Sour crop? impacted Crop?

[Hennyhandler]

Can anyone tell me what are the symptoms of each of these and how you can tell. I have searched and looked all over and i get the same symptoms. Large crop, foul smelling.... but they always seem to say that its full of food and feels that way. My chick feels like fluid.

 

[jenni2142]

If it feels like fluid and has a bad smell then it is probably sour crop.

 

[threehorses]

Sour crop can be liquidous, mushy like gelatin, or can be harder if the statis of the crop continues to the point where it impacts. IN all cases, the hallmark of sour crop is sourness.

Impaction usually starts off hard, but can develop into sour crop as the contents of the crop don't move and liquids are added. It'll start out not sour but end up sour.

Crops should empty within 24 hours. The time to check that is first thing in the morning, before the bird moves from its roost, or late in the middle of the night. That way you give the crop time (overnight) to empty without the bird picking up more food and confusing matters.

If you find, at that time, that your bird's crop is still mushy, it's static. That means you will need to empty it of the contents at least, flush it at most. The spoiling food and water must not be allowed to stay in the crop. It will spoil and go bad, sickening the bird.

Now the thing to keep in mind at this time of year is that birds are drinking a lot more water because of the new heat. It's possible that she just hogged a lot of water and you're feeling that and panicking. It's happening a lot. Just eliminate the worry by doing the first-thing crop check.

Now if you see lethargy, etc, that's another matter. Or stinky throat.