Sour crop not going down please help!

[AvianAva]

Hello!

I have a couple old month old pullet (I think its pullet I'm not sure yet)
which has had a sour crop for a few days now.
I had never experienced this in my flock for the 3 or so years I have been raising chickens so this came as a surprise to me. I believe it is sour crop because her chest is blown up like a water balloon and it feels like it too. I did not know what it was at first I looked it up and I got impacted crop and some other type of crop problem. I tried these out on her first because I discovered sour crop last which told me everything I did previously was wrong and to not feed or water her at all. Being a little frustrated I have been keeping her from food (but not water although she barely drinks) and nothing had gone down or changed I have even tried massaging it on and off for a couple of hours. I would really like someone's advice on what to do I feel out of options and I really want her to live.

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

Here is a great article to help your chick.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/
If you have more questions after you read the article, don't hesitate to return here and ask.

 

[AvianAva]

Here is a great article to help your chick.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/
If you have more questions after you read the article, don't hesitate to return here and ask.

that was a really good article thank you for sending it to me! I just ordered some of the cream it said to use for the chick I hope she's okay until it comes which is in two days. She already hasn't had anything to eat for 24hrs but I'm just worried about how long she can last should I try and feed her at all or just keep letting her stick it out for the two days?

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

that was a really good article thank you for sending it to me! I just ordered some of the cream it said to use for the chick I hope she's okay until it comes which is in two days. She already hasn't had anything to eat for 24hrs but I'm just worried about how long she can last should I try and feed her at all or just keep letting her stick it out for the two days?

I will tag the author of the article, @azygous , to advise you.

 

[azygous]

It's extremely rare for a baby chick to have sour crop, not that it can't happen. Older hens are the usual victims. More often a baby chick will have constipation instead of impacted crop, but it can happen.

Since you've never dealt with crop issues, let's be sure what this chick of yours has so it can be treated properly. It's important to withhold food and water until morning, although I'm not one to recommend withholding food and water from a chicken with crop issues. The chicken will self regulate intake of food and water. Check the crop again in the morning. If it's soft and squishy like a water balloon, it's sour crop. If the crop has a hard lump in it, it's impacted. These are treated differently. If a chick is constipated, most often from pasty butt, the chick will have an empty crop, act very sick and miserable, and the poop will be very scant and hard.

The cause of impacted crop or constipation in baby chicks is feeding foods other than chick starter. If the chick has been eating grass, bugs, worms, raw fruit, seeds, etc, it requires chick grit for digestion. If it hasn't been getting grit, then the chick is likely impacted. If you believe this could be the issue, then give the chick two teaspoons of coconut oil, divided into pea size pieces and chilled hard. Slip the oil pieces into the beak. The chick will swallow them. Get all two teaspoons into the chick tonight. This is only if you believe the chick is impacted or constipated.

Sour crop in young chickens is most often caused by moldy fruit or veggies or drinking stagnant puddle water. If you believe the chick has been exposed to moldy food or dirty water, and if the chick's crop is squishy and full come morning, then treat with the miconazole cream for seven days twice a day.

 

[AvianAva]

It's extremely rare for a baby chick to have sour crop, not that it can't happen. Older hens are the usual victims. More often a baby chick will have constipation instead of impacted crop, but it can happen.

Since you've never dealt with crop issues, let's be sure what this chick of yours has so it can be treated properly. It's important to withhold food and water until morning, although I'm not one to recommend withholding food and water from a chicken with crop issues. The chicken will self regulate intake of food and water. Check the crop again in the morning. If it's soft and squishy like a water balloon, it's sour crop. If the crop has a hard lump in it, it's impacted. These are treated differently. If a chick is constipated, most often from pasty butt, the chick will have an empty crop, act very sick and miserable, and the poop will be very scant and hard.

The cause of impacted crop or constipation in baby chicks is feeding foods other than chick starter. If the chick has been eating grass, bugs, worms, raw fruit, seeds, etc, it requires chick grit for digestion. If it hasn't been getting grit, then the chick is likely impacted. If you believe this could be the issue, then give the chick two teaspoons of coconut oil, divided into pea size pieces and chilled hard. Slip the oil pieces into the beak. The chick will swallow them. Get all two teaspoons into the chick tonight. This is only if you believe the chick is impacted or constipated.

