Sour crop and ACV/Water remedy. Accidental Death?

[khern120]

Hi Friends,

My family and I are new to raising chickens. I think we might have accidentally killed our chicken

She was a 5wks old Plymouth. She was lethargic, not eating or drinking, always lying down and her crop was super full. We think she was like for about 2-3days before we noticed. We separated her from the flock and weren't sure what was going on and guessed that it might be sour crop. A quick Google search said that force-feeding water and acv might help loosen whatever is in there. So we mixed about 8oz with a couple of drops of acv. Using a syringe we force-fed 5-7CC to our chicken. She immediately started convulsing and thrashing on the ground until she died. To be honest, this was a bit traumatizing since our flock has been doing well so far. We're all so sad. I'd like to avoid any more mistakes/accidental deaths.

Any advice is welcomed.

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC. That seems like a small amount to cause her death. It might have made her cough and become upset, and she could have aspirated, but it probably wouldn’t have killed her. However, I never recommend force feeding water or food. I like to offer it in a small tuna can or cup held up to the beak, and you can dip the beak a few times to get them to take some. Your chick was the age that coccidiosis can strike. Did she have any runny droppings or any with blood? Sour crop at 5 weeks, does not really sound very common. She could have vomited and aspirated crop contents during the struggle to feed her if the crop was accidentally pressed. Most state vets do perform necropsies, but since this is Friday, the body may or may not be in shape for that on Monday, even keeping it refrigerated and wrapped in 2 trash bags. Sorry for your loss.