Sour Crop/breathing hard

[scrambledkegs]

So I think I have determined my Americana has sour crop. She was lethargic yesterday and stayed laying down in the dirt. I had to physically put her in the coop at night and she didn't get on her roost. When I went to check on her this morning she was in the corner not moving. So I brought her inside and her crop was still full and felt like it was full of fluid. After reading around it induced vomiting And a ton of grass and grain came out with the fluid. I then gave her some ACV with water in a syringe but now she is breathing heavy and still not moving. It's like she is gasping for air. She is now in a dog crate in the house. Could maybe the change in temp make her breath hard? 40 outside 67 inside. Any help would be great

 

[Johnn]

Whats her comb like? Is it purple at all? She may have picked up a respiritory infection from being so down. Lay off the ACV as it can sometimes make sour crop worse. Live yoghurt, scrambled egg and water is the way forward food wise. Empty her every morning and an anti fungal oral gel such as Darkatin or Nystatin would come in handy. Hope she's doing ok. Also make sure she stays warm and no free ranging, no corn or anything else that requires the gizzard to break it down.

 

[Johnn]

I also recommend you read this article and contact the writer of it, she's very kind and helps me a lot with crop problems https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/impacted-slow-and-sour-crops-prevention-and-treatments

 

[RikkiMarie]

http://citygirlfarmingblog.com/2014/05/26/treating-a-sour-crop-naturally/

I found a blog that could help you treat sour crop naturally in chickens. I never had sour crop in my chickens - at least to my knowledge, but my Cornish X hen ate so much one time that her crop was so full she couldn't digest. I found out that a small dose of mineral oil goes a long way. Hope your girl feels better soon! Keep her alone and isolated in a warm environment. She may be breathing hard because she could have a respiratory infection (like what Johnn said) - does it sound like she is wheezing?

 

[RobG7aChattTN]

When you induced vomiting she may have gotten vomit into her lungs. They don't recommend inducing vomiting (they can suffocate)...but I did it and my hen seems the better for it. I bobbed her slowly to get her used to the cadence and only held her down long enough to let her vomit a little in between breaths. Did the vomit stink to high-heaven? If it didn't then it wasn't sour crop. If it did...you certainly would have smelled it. It is really rank! Some recommend shooting some fish oil or flax oil down their throats to lubricate things or Monistat to kill the yeast. I just shot some liquid penicillin down her throat. I was going to "re-set" the good bacteria with some unsweetened greek yogurt but just remembered that it is still in my fridge. See seems fine a week and a half later but perhaps I should go check her breath and see if it is still stinking. She must be getting food through though because she sure seems fine and is eating.