Sour crop question…is it time to euthanize?

[Apags18]

So I actually posted on here a few months back (in March I think) regarding my hen, Truffles, and her battle with sour/pendulous crop. I tried all the remedies I found online and some that were mentioned on this site. Truffles’ pendulous crop never did get better, but she seemed to adapt and get along just fine. It actually did shrink a little. She even started to lay eggs again. Back in Oct she went broody and the crop shrunk even more. We were so happy thinking she was actually getting better!

Well she started molting and I did fear she could have issues again during the molt. Well out of nowhere, two mornings ago we got up to let the hens out of the coop and her crop was the size of a grapefruit! It was squishy and smelled extremely sour. She could barely walk too. I separated her without food and water and massages her crop a few times throughout the day. She has pin feather everywhere, poor thing, and isn’t tolerating being handled much. Today was 24 hours without food and no improvement. She is feisty as usually and still fights me when I get close to her. She has a strong will to live but she can barely get around with that massive crop.
The closest vet (I thought) was over an hour away, but today I found that there is a vet 20 min from us that does see chickens occasionally, but they were closed by the time I found them so I’m calling them in the morning.

I hate to give up on her when she still has so much energy, but with as big as her crop is now, I fear it’s stretched out even more and I know it wouldn’t be humane to let her live like this and waste away. We’ve been dealing with this recurring sour and now pendulous crop for a year now. I have tried everything.

With her crop being the size of a grapefruit and her having trouble walking now, is it time to let her go? Would it be worth it to try asking the vet to drain and flush her crop out again or would that just be prolonging the inevitable? The other vets did it earlier this year, but it was stretched out again by the end of the day. She’s just got so much energy and even back in Jan/feb when she wet to the other vet an hour away they couldn’t believe all her energy despite her condition.

I appreciate any advice. I also don’t have a great photo of her but this was a still from a video of her trying to walk. She does look terrible because she is molting pretty bad too.

 

[WhatsUpDuck]

I'm so sorry. I have no advice I hope someone more experienced on here sees this! Ours ended very sad, but she didn't make it a year. Is she gasping for air?

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I'm so sorry poor Truffles has continued to decline. For me, with any animal, it comes down to this: are they suffering? Or, are they about to be? If the answer is yes, then the kindest thing I can do is prevent that. Only you can decide what's best for Truffles, you know her and you can see what we cannot. Whatever you decide, we will fully support your decision. We've all either been there, or will be at some point.

 

[Apags18]

I'm so sorry. I have no advice I hope someone more experienced on here sees this! Ours ended very sad, but she didn't make it a year. Is she gasping for air?

Even support is appreciated. No she’s not. She just can’t walk well with all that weight on her chest. There has been a couple times that she’s put her head down to peck the ground and fluid has come back up because she is so full. You can see her take a min to try and swallow the rest then goes right back to what she’s doing. She def has a strong little spirit, but this crop is holding her back. I just feel so sorry for her. I have tipped her downwards in the past to get some of that fluid out (I know it’s risky, but it did work for us before) but she will barely let me pick her up now with all the pin feathers on her. It probably is time to let her go. I can’t stand to see her like this.

 

[Apags18]

I'm so sorry poor Truffles has continued to decline. For me, with any animal, it comes down to this: are they suffering? Or, are they about to be? If the answer is yes, then the kindest thing I can do is prevent that. Only you can decide what's best for Truffles, you know her and you can see what we cannot. Whatever you decide, we will fully support your decision. We've all either been there, or will be at some point.

Thank you. I know she is trying so hard and I want to keep trying with her, but it’s that darn crop that just keeps filling up. I think it probably is time to let her go. I just don’t see her crop staying at a reasonable size now that it’s been stretched so much larger. I appreciate your support!

 

[lizo97]

Thank you. I know she is trying so hard and I want to keep trying with her, but it’s that darn crop that just keeps filling up. I think it probably is time to let her go. I just don’t see her crop staying at a reasonable size now that it’s been stretched so much larger. I appreciate your support!

@Apags18 I just want to let you know I wrestled with that question with my hen (a favorite) with sour crop. The first time she had crop stasis was when she was molting. We paid over $1000 for crop surgery and she was placed on Bactrim/meloxicam. She recovered, but I had to put over 2 months of time (including tube feeding). Next year, the exact same day she developed crop stasis again. Went to a different vet. She prescribed bactrim, nystatin, and metoclopramide. My rehabber friend helped to vomit out crop contents (she is a long-time bird rehabber). We spent over a month trying to get her system going. Her fecal came back as positive for Capillaria, so dewormed her. She had days she looked like she would recover and days she looked like she wouldn't. Her droppings always were small green with dark urates because of dehydration. Her whole system shut down, but she was fiesty to the end. In retrospect, I should have euthanized her, but I really thought my rehabber friend could work her magic. I think about all that torture that poor bird went through. When this happened the second time, my thoughts were to euthanized, but then she would look better. The crazy thing is this girl always wanted to eat. When my friend did a basic necropsy afterwards, she couldn't find anything wrong except for fat. No tumors, nothing blocking the GI system. Then 3 weeks later I found a hen dead in the coop. I have one with flystrike and another molting/not eating.