couple extra days on limited diet but we always start again when she goes outside. I feel so bad for the poor girl being isolated for so long (she’s been mostly in isolation for a month now total) so I keep letting her spend time outside and with the others thinking mentally it’s better for her but should I be just keeping her in? She seems healthy in every other way and she hates being stuck in a small treatment cage inside. I tried a crop support but the fit wasn’t great. I’m going to try to get a better fit today for it.

 

[coach723]

How old is your hen? Do you know when she last laid? Have you ever wormed your birds or had a fecal done to check for internal parasites?
Slow crops can be a symptom of a reproductive problem, it can slow digestion or even stop it. If you feel her abdomen below the vent, between the legs, does it feel bloated? Hard, or water balloon like? A worm infestation, like round worm, can also cause the crop to back up and slow down. If you have a vet that will do a fecal for you that would answer if that is an issue.
If it's now pendulous, then a crop bra might help, and they can be a bit of a bear to get adjusted correctly. It may take quite a few tries. Some birds tolerate them well, and some birds don't. She may walk backwards, high step, fall down, flip over, etc. depending on how she reacts to it, so supervise until you know she's OK with it. If she acts odd then she could draw an attack from others. Make sure the lower part of the bra is snug accross her keel or if she high steps she can get her legs and feet hung up in it.

 

[APorter84]

she is a 1yo Standard cochin.
She laid an “egg” a couple days ago. I suspect this may have something to do with reproductive issues But am not sure what to do about it. She is not egg bound. A couple days ago she laid a strange enlongated misshapen object that reminded me of the shape of a lash egg but it was albumen with a membrane- soft and squishy and popped. No yolk present that I saw but I didn’t inspect super closely.
Two days before that she laid a tiny wind egg. Prior to that she was off lay for a week or so during treatment for sour crop, and at the beginning of that treatment she laid two perfect eggs. She has only recently started laying for us- maybe a month at most. She took a long time to mature.
My fear is that it is a genetic issue as she was a hatchery chick and I’ve read they often have reproductive problems
I had a fecal tested for parasites by the vet about a week ago and it was all clear- no worms or parasites.
Her abdomen feels fine.
I tried a homemade crop bra and that seemed to help a little but not solve the problem. She tolerates it ok after a few minutes of hating it.

How old is your hen? Do you know when she last laid? Have you ever wormed your birds or had a fecal done to check for internal parasites?
Slow crops can be a symptom of a reproductive problem, it can slow digestion or even stop it. If you feel her abdomen below the vent, between the legs, does it feel bloated? Hard, or water balloon like? A worm infestation, like round worm, can also cause the crop to back up and slow down. If you have a vet that will do a fecal for you that would answer if that is an issue.
If it's now pendulous, then a crop bra might help, and they can be a bit of a bear to get adjusted correctly. It may take quite a few tries. Some birds tolerate them well, and some birds don't. She may walk backwards, high step, fall down, flip over, etc. depending on how she reacts to it, so supervise until you know she's OK with it. If she acts odd then she could draw an attack from others. Make sure the lower part of the bra is snug accross her keel or if she high steps she can get her legs and feet hung up in it.

 

[coach723]

Crop issues can be really frustrating. It's so hard to know what exactly is going on. Are her droppings normal? Sometimes new layers will have some weird eggs while their systems get things worked out, so that could be from that, or could indicate a problem. Most reproductive issues don't have much in the way of treatment, if it turns out to be that. For some an implant can stop them laying, but it just depends on what is going on, and the implants are expensive and have to be re done periodically. https://opensanctuary.org/article/suprelorin-implants-a-critical-tool-in-chicken-health/
It's also possible that she ate something that she shouldn't have and it's stopping things up. There are many possibilities, unfortunately. Sometimes an xray can be helpful, but not everything shows up. If she ate a foreign object it might, depending on what it is. You can try giving her coconut oil (freeze or refrigerate and break into small peices and put in her beak-most birds like it) followed by crop massage. Sometimes that will help get things moving. If the crop is pendulous, then it's stretched out and will no longer empty on it's own without support. Pendulous crop could be a result of another condition that has caused the crop to not empty and stretch out.
A couple of good articles if you haven't seen them:
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/

 

[APorter84]

thanks. It is so frustrating because she acts normal so there isn’t much indication that something is wrong or a clue on how I can help.
While she was being treated for sour crop I gave her some coconut oil each day. She loved that stuff. But I think she may have gotten tired of it because now she isn’t as excited to eat it anymore

her droppings have been prett normal. Sometimes she doesn’t have much for a bit and then drops a huge one, occasionally a bit on the loose side of things but nothing super alarming. I think aside from getting a crop support on her and keeping close watch on whether she is digesting enough there isn’t a whole lot for me to do at this point. She’s such a sweet fluffy thing. Her feathers are so full and fluffy it’s hard to even tell how her crop is doing. It’s also hard to see if she’s maintaining weight- I know she lost some during the whole sour crop thing and I’m not sure she’s really putting much on right now but she has a good appetite and things are still coming out the other end so hopefully I can feel some improvement there soon since I can’t actually see a difference with the extra floof!
Thanks for your responses. I will just wait and see I guess.

Crop issues can be really frustrating. It's so hard to know what exactly is going on. Are her droppings normal? Sometimes new layers will have some weird eggs while their systems get things worked out, so that could be from that, or could indicate a problem. Most reproductive issues don't have much in the way of treatment, if it turns out to be that. For some an implant can stop them laying, but it just depends on what is going on, and the implants are expensive and have to be re done periodically. https://opensanctuary.org/article/suprelorin-implants-a-critical-tool-in-chicken-health/
It's also possible that she ate something that she shouldn't have and it's stopping things up. There are many possibilities, unfortunately. Sometimes an xray can be helpful, but not everything shows up. If she ate a foreign object it might, depending on what it is. You can try giving her coconut oil (freeze or refrigerate and break into small peices and put in her beak-most birds like it) followed by crop massage. Sometimes that will help get things moving. If the crop is pendulous, then it's stretched out and will no longer empty on it's own without support. Pendulous crop could be a result of another condition that has caused the crop to not empty and stretch out.
A couple of good articles if you haven't seen them:
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/

 

[coach723]

If you can get the crop bra on comfortably, I would leave it on for several days and see if the crop goes down. Sometimes it can take a while, particularly if everything is stretched out. If you have a digital kitchen scale ($10-$15 at walmart often) then you can get a weight on her and then weigh regularly to see how she is doing. With all the feathers and fluff they can look healthy while actually losing a lot of weight, so actually weighing them is best. If you get a weight at about the same time of day each time, it will help you assess. I had a bird with a slow and pendulous crop that stayed in a crop bra for about 18 months, before she passed from reproductive problems.

 

[Betsy57]

I've used crop bras before and they saved my hens. Now a 3 yr old rooster is thin and his crop was squishy this morning with some food. He isn't eating much. I've wormed him for round worms (saw some in someone's poop) and sprayed him for mites and such. I think he may be on his way out. Thankfully I had a rooster hatch out 3 months ago but I still would like to save this guy's life. Him and his dad is from a line of roosters I've had for ten years.