Sour crop

[Dolly0087]

. Here we go again. Sour crop. Five of six died. I have another nine, one has soup crop. I feel like I killed trying everything to help them. I searched YouTube and nothing made them overcome. please not again.

Can you tell me what you did successfully?
Please no opinions. Only those whom have made them well. Please.

Im surmising that a change in diet is the problem. Im not an expert , (Im only surmising.) We were advised by the tractor supply associate and fed ten girls eight cups of feed. Im thinking she ate so much that it impacted the crop and now cant flow through the digestive system. We were feeding three cups along with kitchen scraps, fodder, grass clippings, alfalfa and bugs. Before I upped the amount I occasionally checked their crops just to be sure they were getting enough food simply because we did not want left overs for rats. All was well before overfeeding them.

 

[Weeg]

@azygous @Wyorp Rock @MGG
I don't know much about sour crop, but I tagged a few members who do. Following along to learn more.

 

[azygous]

Here is how I make my chickens well that have come down with crop issues. There are more than one, and you need to know which you are dealing with in order to treat properly. My article will instruct you. https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

 

[azygous]

Chickens should have around a half a cup of feed per day per chicken, large breeds maybe a little more.

 

[Weeg]

. Here we go again. Sour crop. Five of six died. I have another nine, one has soup crop. I feel like I killed trying everything to help them. I searched YouTube and nothing made them overcome. please not again.

Can you tell me what you did successfully?
Please no opinions. Only those whom have made them well. Please.

Im surmising that a change in diet is the problem. Im not an expert , (Im only surmising.) We were advised by the tractor supply associate and fed ten girls eight cups of feed. Im thinking she ate so much that it impacted the crop and now cant flow through the digestive system. We were feeding three cups along with kitchen scraps, fodder, grass clippings, alfalfa and bugs. Before I upped the amount I occasionally checked their crops just to be sure they were getting enough food simply because we did not want left overs for rats. All was well before overfeeding them.

You can safely feed free choice. Actually, your supposed to. Eating feed alone isn't going to impact the crop.
I suggest you fill a feeder and let them eat free choice, except for your affected girls. You might need to separate and limit feed intake depending on what your dealing with. I could be wrong through, I don't have a lot of experience with crop issues.
You can bring the full feeder inside at night to keep rats from being able to access it.
Do you feed any kitchen scraps like break, or cooked grains?
Read the article @azygous suggested, it should have all the info you need.
Sometimes tall fodder stocks can impact the crop, I might try feeding sprouted gains instead. Its similar, just under/around 3'4" tall rather than fodder, which is taller and longer. Sprouted grains are shorter so don't impact the crop as easily.

I'm crossing my fingers for your girls. Hoping you can figure out whats going on.

 

[MGG]

. Here we go again. Sour crop. Five of six died. I have another nine, one has soup crop. I feel like I killed trying everything to help them. I searched YouTube and nothing made them overcome. please not again.

Can you tell me what you did successfully?
Please no opinions. Only those whom have made them well. Please.

Im surmising that a change in diet is the problem. Im not an expert , (Im only surmising.) We were advised by the tractor supply associate and fed ten girls eight cups of feed. Im thinking she ate so much that it impacted the crop and now cant flow through the digestive system. We were feeding three cups along with kitchen scraps, fodder, grass clippings, alfalfa and bugs. Before I upped the amount I occasionally checked their crops just to be sure they were getting enough food simply because we did not want left overs for rats. All was well before overfeeding them.

Welcome to BYC! I'm so sorry about your girls. A crop bra really works well to empty the crop. When my girl had sour crop, I used an old sock to tie around her crop and up over her neck. The next morning she was back to normal.
Something is getting stuck in their crops and causing it. The big one is usually grass and hay. Stop both the grass clippings and the alfalfa. Those both are probably the problem, not the feed. Feeding them extra wouldn't cause sour crop, since as others mentioned free feeding is best. That's what most keepers do, myself included. If they have extra feed they just won't eat it.

 

[Weeg]

How are your hens today @Dolly0087?