Slow/Sour Crop now Gasping for Air

[coltsfoot]

Hi all, we have been trying to take care of our chickee with a slow crop for about 6 days and now things are seeming to progress in a bad direction. Today when we picked her up she began gasping for air. Any thoughts???

I first noticed her lethargic, picked her up, and noticed how full she was. I barely had to touch her crop and undigested food was bubbling out of her beak so I vomited her a little bit. Crop was not hard but squishy and full. Then I took her inside and switched up her diet to yogurt mixed with pellets, some egg (all of which she gobbled down quick), ACV and garlic in the water. Well formed poops on the small side. Her crop not going down much even with limited food, yesterday we decided to switch her to just garlic water for a few days and slowly introduce food once her crop has gone down as many folks have recommended on other threads but this morning upon picking her up she was gasping for air.

I'd appreciate any input or if anyone has any info on the relationship between sour/slow crop and gasping for air.

Thank you so much,
cf

 

[azygous]

A full crop can back up into the trachea and cause aspiration of the crop liquids. In addition, handling can also cause the crop to leak into the airway. Sometimes it gets into the lungs and pneumonia is the result. Other times, it's just in the upper airway and will clear on its own. Trying to get the chicken to vomit can kill the chicken immediately, so avoid doing that.

Have you determined if this is sour crop (yeast infection) or an impacted crop? One or the other must be treated properly, and often both crop issues require treatment together. You need to figure out which disorders you're dealing with so you can then treat. https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/ Here to answer questions after you give that a read.

 

[Cryss]

Could she have aspirated when she vomited?
I strongly suggest doing a search on this site for @azygous article “
How to treat sour crop and impacted crop and how to know which one you're dealing with”

 

[coltsfoot]

Hi thank you for your responses. Yes, we are sure it is sour crop not impacted. And vomiting her is not something I want to be doing. I vomited her only when she was so full that I felt the risk of undigested food leaking into her airway outweighed the risk of aspiration from vomiting her if that makes sense. I did read that article along with many many others. Only coming now with questions because we are looking for more help. thank you very much, cf

 

[Cryss]

Are you administering the meds for sour crop?

 

[azygous]

Yes, how are you treating so far? What are you using and how often and when did you begin? We're here to help, not criticize.

 

[coltsfoot]

Hi yes we started her on miconazole today. thank you i appreciate it. 1cc 3/day

 

[azygous]

Excellent. Be sure to continue for a full seven days even if she appears to recover much sooner.

Feed yogurt and boiled egg, and avoid carbs for now.

 

[coltsfoot]

Hey all,

So her crop has gone down a ton. There's just a golfball sized doughy lump in there that she doesn't seem to be opposed to me massaging gently. This seems like a nice thing to do but not sure if advised. We're only feeding her yogurt, oil, and egg so I'm guessing the doughy ball in there is left over from before when she was still eating grain? Should we add grit? She had plenty when freeranging but i'm not sure if grit is something that needs to be continually eaten every day to be kept up with...

Although she's still moving slower than before, she's noticeably more active. she's also more vocal and no more gasping for air/labored breathing.

Continuing with the week course of miconizole.

Thx
cf

 

[azygous]

Sounds like very good progress. The little lump in the crop seems to be quite a common aftermath. At least in my experience. Crop massage is almost always something a chicken enjoys. The only time crop massage is not recommended is when the crop is over-full of liquid.

During treatment for a crop disorder, it's a good idea to massage that little residual lump. If you can get it to empty out of the crop, the then empty crop will stimulate the chicken to eat and regain their appetite.

Always offer grit to a chicken, especially if they are confined and are unable to get around to scrounge for grit on their own. Grit is something only a chicken knows when to replenish. Grit works its way down the digestive tract to the gizzard where it eventually becomes worn when the particles lose their sharp edges. Then it gets pooped out. So chickens are almost constantly replenishing the grit in their bodies.