Sour Crop CURED with Monistat

[casportpony]

ACV is just apple cider vinegar and you can make it so easily yourself. Rather than go through the instructions, I urge you to Google it. If you can peel an apple and cover the peels and core with water you can make your own organic vinegar with the mother.

I'm way too lazy to do that!

-Kathy

 

[TheSpiceGirls]

I'm going to try this. I found my little Andalusian still on the roost this morning and her crop is all big and squishy.

I turned the compost pile this weekend and I wounder if they found something moldy in there. They don't have access to anything long or stringy that could twist up in her crop. But who knows what she managed to put down her beak.

I have her in the house right now. I had to run to work to get some things kicked off. Maybe I can run home at lunch and start her on her first dose.

I've had a terrible run with chickens this past year. Lost one to ovarian cancer. Gave away two that were bullying her. Then lost another one to a crop issue. Wasn't sour crop. Wasn't hard like it was impacted. But it wouldn't clear. Tried everything. Even let the vet do surgery to clear it but it came back. We eventually lost her which was a tough loss. She was a VERY special bird.

I got 4 day old chick 16 weeks ago and came out one day last week to find one dead. They move around as a pack of four and I think she may have snapped her neck from one jumping on her. That was another tough loss.

I'm starting to think I'm a terrible chicken keeper because I keep losing birds. And I only have the 5 so it's challenging to add more. Was really hoping to be in a good place for a while and that one of my BO's would go broody and raise babies for me.

But now I just don't know. I'm so frustrated right now.

Here's really hoping that Monistat helps my little one get over this.

 

[aart]

Know that Monistat only treats a fungal infection that might result as a secondary issue from an impacted crop.

 

[TheSpiceGirls]

Understood. I don't think it's impacted. They have no access to anything long that would wind up in their crop.

I do see them eating stupid things like pine shavings, rice hulls and dried up leaves. It freaks me out but they do it and appear to be fine and then I have a morning like this.

I did turn the compost bin on Sunday and I suppose there could have been a piece of moldy bread in there that I missed. I read that chickens eating moldy feed can cause sour crop. And she does have a soft, squishy crop and bad breath.

I didn't have time to make her vomit this morning. I was already dressed for work. And I REALLY hate doing that to the bird. So I put her in the big dog crate in the house with water that has a touch of baking soda in it. That can bring the gas down.

Reading how success others were with this treatment, I thought I'd try it.

Do you think that's a bad idea?

 

[Steve Townsend]

I have a problem. I am a new chicken owner. I have 16 chicks that are 6 weeks old. All are healthy except 1. A Dominique. She does not have the use of one leg and just drags it. She scoots around on one leg but has to have help to go up the ramp to the coop. Should I put her down and if so what's the most humane way to do it? Thanks

 

[Eggcessive]

I have a problem. I am a new chicken owner. I have 16 chicks that are 6 weeks old. All are healthy except 1. A Dominique. She does not have the use of one leg and just drags it. She scoots around on one leg but has to have help to go up the ramp to the coop. Should I put her down and if so what's the most humane way to do it? Thanks

Welcome Steve. You probably should start a thread where more people will read it and offer help. You can start one here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/threads/add/forumId/10

I would first try to find out what leg problem she has--a slipped tendon, a bone deformity such as a rotated tibia, or a Vitamin B2 (riboflavin) deficiency that can cause curled leg paralysis. Start B Complex vitamins, poultry vitamins, or PolyVisol without iron 2-3 drops daily by mouth. Here is some info about it: http://www.merckmanuals.com/vet/pou..._poultry/vitamin_deficiencies_in_poultry.html

 

[nsa19]

Has anyone tried these sour crop treatments w turkey's?? My 9 week old blue slate has a puffy squishy crop and keeps ratcheting its neck. After reading about sour crop I'm guessing that's what it has..

 

[dreymandi]

Hello everyone!

About a week and a half ago I noticed that one of my Red Stars wasn't acting her usual self - usually when I come to feed them in the morning they are all excited and eat right after I throw pellets in there, but she wasn't going after the food. I think it is incredibly important to notice unusual behavior right away because you can begin treatment right away, and the chicken is still strong so she is more likely to fight off the issue.

I check to see if she had an impacted egg - she didn't, and then after researching the symptoms online I found out that she had sour crop (her crop was big, food undigested, full of liquid and squishy). I placed her in a dog carrier so she would be isolated from the rest of the flock.

After a couple of days of trying various things - yogurt, apple cider vinegar water, massaging the crop and wondering how exactly to get her to vomit, I read online about oxytetracycline on this website - http://justfowlingaround.weebly.com/chicken-blog/category/sour-crop. Apparently sour crop can initiate a bacterial infection in addition to the yeast infection candida, so it seemed reasonable to start her on an antibiotic (which I easily found at the farm supply store where I buy their feed). I also found this tread, and decided to start treating her with Monistrat 3 the low dose version of Monistrat, cut into 3 parts, one part given to her in the morning and one in the evening. For one week since the initial dosage of the antibiotic, I mixed the antibiotic with homemade electrolyte solution to get her strength up - so, 1 cup water, 1 gram antibiotic powder mixture, 2 tsp. raw organic sugar (this is what I had on hand), 1/4 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. baking soda.

I noticed her crop going down within 24 hours, and after about 48-72 hours her crop was down to normal size. When her crop was completely down, I started giving her small quantities of food in the morning and evening.

I would advise against trying to get her to throw up, since it seems like it poses a lot of risks and doesn't eliminate the infection(s). Apple Cider Vinegar is apparently not a good treatment for this problem because it adds sourness to her already unbalanced crop. However, I started adding ACV to the rest of the flocks' water (1 TBS. per gallon in plastic container only). I think that yogurt and apple cider vinegar and good preventives, but not solutions when the problem arises.

What do I think caused her sour crop? Mold in food - their pellets got wet and mold grew, OR compost gone bad, OR she ingested a lot of grass (now I break it up into smaller pieces before giving it to them).

She is still going to be contained in the dog carrier for another week (you can't ingest the eggs for a week after last antibiotic treatment - even though she still hasn't laid one), and because one of the other chickens started pecking at her so I want to make sure her strength is back up - she has lost weight during the 3-4 days she didn't eat.

Although I am sure she is going to make full recovery, I will be held in suspense until she has successfully rejoined the flock.

 

[11squawkers]

I am ETERNALLY grateful to Robinwiththechickens! Thank you for experimenting and finding this treatment for sour crop, and thank you and the administration for NOT taking this thread down, as it has helped my guinea hen (yes this works on other poultry) with sour crop. Sorry to melinda653 for her loss but I don't think the monistat is to blame, most likely a worse illness or too late of a treatment and shouldn't warn others against something that could save lives of other poultry, not to mention making Robin feel bad and at fault for Melindas bird dying. Cause if this was taken down and I didn't try this my hen surely would have died. I will forever keep monistat in my poultry first aid kit. And thanks also to Kathy for all the exceptional information, as always! You have helped me once again. I <3 BYC and BYC members!

 

[11squawkers]

Oh and can't forget to thank aart, as well, for the wonderfully helpful information, as you, too have helped on more than one occasion!