Sour crop and treatment?

[KranK]

One of my old hens probably got sour crop - the crop feels like a baloon, not much food in it and a lot of "water". It's not probably emptying since yesterday. It smells "sour" from her beak. Her crop has been massaged a day before yesterday and she has "vomited", but only vomiting didn't help . I've read that i should withold water for 12 hours and food for 24 hour, and then feed her with hard boiled yolk, with a tablespoon of applesauce and give her water with probiotics. I don't have chicken probiotics, i've got probiotics for humans i guess (could i give it to her in water?). Could i just add a teaspoon of plain yoghurt to the yolk-mix? And could i take the night as 12 hours without water and then in the morning give her water? (Btw i'd like to mark her with a not-tight cable tie/zipper on leg. Is it safe? I go to school and grandpa wouldn't know which chicken to isolate)

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I would always make water available for her during waking hours.
You can give her yogurt for probiotics, that's fine - about 1 tablespoon a day.
Withholding food for a day may help during treatment.

Can you get an over the counter vaginal yeast or anti-fungal cream that contains Miconazole or Clortrimazole? That is what I would use to treat the sour crop. Instructions are in the link below but I just draw up the correct amount of cream and direct dose the hen twice a day.
Don't massage the crop if it's sour.

With her being an older hen the crop issue may be due to a reproductive disorder or other underlying condition, but hopefully you can get it cleared up to make her more comfortable.

Offering her a little wet mushy feed or bits of soft cooked egg is fine if she's willing to eat.

I recommend that you read the whole article, it has some good information. Get back with us on how she's doing.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

 

[Aapomp831]

Definitely no food for 24 hours, and no water for 12. You should separate her so she can’t have access to food - chickens instinctually want to fill their crops. If you smell something sour, then it has moved beyond an impacted crop and is now sour crop which means the food sat in the crop long enough to ferment. DO NOT try and vomit her at this time as you could possibly cause her to aspirate and die.
After 12 hours with no water (chickens don’t drink overnight, they are blind in the dark), give her some water with crushed garlic in it. After 24 hours, offer some plain Greek yogurt. I’m going to attach a video that I reference and successfully treated a sour crop chicken using her steps.
Good luck to you!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'll mark her with a loose zip-tie, so after a night without water grandpa will isolate her and give her water. Could i give her some yoghurt with cooked yolk in the evening so she woudln't be hungry at night or in the morning?

Has she been eating anything at all?
If you can get some photos of her poop too when you can that would be good.

I think it would be o.k. to give her a little yogurt and cooked yolk before she goes to roost. Just make sure she's got water during the day.

Are you able to get those OTC cream? I have found they work well to help clear up sour crop but like I mentioned often there is something else going on.
If you aren't able to get the cream, then can try the recipe for Doughy Crop in this article, but preferably you can get the antifungal/yeast cream.

Read both articles - I know it's a lot, but it's important that you understand what's going on and how the crop functions.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...ntion-and-treatments-of-crop-disorders.67194/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

 

[Wyorp Rock]

But i'm scared about different ingredients etc. Won't starch in soaked wheat feed the yeast?

Well there's starch in corn too right?

I'm not sure what you want to do....you can't withhold feed forever.

The reason I'm suggesting soaking the food is so it's easier to process. Her crop issue is very likely a symptom of the reproductive problem she has. Like mentioned previously, most of the time (100% of the time in my personal experience) there is an underlying condition that is causing the crop to slow and not empty properly.

 

[casportpony]

The reason I'm suggesting soaking the food is so it's easier to process. Her crop issue is very likely a symptom of the reproductive problem she has. Like mentioned previously, most of the time (100% of the time in my personal experience) there is an underlying condition that is causing the crop to slow and not empty properly.

I agree. In all my years of owning poultry, any time there has been a crop problem, it's always been from something reproductive, cancer, bacterial, or intestinal.

 

[Aapomp831]

 

[Aapomp831]

If her crop is impacted to the point it has gone sour, giving it any food at all will just add to the fermented yeast infection that is sour crop. The food will not make it down the the stomach anyway, so I wouldn’t feed her anything for 24 hours at least. The crop needs a chance to try and empty, and adding more food on top of what’s already not going down is pointless and adding to the problem.

 

[KranK]

Has she been eating anything at all?
If you can get some photos of her poop too when you can that would be good.

I think it would be o.k. to give her a little yogurt and cooked yolk before she goes to roost. Just make sure she's got water during the day.

Are you able to get those OTC cream? I have found they work well to help clear up sour crop but like I mentioned often there is something else going on.
If you aren't able to get the cream, then can try the recipe for Doughy Crop in this article, but preferably you can get the antifungal/yeast cream.

Read both articles - I know it's a lot, but it's important that you understand what's going on and how the crop functions.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...ntion-and-treatments-of-crop-disorders.67194/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

I don't know if she's eating, she was sitting on the roost since morning today i think but i've put her on the ground so she could walk. Its rainy and wet today so even if she'd poo, i probably wouldn't find it. There are cremes with miconazole in Poland. I'll read about it and maybe buy one. Won't the zip-tie hurt her leg? It's important to mark her so grandpa will know which one to isolate.

 

[KranK]

If her crop is impacted to the point it has gone sour, giving it any food at all will just add to the fermented yeast infection that is sour crop. The food will not make it down the the stomach anyway, so I wouldn’t feed her anything for 24 hours at least. The crop needs a chance to try and empty, and adding more food on top of what’s already not going down is pointless and adding to the problem.

But after 24h without food(maybe even 22-23) it wouldn't hurt her to give her a bit of yolk with yoghurt, jut like wyorp rock has said.