Sour crop

[JacksonPearce]

I am LOSING the chicken health game this week-- two URIs, possible scaly leg mites, and now a hen with sour crop. Her crop is massive and smells awful; last night I tried to empty it a bit by holding her upside down and stroking her throat. She vomited quite a bit, but far from everything; I could also hear the gases created by the fermentation bubbling away. I've currently got her house separately with no food, lots of water, and grit, but is there anything more I can do? I've seen suggestions of an antifungal, but what OTC version could I use? This is my first go-round with sour crop!

 

[sylviethecochin]

Here's a thread.
In summary: Apple Cider vinegar, epsom salt wash, omega-3 oil, and probiotic yogurt are all recognised supplements for hens with sour crop. Obviously, you shouldn't include anything with a lot of sugar.

Also, there was this product.

You probably should not make her vomit. According to said thread, they aren't built for it and they can drown in it fairly easily.

EDT: Also, @casportpony ?

 

[sylviethecochin]

Here's another thread. It seems most people think supplying grit during sour crop is a bad thing.

 

[JacksonPearce]

Thanks so much! There is just so much conflicting information, I'm a bit overwhelmed. I'm going to give her some 50/50 ACV tonight, since she hasn't improved. It seems like it would be a bad idea to do ACV and yogurt treatments at once-- any thoughts there? I could offer yogurt tomorrow during the day and no other food, then treat with ACV in the morning and night....?

 

[rebrascora]

It seems to me that she has quite a serious case of sour crop going on and I would be inclined to medicate with an antifungal treatment like acidified copper sulphate or Canesten or whatever thrush medication you have in your country. I believe fishzole is another product that can be used. I'm not convinced that ACV is a suitable treatment.

 

[JacksonPearce]

Thanks! Unfortunately I have no idea what kind of antifungals I can get without a rx— most everything that comes to mind is topical. Can anyone weigh in?

 

[rebrascora]

I believe people use topical canesten.... ie the vaginal cream but if you have a pet store that deals in fish, you may be able to get fishzole there or online or acidified copper sulphate I believe may be available from garden centres. I've never had to deal with a sour crop (just impactions) so I am just going off information I have gained from reading this forum.

Edited to add.....
I have been corrected in a subsequent post by casportpony regarding Fishzole being an antibiotic and not an antifungal, so please disregard that suggestion.

 

[heatherlaw]

I have dealt with sour crop far more than I care to keep track of. The best treatment I have found yet is to empty the crop as best you can and yes, she could aspirat some and die but she would die from SC eventually. Try to get some oregano oil down her any way you can. If she womt eat it then tube it down her throat. @casportpony can give you the best info on how to do this. Just a drop of the oil in olive oil will do it. Then massage the heck out of her crop and give nothing but water until her crop clears. Oregano oil is not the standard treatment but after much trial and error I have found nothing that works better. Any health food store will carry it

 

[JacksonPearce]

I've given her about 5ml of 50/50 apple cider vinegar, and didn't want to do much more than that all at once. I've got some friends who are able to get nystatin for me tomorrow, but does anyone know what the dosage would be?

 

[JacksonPearce]

I'm also a little perplexed here: I have seen comments that you shouldn't give a chicken with sour crop an antibiotic...but then recommendations that I try fishzole, which is essentially amoxicillin (and antibiotic). Any thoughts on this, chicken vets? Again, I'm trying to get an antifungal, but I'd like to know thoughts on the fishzole/antibiotic thing for future reference.