sour crop or two separate issues

[dabb]

Hi I'm new to the forum(more like a stalker) but now I have an issue and search as I may I haven't come up with an answer so here I am. I spend about an hour every evening with my 6 red sex link hens. They started laying about 3 weeks ago and I've had an assortment of eggs, lg dbl yolks, shell-less, soft shell, teenie tiny, etc. They seem to becoming more regular as I read they would do. Tonight I gave the girls an apple to chase around and my one hen wasn't interested (red flag) so I offered her a taste, no deal. I removed her from the coop and while holding her she had fluid coming out of her mouth and back end. As I was walking away with her she dropped a soft shell egg (we collected 6 eggs already today) and her vent was wet. I put her in a cage and went into the house to look on this forum and when I went back out she had dropped a shell-less egg. I took her out of the cage and fluid was once again coming from her mouth so I turned her upside down and massaged her crop and what came out it smelled and looked like vomit. I did this a couple of times and returned her to the coop. I just checked on her and she's not roosting but on the floor of the coop house. Her comb is still red, her eyes are good. Is this one issue of a sour crop or two different issues? Thanks so much for your help!!!

 

[T-Amy]

Hi dabb,
I am sorry to see about your girl. One of my hens was on the floor & not the roost one night & I didn't know what to think of it (I was very new to it this spring). I found her dead the next AM. I think it's a red flag if they're not on the roost so my immediate reaction is she is very ill but I'm not sure if I have advice other than to say that given she's not following the normal routine of being on a roost or possibly sleeping in a nesting box... but instead on the floor... it doesn't sound at all positive.

How long have you noticed her acting out of the ordinary? These symptoms don't sound like sour crop, it sounds like something worse to me but I'm afraid I don't know how to help. I was drawn to respond because of finding my hen on the ground but I'm so sorry that I can't help.

Did you 'vomit' her at first or only after you noticed she had stuff coming from her mouth & you wanted to relieve her? Sometimes hens just die without being able to officially know what's wrong. I've been told that they can have an egg get stuck in them, kind of like a human has a fertilized egg stuck in the fallopian tube. I'm not sure what it's called in a hen.

I hope someone with more knowledge can offer more advice to you than I can. Please let me know how things continue.

 

[dabb]

Thank you for your reply! I just noticed it tonight as I spend time with them every evening. I relieved her after I noticed the discharge from her mouth but she also expelled two eggs so I'm not sure whats going on. I'll let you know.

 

[dabb]

Thank you for your reply! I just noticed it tonight as I spend time with them every evening. I relieved her after I noticed the discharge from her mouth but she also expelled two eggs so I'm not sure whats going on. I'll let you know.

 

[dabb]

Thank you for your reply! I just noticed it tonight as I spend time with them every evening. I relieved her after I noticed the discharge from her mouth but she also expelled two eggs so I'm not sure whats going on. I'll let you know.

 

[T-Amy]

I thought, or think, one of my hens has crop issues, too. So I posted & a very nice lady has helped me with treatment ideas. I was emailing her tonight & suggested she look for your post & respond but I'm very concerned that because your hen is on the floor that she may be too ill to recover. I sure hope not but being new to chickens this spring, there is a LOT to learn & I've realized just how hard it is to diagnose them. Anyway, I hope she can find your note. I had to do a search because there were so many posts after yours.
Feel free to email me directly if it's a day or two from now (whereby I wont be able to find this post) so I can find out what happens with your little girl.

 

[Lifetime chicken lover]

I can't say anything about the shell-less eggs...this may be related, but is then a more serious issue. Perhaps if she has sour crop and isn't digesting food properly her eggs are not being formed correctly.
In the case of sour crop, you will notice that the crop is much bigger than normal and is very squishy- not hard and grainy like a healthy crop. The smelly vomit is definitely a sign of sour crop. There are a lot of posts about this on the forum. What I have found is that you should feed her some olive or vegetable oil to lubricate the crop maybe with some bread. Massage her crop for at least 15 minutes- try to feel if there are any lumps in there. I have heard that you should not turn her upside down to make her vomit- she could breathe it in and get a respiratory infection. If you want to remove the access fluid, get a good length, thin tube and a needle-less syringe and try to suck it out that way (there's more information about this in other sour crop threads). Keep her away from long grass and hay. I recently had to operate on my girl who developed an impacted crop after the sour crop- the grass and hay had developed a nearly baseball sized ball in her crop...she nearly died and is now slowly recovering.
Good luck. i hope she feels better and you figure out what this is!

 

[NovaAman]

If you do turn her upside down, have help so the other person can hold her head facing down till the vomit is all out, and then clean the beak off so she can't breath it in.
also, bring her in the house, put her in a secure contaiment and keep her warm and feed her soft foods for a few days till she recovers.

I had something like that, minus the egg problem, and I ended up taking her to the vet. I totally freaked when she threw up all over me when I picker her up... Turned out though that it wasn't sour crop but an inflamed gizzard... She was on albon for a few days. she was so much better after the first day on the albon though, that by the seconde day of treatment she was ready to go back out side. I am lucky to have a vet that has his own flock and sees "exotic" birds of all kinds...

 

[TwoCrows]

Hello there...

I am so sorry about your hen with the sour crop. It does sound like she does in fact have a sour crop and the egg issue is probably due to her illness. (chickens will stop laying when they become ill and this egg was probably one already on the way before her body shut the hormones off.)

I am no expert here myself. T-Amy and I have been talking back and forth about our sour cropped hens and she alerted me to your quandry tonight. The first thing I would suggest you do is go out side right now, yes, right now and bring her inside. If she is unable to perch, she may be on her last hours. Put her in a box, dog crate or even the laundry room and turn on the heat. Sick birds get cold. And many times the cold will kill them before the disease.

Vomiting will not hurt her if you lean her forward, not backwards as they can drown, massaging the crop when the bird is leaning down and allow some of the fluids to come out. Dont hold her there too long so that she can breathe.

If the crop is squishy and soft, then chances are she is not blocked up. If there was a blockage, then the crop would be hard. Do not give her olive oil. The oil breaks down blockages and is not good for a simple soured crop. Hard to digest.

Get her to an avian vet if you can tomorrow. Call around and most vets that see birds will see chickens. She needs her crop flushed. If you can not get her to a vet then you are going to need to get some yogurt down her throat. Get probiotics in her water. Probios and yogurt will help move the crop and these healthy bacteria's feed on the yeast infection in the crop. If she is not eating then use a syringe to get the yogurt down her. If she is eating, then only feed her hard boiled eggs with drenched in plain yogurt. No hard food that require the gizzard.

But for now, please get her warm. Bring her inside and in a quiet place. The coop is no place for a bird that is too sick to perch.

Keep us posted on her condition and again, I am so so sorry.

 

[dabb]

Thanks everyone!! Unfortunately I didn't see the last posts until today and I'm happy to report that she seems fine! Her crop feels good and she's eating, running around with the rest of them! I did add ACV to their water and will get probiotics to add to their water as well. The girls don't free range (too many dangers-one being our neighbors) so their diet is totally under my control. Like I said I spend time with them every day so I caught it early. Thanks again everyone for being there!!!!
PS Their coop is warm they have a heat lamp when needed-my children are grown so I need something to spoil