Sour crop! Help!

[SpeckledCoopQueen]

My 12 week old chicken just got over a month long of sour crop/crop problems. After a week with nystatin and a crop bra she was back to normal. We fed the chickens melon and now all the sudden it’s back. Could the sugar in the melon be causing the crop problems? She was a week free without any crop problems and yesterday after the melon she is now watery chest with a sour smell. The liquid I made her throw up was feed color with some grass. Does not feel impacted. Help! How can I keep her from reoccuring sourncrop?!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

My 12 week old chicken just got over a month long of sour crop/crop problems. After a week with nystatin and a crop bra she was back to normal. We fed the chickens melon and now all the sudden it’s back. Could the sugar in the melon be causing the crop problems? She was a week free without any crop problems and yesterday after the melon she is now watery chest with a sour smell. The liquid I made her throw up was feed color with some grass. Does not feel impacted. Help! How can I keep her from reoccuring sourncrop?!

Is her crop pendulous? At 12wks of age it's already stretched out?

Crop issues are often a symptom of an underlying condition like Coccidiosis, worms and infection. Getting a fecal float and gram stain would be a very good idea.

I would put her on a strict diet of just chick starter, water and make poultry grit (crushed granite) available free choice. The crop is souring because it's not emptying properly.
Keep her hydrated well, massage the crop several time a day and see if you can get it to empty without the aid of the crop bra.

 

[Shezadandy]

Grass can create quite the tangle depending on length- agree completely about limited diet and as suggested above checking for worms/coccidiosis. Sugar feeds yeast- so if the crop issue reached the yeasty stage (where the contents feel like dough, keeping shape when you squeeze it) then maybe the sugar helped bring it back to life.

My favorite crop issues article:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...d-sour-crops-prevention-and-treatments.67194/

 

[Shezadandy]

Also- make sure you're checking her in the MORNING to ensure she has emptied the crop. I've got my pig chickens who go to bed with a big ole crop but still empty overnight- like first thing in the morning, hasn't jumped off to go eat that morning. Water (and watermelon, mine are getting it every day in this horrific heat wave) weigh a lot and will cause the crop to drop- the best test is in the morning. Would suggest waiting to vomit her until the AM before she's gotten off the roost so you know what's really not getting digested.