Sour Crop? Roo died in my hands

[direwolf]

I noticed today that one of my roos was very lethargic. I mentioned this to my wife, and she said "he seemed to be like that yesterday." I did some research on this forum and I suspected sour crop. I picked up the lethargic roo and massaged his crop. Yellow liquid came out of his beak, he flapped hard about 3 - 4 times, and died right there in my hands.

I let them free range 4 days ago (Sunday evening), and I suspect he ate something while free ranging that blocked his crop (grass, twigs, oak leaves???). I suspect that I did not catch this in time and when I massaged it, I forced the progressed infection out and into his system (stomach, bloodstream???).

What did I do wrong? I admit I have been busy at work this week, and did not look in on them each evening (or morning) as I usually do. Do my suspicions seem correct? Does this sound like a sour crop that I did not catch in time? We do put ACV in their water. These are RIR and they are about 12 weeks old.

We did end up with two roos in this flock, and I was on the fence about what to do with this second roo, but I did not want it to end this way.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I don't wan't this same thing to happen to my young hens and one remaining roo in the future. I also asked my wife to let me know immediately if she notices a sick bird. She is home most of the day and I really only have daylight time on the weekends. We are fairly new to this, and again, advice s appreciated.

 

[leadwolf1]

Sometimes, when massaging the crop, the liquid that comes out gets aspirated and they die from inhaling the liquid.

So sorry for your loss

Did the liquid have a sour odor?

 

[direwolf]

I did not notice any odor. There was a puss colored discharge, and surprisingly it was not very much. Maybe a tablespoon. I did not put the discharge right to my nose, but he was only a foot or two away from my nose and I did not notice any odor. He seemed to go pretty quickly, and I had to get right to burying him before the dogs noticed anything.

 

[GoldenSparrow]

so sorry

 

[Red Barn Farms]

So sorry to hear this has happened. It does kind of sound like he might have aspirated. Was the crop a very large size, more than normal? The crop on a chicken with a sour crop normally will feel spongy like a balloon. An impacted crop is normally very hard feeling. Try keeping a close eye on your other chickens when possible and make sure all their crops look normal and empty in the mornings.