Sour Crop

[TheFirstLadiesChickens]

Ok thanks.

 

[TheFirstLadiesChickens]

Martha's crop is much smaller after only one night with it! We stopped her from eating for a couple hours. She was fussing with her crop bra, so we took it off for now.

 

[Cryss]

The bra is needed to prevent the sour crop from happening again.
The crop is like a storage area for food. It doesn't do the digesting. A normal crop is situated so that food moves straight downward into the gizzard where it is ground up for digesting. It expands during the day to accommodate the food swallowed and at night it releases it straight down for digestion. By morning it has deflated and is quite flat. A pendulous crop is one that has lost all tone and is stretched out, think of a balloon that has deflated and now is floppy and has bumps wherever there is a weak spot. This causes the crop to hang down lower than the point where the food empties. There are no muscles to push the trapped food upward. As they fill up it hangs with all the weight. The food sits there and ferments. Meanwhile the chicken is not getting nutrients, essentially starving. She looks fat because the crop keeps expanding as she hungrily eats without being satiated. Eventually she will vomit foul smelling brownish matter. You may not see her vomit and you may or may not see residue on her beak.
The bra is meant to support the low hanging crop higher to redirect food (and medication) into the gizzard. As the medication takes care of the sour crop the bra takes care of the pendulous crop, needing to adjust as the size reduces. Once it has reduced and sour crop medication duration has been completed the bra continues to support the floppy crop. Removing it after one day simply allows food eaten to weigh it down and hang again. You may be able to remove it after several weeks if the muscles have healed. You will need to monitor closely for new signs of crop issues. My own rooster wears a bra constantly and has for about a year. Without it he has returned to hanging pendulous crop. With it he is big and healthy and beautiful. I recommend you reapply the bra and try removing it after several weeks. Good luck!

Before bra...

After bra...

Last fall still wearing bra...

Today still wearing bra...

 

[Cryss]

Oh, and don't worry about her fussing over the bra. When first applied they stumble a bit as they find their new center of gravity. They pick at it because its foriegn. After awhile they forget about it.

 

[TheFirstLadiesChickens]

Thanks! I will put it back on as soon as possible.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would stop all treats including scratch grains and corn. They will gorge on those things. Only feed layer feed or all flock feed. I had several brahmas and they were huge eaters. A pendulous crop is an out of shape crop from being overstretched from overeating. I would keep the crop bra on, and feel of her crop before she eats in the morning to make sure that her crop is emptying overnight.

 

[TheFirstLadiesChickens]

Ok. I put it back on her and her crop is smaller, but very hard. Is that a good or bad sign?

 

[Cryss]

Check her crop in the morning as soon as she gets up and before she eats or drinks anything. It should be small and firm, not lumpy or squishy or swollen.

Edit: In the morning it also should not be hard. Firm as opposed to squishy, but not hard.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Ok. I put it back on her and her crop is smaller, but very hard. Is that a good or bad sign?

Is it hard in the morning before she eats/drinks?
If it is then I would give her the coconut oil and massage. See if you can break it up. If the coconut oil doesn't do the trick, then you can give 1 stool softener. Again, she needs to be drinking well to help get things moving. About 30 minutes after you give the stool softener, massage the crop.

Crop issues can take time to resolve, you just have to keep working on them. Sometimes if there is an underlying condition that would need to be addressed as well to get everything back in order.

 

[TheFirstLadiesChickens]

Ok this afternoon I will check her again.