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.

 

[Apags18]

@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.

Thanks for your input. Did yours pass on her own or did you end up euthanizing? Truffles is still so fiesty but she can barely walk straight and I just know this will keep getting worse. I also don’t want her to waste away. I had taken her to a different vet back in Jan and Feb and they used a tube to suck out the fluid in her crop but it would fill right back up. I will be taking her to a different vet closer to us tomorrow afternoon to euthanize. Today she started looking like she’s finally getting tired. She’s been such a sweet, funny, friendly girl and I’m really going to miss her.

 

[lizo97]

I asked my rehabber friend to take her, as her crop was not moving and she was getting dehydrated. One morning, she found her dead. She thinks she aspirated. I asked my friend to take her because she would be able to euthanize her, but since my hen still looked interested in eating she kept treating her. I should have just brought her myself to the vet to get euthanized. I never could have predicted when she would have passed -- she was a very strong girl. Heaviest Easter Egger, but strong and stout. Best personality, never flightly.

 

[hammyanne]

I’m so sorry that you’re at this cross roads it’s never an easy decision to make, but you’re making all of the right considerations and you’ll choose the right decision for you and her.

If it’s any help to hear, my Fiona, pictured in my profile, had pendulous crop and I tried everything to cure it. Her breast feathers never grew back but she was such a sweet girl and total fire cracker—loved being held and eventually regained enough confidence that she wasn’t lowest on the pecking order. I know chickens can hide their ailments well, but she really adapted to life with pendulous crop and kept up with the rest of the flock. I’d occasionally find her puffed up whenever her crop got really full, but otherwise she was quite lively and resilient! She lived to be 1.5 before she disappeared one day, unrelated to her crop. Molts seem miserable for all chickens, but maybe she’ll bounce back after she’s done molting?

Good luck! Sending you lots of love

 

[Apags18]

Thank you for all your responses. It’s such a nicer place here on this site than Facebook. Truffles is at peace now. I decided it was time. I took her to a vet and she passed in my arms, peacefully. Obviously it was a tough decision. She still wanted to eat and was trying to get around, but both myself and the vet looked her over before the injection and found that she was severely emaciated. The vet thinks she developed crop stasis during this molt and that she was starting to decline rapidly, especially with her not really being able to walk. Just a week ago she was her normal self (despite her pendulous crop). We don’t think she would have lasted another week. I decided to let her have some seeds in her carrier on the way to the vet so she spent her last few minutes eating yummy treats.

It was definitely a tough decision to make but I appreciate the kind words.

I added a picture of her last night with her bonded sister, Peanut Butter (PB). Those two were always together. I’m definitely sad for PB. I know chickens don’t grieve like us, but I am still sad for her. PB seems to be doing ok though. I also added of photo of her from just a couple months ago laying in the sun. Her feathers never did grow back on her chest but she adjusted. I’m just relieved she’s no longer suffering.