Sour Crop or Lazy?

[KariApple129]

Hello Fellow Chicken-Tenders!

I would like advice - I have a 3 year old Buff Orp (Penny) that I've noticed has been laying down more frequently than normal. She's specifically laying next to my two teenage (3 Months) Ameracuna's side coop (they're not fully integrated yet). I checked her out and she seems pretty normal otherwise - eating (she's been given yogurt and scrambled eggs, just in case she needed somethign easier to digest and the probiotics), drinking, laying, pooping per usual. When I let her and the other girls out to free range in our backyard, she'll peck around a bit, but then lay down in the shade (it has been rather warm). I felt up her crop and it was a bit squishy, but not impacted or worrisome. Her bum is a bit messier than usual, but I'm thinking that's because she's laying down so much and pooping at her normal speed (I also think she enjoys bum baths a little too much so she's trying to get more spa time).

Should I be worried about her? I mean, I am, but should I really worry? I've never encountered sour crop, but that was my first potential guess - but she's older than what seems normal for sour crop and she's not seeming to be in distress. Thoughts? Does she just like laying down?

Also, I've lost 2 of my 5 hens this year, so I'm VERY paranoid about losing another. I don't have access to a livestock vet where I am and the two vets that will see chickens are very expensive (my SO is very anti taking her to the vet), so I'm really doing my best to treat her myself.

 

[azygous]

Read this to understand crop issues and how to identify them. https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

If you have had unexplained deaths in the flock, you may have an avian virus at work. The only way to know is to have a necropsy on a dead chicken. This doesn't require a vet, just an agricultural lab. You may be in a state, if you live in the US, where such tests are subsidized and made inexpensive.

There is also the possibility of a bacterial infection that, if suspected, the source should be determined. For example, I have lost chickens due to a badly aerated compost pile harboring mold and deadly anaerobic bacteria.

 

[KariApple129]

Thank you @azygous . I've read that and I feel like every article there is, which is partly why I'm not sure what's going on with Penny. She doesn't have a sour smell, her crop seems to be emptying fine...her only real symptoms are laying down and a maybe squishier than normal crop. I may just be paranoid after losing the other birds, but I'm not worried about a flock disease. One bird was killed by a neighbor's dog and the other passed due to reproductive cancer (confirmed via necropsy).

I watched her fly her big buff body across the coop this morning and tackle my trouble-making wyandotte, so maybe she's totally fine?

 

[azygous]

If she's a large girl, she may have slow crop due to a pendulous crop condition. This is where the crop hangs so low that it's impossible for it to completely empty each night as it should for a healthy crop. The result is contents that are retained and ferment. This can cause both lethargy and starvation, which contributes to the lethargy.

In my article, I show how to make a quick and easy crop bra. This is just a basic pattern and may require adjustment to be of benefit to your hen. The idea is to support the crop, raising it so it drains better. You may need to adjust it over several days to be sure it's achieving the objective. That is, checking the crop each morning to see how well it's able to empty.

Long ago, I had a hen with a chronic crop issue. She became weaker and weaker because no food was getting into her digestive system. She was starving in spite of her crop always being very full. I was a novice and didn't know about pendulous crop or I might have saved her.