Sour crop in young chickens is most often caused by moldy fruit or veggies or drinking stagnant puddle water. If you believe the chick has been exposed to moldy food or dirty water, and if the chick's crop is squishy and full come morning, then treat with the miconazole cream for seven days twice a day.

Thank you for letting me know!
Unfortunately at this time despite my best efforts she is declining although I have ordered the medication I believe it won’t be here in time. also yes I think she did have moldy food because of an accident. It had been raining up here non-stop cat and dogs in Vermont, and so the food kept getting wet non stop. At the time they were in a temporary shelter that was just enough to keep out the elements, So even if it was put inside it would get soggy and moldy. I did my best to refresh it. Yet I also did another mistake where is I took the old wet moldy food and just dumped it off to the side and put fresh in there bowl after. I believe they still tried to eat the moldy food. luckily none of my other chicks have been effected and I have made sure I dump the bad food where they cannot get it. This was a very hard lesson to learn but I want to do better in the future.

 

[azygous]

Unfortunately, mold also can cause toxic poisoning, affecting the nervous system. Yes, it's lucky more chicks weren't affected.

You are not alone in suffering loss due to learning curve. I think everyone keeping chickens make mistakes early on that result in loss. I sure have.

 

[AvianAva]

Unfortunately, mold also can cause toxic poisoning, affecting the nervous system. Yes, it's lucky more chicks weren't affected.

You are not alone in suffering loss due to learning curve. I think everyone keeping chickens make mistakes early on that result in loss. I sure have.

She is still fighting which I’m grateful for but learning all this has certainly made me way more conscious about my chickens feed. I’m hoping she gets better but it’s still a toss up thank you for all your advise!

 

[AvianAva]

It's extremely rare for a baby chick to have sour crop, not that it can't happen. Older hens are the usual victims. More often a baby chick will have constipation instead of impacted crop, but it can happen.

Since you've never dealt with crop issues, let's be sure what this chick of yours has so it can be treated properly. It's important to withhold food and water until morning, although I'm not one to recommend withholding food and water from a chicken with crop issues. The chicken will self regulate intake of food and water. Check the crop again in the morning. If it's soft and squishy like a water balloon, it's sour crop. If the crop has a hard lump in it, it's impacted. These are treated differently. If a chick is constipated, most often from pasty butt, the chick will have an empty crop, act very sick and miserable, and the poop will be very scant and hard.

The cause of impacted crop or constipation in baby chicks is feeding foods other than chick starter. If the chick has been eating grass, bugs, worms, raw fruit, seeds, etc, it requires chick grit for digestion. If it hasn't been getting grit, then the chick is likely impacted. If you believe this could be the issue, then give the chick two teaspoons of coconut oil, divided into pea size pieces and chilled hard. Slip the oil pieces into the beak. The chick will swallow them. Get all two teaspoons into the chick tonight. This is only if you believe the chick is impacted or constipated.

Sour crop in young chickens is most often caused by moldy fruit or veggies or drinking stagnant puddle water. If you believe the chick has been exposed to moldy food or dirty water, and if the chick's crop is squishy and full come morning, then treat with the miconazole cream for seven days twice a day.

So I have been trying the medicine miconazole for the last 3-4 days I have done it day and night and she still has not improved nor has the crop gone down. She is very skinny and weak and barely does anything but sleep. Do you believe there is still hope for her or do you believe I should look into euthanasia?

 

[azygous]

Just a week ago I had a hen with this exact issue. I had been treating her with every sour crop treatment there is - miconazole, copper sulfate, medistatin. Nothing worked. I even resorted to extracting the liquid from her crop each morning. But it became apparent that an underlying issue was causing the crop issue, and since it was not getting better, so the crop couldn't recover either. The hen died the night before I planned to euthanize her.

So, yes, when nothing is working and the hen is getting worse, not better, then euthanasia is what I suggest.