Sour Crop, Doughy Crop, or Impacted Crop??

[Melovechickens]

Ok I need help telling the difference between sour crop, doughy crop, and an impacted crop. I believe one of my chickens has one of these. Her crop is large and it is hard. She isn't lethargic and no stink is coming from her. She does have Bumble Foot so we're curing that right now, but I want to rid her of these crop issues (or what I think is crop issues). I don't think she has lost any weight and one morning I felt her crop and it was basically flat, but this morning there was a bump and it was hard. So I'm just wanting to make sure she is okay. She is laying eggs and being a normal chicken so far. Thanks so much!!

 

[Peep-Chicken]

If she is away from other chickens, she maybe eating a lot of the food you give her making her crop really big. If this is the case it will go back to being flat over night. After a day of foraging my one hen seems to have swallowed a baseball because she ate so much.
If it's sour crop you would definitely smell something.
If it's impacted it will stay large at least a whole day.
I'm not too sure on doughy crop though.
I would wait to see if it goes down over night. Watch if she still eats and drinks too.
Hope she gets better!

 

[Melovechickens]

Thank you so much!! And like I said her crop goes down when I check her early in the morning, but there's still a bump. So there's still a bump way early in the morning.

 

[Peep-Chicken]

Thank you so much!! And like I said her crop goes down when I check her early in the morning, but there's still a bump. So there's still a bump way early in the morning.

You're welcome.
As long as she's acting okay I don't think that's an issue. The leftover bump may just be some food that will clear up in a couple hours. I would be a lot more concerned if it wasn't going away.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thank you so much!! And like I said her crop goes down when I check her early in the morning, but there's still a bump. So there's still a bump way early in the morning.

What is way early in the morning? Is this before she has had anything to eat or drink?

Crop should be full at night, then flat (empty) first thing in the morning before eating/drinking. If there is still a hard lump in the morning, then she may have a partially impacted crop. Make a source of grit (crushed granite) available and offer her wet feed only for a day. Then re-check her.

Here's a very good article that gives details about different crop issues - I suggest that you read it in it's entirety before you may any type of decisions to treat crop issues - if you have vet care, that would be best.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/impacted-slow-and-sour-crops-prevention-and-treatments

 

[Melovechickens]

Thank you so much!! I felt her crop before she had anything to eat or drink so yeah. So their crop is supposed to be completely empty? Like flat against their chest?? She has a little bump in the morning and at night her crop is squishy. Usually her crop is hard throughout the day and like I said her crop gets squishy at night. Her crop is not flat against her chest though. Can a chicken live with a little bit of an impacted crop or does it have to be completely empty?? Thanks so much for the help!!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thank you so much!! I felt her crop before she had anything to eat or drink so yeah. So their crop is supposed to be completely empty? Like flat against their chest?? She has a little bump in the morning and at night her crop is squishy. Usually her crop is hard throughout the day and like I said her crop gets squishy at night. Her crop is not flat against her chest though. Can a chicken live with a little bit of an impacted crop or does it have to be completely empty?? Thanks so much for the help!!

Is it the crop you feel that has a little bump or could it be a neck bone. If it is squishy at night, then first thing in the morning all you fee a little bump you are probably fine. She may be drinking a lot of water before bed.

Keep watch on her, if you notice an odor on her breath, if she becomes lethargic, loses weight, refuses to eat/drink and the crop is still full/squishy in the mornings before eating/drinking, then you may need to re-evaluate her.

 

[Melovechickens]

We felt her crop tonight and it feels like bread dough so my guess is she has doughy crop. I read an article on doughy crop that someone sent and it sounds like a good treatment. They say 1/4 teaspoon baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon ginger powder, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon powder, a squirt of lemon juice, and 1 teaspoon of water. The article says to shoot it down the throat or tube feed it, but I'm wondering if I can feed it to her through her water or food or yogurt or something of the sort. It never says anything about feeding it through food. So I was just wondering. If she does have doughy crop and it's stuck on the walls of her throat will the mixture get the stuff on the walls of her throat off?? I also have a question about how many times a day I should do this and how long I should wait between each time I feed her. It says 3 times a day, but I'm busy. Right now she is healing in 1 foot from Bumblefoot and we still have to do the other foot. I will feel her crop in the morning and if it still feels like bread dough then I will start the treatment. If anyone has any suggestions or anything else on how to help me that would be very much appreciated. I really don't want to stress her out a ton so we're trying to do the best we can. Thanks so much everyone!!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

We felt her crop tonight and it feels like bread dough so my guess is she has doughy crop. I read an article on doughy crop that someone sent and it sounds like a good treatment. They say 1/4 teaspoon baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon ginger powder, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon powder, a squirt of lemon juice, and 1 teaspoon of water. The article says to shoot it down the throat or tube feed it, but I'm wondering if I can feed it to her through her water or food or yogurt or something of the sort. It never says anything about feeding it through food. So I was just wondering. If she does have doughy crop and it's stuck on the walls of her throat will the mixture get the stuff on the walls of her throat off?? I also have a question about how many times a day I should do this and how long I should wait between each time I feed her. It says 3 times a day, but I'm busy. Right now she is healing in 1 foot from Bumblefoot and we still have to do the other foot. I will feel her crop in the morning and if it still feels like bread dough then I will start the treatment. If anyone has any suggestions or anything else on how to help me that would be very much appreciated. I really don't want to stress her out a ton so we're trying to do the best we can. Thanks so much everyone!!

Directly tubing/syringing the mixture is usually best, you want to get it all into her. It probably doesn't taste good either, but you could try giving it to her in a small amount of yogurt just to see if she will take it.

3X a day is usually needed to move a doughy crop - if you can do that your treatment will be more successful. Try to split your time, I understand about being busy and sometimes it's hard to follow a routine, do the best you can. Try giving her a dose first thing in the morning, then midday - if you aren't home, give it to her the next available time slot (after work/school), then if you can fit one more time in when she goes to roost that would be good.

Also make sure she is has a source of grit and only give wet poultry feed and make plenty of water available. What you're trying to do is get the crop moving - a doughy crop can turn sour or become impacted, so you want to give things that will move on out.

Are you keeping her separated while you treat for Bumblefoot? Is her foot doing well?

Keep us posted.

 

[Melovechickens]

Her 1 foot is healing and it's doing great!! We still have to do her other foot so we're going to do that after we treat her crop. I felt her crop this morning and it went down, but there is still some food caught in her crop that feels like bread dough. I tried to open up her mouth to smell her mouth, but she wouldn't hold still long enough!! So I just let it be. I feel much better because her crop is still functioning well. My mom is telling me that her poop and pee REALLY stink and that there are very large amounts of it for a bird her size. She's a Cochin and she's like 2 pounds. So there's a LOT of poop and pee. Well thank you so much guys!!!