Sour Crop?

[oregonkat]

Sheesh, I am so sorry about this. I had hoped to see this morning that she was doing better. I would like to get some more experienced people in on this but I am not sure how to hail them. @WVduckchick perhaps this will work @azygous also. The gasping for air is definitely not a good sign. Hopefully these guys will be able to help.

 

[WVduckchick]

Sorry, I've only dealt with it once personally (unsuccessfully), so I'll tag a few others @Wyorp Rock @rebrascora @aart

 

[aart]

Sorry, I've only dealt with it once personally (unsuccessfully), so I'll tag a few others @Wyorp Rock @rebrascora @aart

Have never dealt with it...but think @azygous has.

 

[azygous]

Yes, this sounds like sour crop. It's very uncomfortable, so a chicken will do neck gyrations trying to alleviate the discomfort.

Do not make your hen vomit. While it does give temporary comfort, the risk for aspirating the sour fluid into the lungs is too great. (Also, your hen will not enjoy the experience and will hate you.)

You need to treat the yeast infection that is causing the contents of the crop to sour. Nystatin is the best cure, but miconazole is cheap and easily obtained without a prescription. Find it in the women's hygiene section of the pharmacy.

You can use either the suppositories or the vaginal cream. Use about a quarter inch of a suppository twice a day for seven days or about half an inch of the cream twice a day for seven days. Give orally.

No need to massage, in fact massage may cause vomiting and aspiration. If impacted crop accompanies sour crop, which often these two conditions coincide, you will need to clear the impaction with coconut oil before treating the yeast infection. Massage is necessary to break up impaction.

 

[Stephen1152]

Yes, this sounds like sour crop. It's very uncomfortable, so a chicken will do neck gyrations trying to alleviate the discomfort.

Do not make your hen vomit. While it does give temporary comfort, the risk for aspirating the sour fluid into the lungs is too great. (Also, your hen will not enjoy the experience and will hate you.)

You need to treat the yeast infection that is causing the contents of the crop to sour. Nystatin is the best cure, but miconazole is cheap and easily obtained without a prescription. Find it in the women's hygiene section of the pharmacy.

You can use either the suppositories or the vaginal cream. Use about a quarter inch of a suppository twice a day for seven days or about half an inch of the cream twice a day for seven days. Give orally.

No need to massage, in fact massage may cause vomiting and aspiration. If impacted crop accompanies sour crop, which often these two conditions coincide, you will need to clear the impaction with coconut oil before treating the yeast infection. Massage is necessary to break up impaction.

Fist thank you all for your help. She did throw up yesterday. It just happened like an eruption. I do believe some is in her lungs as she is gasping. At this point her crop still has stuff in it, she is drinking on her own and the awful smell is still coming out. So I would say she has both an impaction still and a yeast infection. I gave her two large droppers of canola oil yesterday. What should I do now?

 

[azygous]

When you have impacted crop and sour crop, you need to clear the impaction first. You need to get about two teaspoons of oil into her and massage the crop. You may be able to help the contents break up with just the one oil and massage treatment. If not, repeat in half an hour if the contents don't go down.

I like coconut oil for lots of reasons, most of which is its ease in administering. In it's solid form it is easy to stuff into the beak without having it go into the airway. Or all over you and your feathered patient.

If after two tries to get the impaction broken up it fails, try a stool softener. Wait 30-45 minutes and massage the crop. That should cause the contents to leave the crop. Then you can proceed with the sour crop treatment.

 

[Stephen1152]

When you have impacted crop and sour crop, you need to clear the impaction first. You need to get about two teaspoons of oil into her and massage the crop. You may be able to help the contents break up with just the one oil and massage treatment. If not, repeat in half an hour if the contents don't go down.

I like coconut oil for lots of reasons, most of which is its ease in administering. In it's solid form it is easy to stuff into the beak without having it go into the airway. Or all over you and your feathered patient.

If after two tries to get the impaction broken up it fails, try a stool softener. Wait 30-45 minutes and massage the crop. That should cause the contents to leave the crop. Then you can proceed with the sour crop treatment.

Wow. Good thing I had knee surgery this week or I would never have the time for all of this. I’ll do it now. Thanks

 

[oregonkat]

Yes, this sounds like sour crop. It's very uncomfortable, so a chicken will do neck gyrations trying to alleviate the discomfort.

Do not make your hen vomit. While it does give temporary comfort, the risk for aspirating the sour fluid into the lungs is too great. (Also, your hen will not enjoy the experience and will hate you.)

You need to treat the yeast infection that is causing the contents of the crop to sour. Nystatin is the best cure, but miconazole is cheap and easily obtained without a prescription. Find it in the women's hygiene section of the pharmacy.

You can use either the suppositories or the vaginal cream. Use about a quarter inch of a suppository twice a day for seven days or about half an inch of the cream twice a day for seven days. Give orally.

No need to massage, in fact massage may cause vomiting and aspiration. If impacted crop accompanies sour crop, which often these two conditions coincide, you will need to clear the impaction with coconut oil before treating the yeast infection. Massage is necessary to break up impaction.

Will this treatment work with a hen with doughy crop? I have a little hen who is very active, still eating and behaving normally but she has a golf ball sized 'dough' ball in her crop. I can literally shape this thing with my fingers. I can massage it till it breaks down and feels like sloppy soup, she does not throw up, but then 30 mins later the ball is back just the same. I have acidified copper sulfate coming tomorrow in the hope that this will cure it but should I do something like the above instead? Thank you so much for chiming in for the OP.

 

[oregonkat]

Wow. Good thing I had knee surgery this week or I would never have the time for all of this. I’ll do it now. Thanks

I hope your hen gets better and i am so glad that more experienced people got involved before you went any further under my advice. Hopefully my advice did not cause her permanent damage. I wish you well in healing from your surgery too.

 

[azygous]

Will this treatment work with a hen with doughy crop? I have a little hen who is very active, still eating and behaving normally but she has a golf ball sized 'dough' ball in her crop. I can literally shape this thing with my fingers. I can massage it till it breaks down and feels like sloppy soup, she does not throw up, but then 30 mins later the ball is back just the same. I have acidified copper sulfate coming tomorrow in the hope that this will cure it but should I do something like the above instead? Thank you so much for chiming in for the OP.

If this hen with the "doughy" crop is behaving normally, it may be a normal crop. To be certain you are dealing with a legitimate crop issue, monitor the crop in question for a 24 hour period. The crop should be completely empty in the morning before the chicken eats. If the doughy lump is still there in the morning, then you have the option of treating it with copper sulfate or miconazole.