Sour Crop 12 year old hen

[RoseCassFarm]

I've had my girl, Bob, for just shy of thirteen years. She moved into our house a year and a half ago after spending the preceding decade outside with her sisters (she's the last surviving one). I generally don't make her wear a chicken diaper (she hates it and I feel bad for her lol), but I put one on her for Christmas and New Years just to cut down on the crazy cleanups. For the last week, she's been without the diaper but has seemed a little less comfortable -- she hasn't been settling in to roost as comfortably as usual. I thought it was due to discomfort from the diaper -- despite not seeing any problems with her rear end, I thought maybe her bottom was bothering her.


The last two days or so she's had a gurgly tummy -- I noticed it in passing but didn't really think anything of it until last night when I noticed she seemed a little more bulky than usual and was kind of twisting herself to the side in an odd way. It dawned on me that she likely has a sour crop.

She's never had it before. None of her sisters ever had it, either.

She's only been marginally less interested in food over the last day -- almost not noticeable if it hadn't been for the gurgly belly and sour "burps". She had corn enthusiastically yesterday and ate some of her layer crumbles mixed into watermelon juice, so her appetite is still there, at least in part.

Her crop is still very soft and squishy but definitely not empty. I spent last night massaging her crop every hour or so. There were definite gurgles and movement in there but she's clearly struggling to clear it -- she has only just started to move as if dry heaving (started last night).

She's still pooping, though yesterday it was a little less; this morning, after a night of massage, she pooped quite a bit so I'm taking that as a good sign? Yesterdays were brown and decent consistency; this mornings were mostly white with a bit more fluid consistency. Things are still moving in there but I've also noticed this morning that she's struggling a tiny bit more to go.

I've taken her food and left her with only grit, oyster shell, water with some "healthy hen" probiotics mixed in, and have just given her a bit of yogurt that she's still interested in.

I'm wondering if there's anything else I should try. I've seen people mention Monistat -- do you give that orally? Should I dilute it? And how much would I give her? I have also seen that apple cider vinegar can help.

I know there are methods for emptying her crop but I'm VERY hesitant to try it since she's an older lady -- I'm worried she's going to aspirate the liquid and we'll be in an even bigger mess.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Eggcessive]

I would not try to empty the crop because it can cause her to choke to death when food comes back up into the throat getting into her trachea. Do not massage a squishy/boggy crop for the same reasons.

Does she have any sour or bad odor from her beak when you touch her crop? If not she may just be having a slow crop. That might be a sign of her advanced age. I would let her have water and a little mushy wet chicken feed and a small bit of egg, but no whole grains, seeds, corn, etc. Check her crop each morning at daylight before she eats or dinks anything. Does she have any yellow urates in her poop?

Yes, you can give Monistat or miconazole orally 1/2 inch orally twice a day if you think she has sour crop. @azygous has this good article on crop disorders:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

 

[azygous]

Congratulations on having one of the oldest hens here on this site. It's both evidence of your care and also her good genes. Having had a number of hens reach this exalted age myself, and myself being also of exalted age, I can make this pronouncement - all old bodies reach their expiration date eventually.

Yeasty crop is more often than not a sign of an underlying health disorder. In this case, it's an aging body whose parts are wearing out. Systems are not as efficient and eventually, those systems stop performing. In this case, the digestive system slows down and yeast organisms take advantage of the sluggish system and overwhelm it.

Use the miconazole twice a day, a half inch to an inch of the cream into the beak for the full seven days. After the yeast is dealt with, you probably should give a probiotic daily to aid her aging digestive tract. Continue to offer her yogurt. She can also have cooked egg or tofu.

But we old girls eventually reach the end of the line. Then you gotta say, "she sure had a good run".