Sour Crop Chicken... need help! dont know what to do!

[dancelover1313]

I have a 1 year old Rhode Island Red who has sour crop.
We thought at first that she was egg bound, but there is no egg that seems to be stuck inside of her.
I have been researching about what to do.
They say massage the crop and try to make the chicken throw up the fluid that is in the crop.
I have tried that and a little fluid has come up, but the crop isn't getting any smaller.
I have been feeding her plain yogurt and white rice, and some cold water with some olive oil.
She has been isolated from the rest for about a day.
But she has been sick for about 5-6 days now.
I have looked about everywhere to see what to do.
I gave her some grit in the plain yogurt to help grind up the food in her gullet, but it really hasnt helped.
I heard that Alka-Seltzer helps to break down the food so it can travel through the blood stream but I don't know if that will help.
Is there anything more that I can do?
I am trying to do everything that I can to help get rid of the sour crop before taking the expensive visit to the vet.

 

[Hummingbird Hollow]

I'm dealing with the same problem right now. I actually paid for an on-line conference with an avian veterinarian. He stated that sour crop can be caused by either a bacterial infection or a fungal infection and you can't tell without taking the chicken to the vet for a crop swab. HeI thought it was reasonable to treat with antibiotics to see whether it was bacterial, but if the condition didn't get better with in 3-4 days, or if the chicken got worse, I should take her to the vet because it could be one of several different fungal infections and different medications are necessary to treat different infections. Since I had poultry antibiotics on hand, I'm trying that first after isolating her in a quiet place out of the intense heat. She's had a bit of layer feed, made into a mash with warm water and yogurt. She's also had water with electrolytes, but since I put the antibiotics in the water, she hasn't had much. Here's hoping I can save her.