Sour crop? Almost dead hen. Urgent help required!

[Trampledbygeese]

I'm thinking it might be sour crop, which I don't know how to treat by the way.

She's hatched this april, flock of about 40 hens, 3 cocks. She is a leghorn. Had all her vaccinations.

First noticed symptoms this morning. She was huddled in a nesting box, sleepy, thought she was going to lay. This afternoon she is still in the box, moaning slightly. Had a look at her, she's had some yellow poop, medium runny. She won't drink or eat and pays very little attention to the world. She has almost no fight in her. her crop is bloated and squishy (not hard like crop bound). She has a mucus in her mouth and laboured breathing. Her breath smells like a cross between vodka and sour-dough.

They won't go outside in the snow, so they spent the last two days inside and today is their first day out. I thought that they had enough gravel to last two days, but apparently they are all out this morning. There is also the possibility of a toxic plant in that pasture as someone always seems to get sick when I let them out over there, but they all stay healthy in their other pasture.

Please help. She has almost no response to me now. Even if I cannot save her, I would like to know what's up so that I can prevent it or treat it in future.

 

[KimberlyJ]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=284227

I searched "sour crop" and found this link. I have no personal experience with this. Sorry I can't be more helpful.

KimberlyJ

 

[Trampledbygeese]

Thank you for the link.

 

[artsyrobin]

i have some info on my byc page- what are her symptoms?

Sour crop info

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=414908
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=265740
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=284227

sour crop

The food that is in there has dissolved into a toxic slush. If the crop is still full, you would want to cleanse it and then treat her with probiotics and give her organic apple cider vinegar water for two weeks if she's showing no other symptoms. You also will want to determine the cause of the problem in the first place and fix that.

You will want to do this as soon as possible because the liquid in that crop will grow bacteria and yeast and make your bird sick(er).

The probiotics are to replace the bacteria that have been damaged by the toxic contents and pH of the crop dribbling into the rest of her digestive tract. They will also help fight against whatever bad bacteria and yeast make it to that part of the system. The organic apple cider vinegar (1 ounce ACV to one gallon of water) will help correct the digestive tract pH, provide more good bacteria, break down the feedstuff that are in the crop waiting to go through, and also provide more digestive enzymes to break down solid particles in the digestive tract. The pH of ACV at this solution is that of a healthy digestive tract which is unfriendly to good bacteria. the pH of the crop (and thus the digestive tract) now is unfortunately friendly to bad bacteria, so we must change that.

If you see runniness of droppings after four days of treatment after the cleaned crop, let the board know. Let us know in any case, please.

By the way - no more solid foods until she's over this for two weeks. No grains, no grit, nothing but crumbles, probiotics (plain yogurt, acidophilis tablets, etc), maybe the bread if it's soaked in something useful - BUT - it's too friendly for yeast infections, sooooo maybe not. Boiled egg yolks are a good healthy treat and will help her gut. You can also mix the yogurt in a small amount of unsweetened applesauce. The pectin is small, helps clean out the digestive tract of sludge from this, the pH is like ACV (can be used with it), and chickens like the taste so it's a good way to hide probiotics.​

 

[Trampledbygeese]

Thanks for the info.

It's too late now. Poor ex-hen.

Basically the only symptoms she had was a slight reluctance to join in with the flock over the last couple of days. Then today she wouldn't come out of the nesting box. Squishy crop with sour smell and goo in mouth. Sleepiness. Occasional soft moaning. Temp was maybe a little hot for a chicken. Basically she had no interest in her surroundings and no desire to struggle. I think she had given up by the time I realized something was wrong.

I suppose I've had a better day than poor hen, but not by much. I feel really bad that I didn't notice anything sooner. I am very attentive, but I obviously missed the ball on this one.

 

[artsyrobin]

i very sorry! i am thinking later stages of sour crop? but also is it possible to have a necropsy done? most states offer it free through the agriculture dept? if you have a large flock, it may be worth checking to make sure what ever it was isn't contagous

 

[Trampledbygeese]

I was thinking of necropsy. I cannot find anywhere locally (BC, Canada) that would do it without expense. Thoughts? Otherwise I might just use her as bate for the raccoon trap (if I can bring myself to cut her up - lucky she wasn't named yet).

They always seem to get sick when I put them in this one pasture. I think I need to figure out if there are any toxic plants locally.