Sour crop

[kpenn26]

Good evening: I just published a paper here - a case study of Henrietta, but I also wrote a paper about reproductive disease. It is going to be published in the Australian/New Zealand Veterinary associations publication. Perhaps elsewhere, but it is new. I will send you a PM of that paper, but I would also be happy to help you via phone, text, any way I can. That gurgling coming from her crop means she has the potential to get the gasses that will make her aspirate. It is just physics. The fermentation in the crop from anything being in there too long, bubbles and then comes up. The hen tries to manage it, but, if it is a lot of fluid, some goes down the trachea instead and you have aspiration. The gas drops stop the bubbling which stops the coming up - I don't want to say regurgitation because chickens don't regurgitate, but you know what I mean. So, simethicone is not really treating anything in the crop, it is just stopping the bubbling so that aspiration is not a risk. I will send the identification of reproductive diseases paper now.

Great! Thanks so much.

 

[cate1124]

I am sorry my posts keep reposting. This is a problem I have only had today.

I would just like to tell everyone here that you must be careful with veterinary care for chickens. Whether they are avian board-certified or not. My vet and my dear friend's vet's another rescue person, admit that their training was for commercial poultry, and they received no training for supportive care. The schools are only now starting to think about treating chickens that are part of someone's family. Therefore their first instinct is always going to be to tell you to euthanize because they don't know what to do next. Some are learning, my friend has a very good avian vet who after many mistakes with my friends chickens has learned from my friend who has been doing this for 30-years. Do your own research. Remember, I have a board-certified avian vet and a really caring person she is. But once, she made a decision that resulted in the death of one of my chickens - then, I caught on. Next, she told me one of my chickens had a month to live - but, I used other sources and she lived for another year, then, because I didn't know enough about EYP - I let her drain and it was the wrong decision and resulted in my beautiful loving hen dying, and lastly, she made a huge mistake with Lucy's care, but I sought other sources and didn't do what she said to do which would have resulted in a fatal aspiration. I still see her, and she is way more willing to learn now, and I get it...its not their fault, but they need to get the training for those of us that want supportive care instead of just euthanizing.

I know I am a stranger @cate1124, but I don't have to take this time with you, in fact, you have not treated me kindly at all. This is not even your post. I am presenting facts. They may not be facts you want to hear because you have made a decision to let her die and no one will change your mind, but what I say is still a fact. Please do not hide behind your vet as an excuse to not try two $20 over the counter medications. Or use chicken "stress" as an excuse. I am sure she would vote to be stressed if there was a chance she may live. And please, don't tell me you will treat when there is a chance when first, you didn't even X-ray or ultrasound to see if it is cancer. And, if it is, you could get her an implant to stop the cancer from growing. Just say it as it is. I am looking out for your hen, not you.

My post on this thread was not soliciting advice for my hen, but responding to the OP. You jumped in and offered me advice, which I could have just ignored, having not asked for it. But I received and considered it graciously; that is obvious in the tenor of my responses, extending to ordering the products you recommended. My choice to quit forcing treatment on my struggling 6-year-old hen, who has not responded to several protocols and may have cancer, met with your disapproval. You disagree with it and apparently feel the need to impugn my character, which is really beyond the pale. Not everyone thinks the way you do, or will make the choices you make; that does not make them inferior to you as a chicken keeper. You don't know me, nor the care I take with my animals. It's arrogant and insulting to say you rather than me are looking out for my hen, who you don't know and certainly don't love as I do. Clearly, you don't respect others' choices, despite saying you do.

My mobile ag vet has had and loves chickens; the birds she works with are solely backyard flocks, not commercial. Her poultry clients are people like me who love their chickens and who are willing to pay for top-notch veterinary care. She has gone to the wall for my hens; she took one I especially loved into her own home for intensive care, giving her subq fluids, probiotics and tube-feeding her in an attempt to save her. She could not because -- she found on necropsy -- an egg had ruptured internally, and her liver was failing. (And, she did do an ultrasound on my hen who is currently struggling and found a suspect lobular mass; you apparently did not carefully read what I told you about her history, previous treatments and exams.)

Your judgments about me run counter to the kind of respectful exchange I have come to expect on this forum. We are here to offer information and advice to each other, not to pressure others to do things our way, and be critical of them if they don't. You are way out of line. Should you encounter me on the forum again, I would thank you not to offer any further unsolicited "advice." I'll stick to people who offer not only knowledge, but respect for the experience and perspective of others. Thankfully, there are many.

I am done with this exchange.

 

[Somshine]

I have one hen with a pendulous crop. Had this issue, used monistat and it got better and then came back a couple weeks later. Started using some psyllium husk at night to absorb the moisture and gel up and help it move through. And during the day I used Fluconazole. It cleared it up entirely and now she is on probiotics and hasn't had any more problems. I have full size hens. One capsule is 20 to 22 doses. Depending on the strength you need. So I only needed to make a half a capsule for her whole treatment.

 

[kpenn26]

I have one hen with a pendulous crop. Had this issue, used monistat and it got better and then came back a couple weeks later. Started using some psyllium husk at night to absorb the moisture and gel up and help it move through. And during the day I used Fluconazole. It cleared it up entirely and now she is on probiotics and hasn't had any more problems. I have full size hens. One capsule is 20 to 22 doses. Depending on the strength you need. So I only needed to make a half a capsule for her whole treatment.

Wonderful, thanks for the info!

 

[triciayoung]

I have one hen with a pendulous crop. Had this issue, used monistat and it got better and then came back a couple weeks later. Started using some psyllium husk at night to absorb the moisture and gel up and help it move through. And during the day I used Fluconazole. It cleared it up entirely and now she is on probiotics and hasn't had any more problems. I have full size hens. One capsule is 20 to 22 doses. Depending on the strength you need. So I only needed to make a half a capsule for her whole treatment.

Interesting....I will have to look into this. Thank you.

 

[kpenn26]

So sorry you are dealing with this. The first linked article, by Azygous, is as good advice as you are likely to receive.

Crop stasis is often a symptom of an underlying issue that cannot be easily resolved. I am about to lose a speckled Sussex, 6, who abruptly went out of production at 4, and has since had a poorly oxygenated comb and less energy than the others. She responded beautifully to crop massage and probiotics last summer, with a slow-emptying but not sour crop I did not connect with her chronic respiratory issues. I have no idea why, but the same measures are having no effect this year and now she has additional symptoms, and her crop has soured. Vet suspects body cavity tumor.

Definitely try the miconazole/monistat protocol; it seemed to help one of my hens through a crop episode some years ago. But sometimes we cannot resolve crop dysfunction, or seem to only to have it recur if there is an underlying condition.

Wishing you the best with your gal.

Can you remember how long it took for the monistat protocol to work when you used it a few years ago? I've been dosing her morning and evening for total of 6 doses now. Her crop seemed to decrease in size marginally yesterday, but has still not emptied and today remains the same. I see her doing the neck thrusting thing they do when they're trying to force down a particularly large bite of something--I keep hoping shes eventually going to start draining. She continues to go about her business, but she is not eating much and I haven't seen her drink so I've been syringe feeding her water with ACV and probiotics.
All that to ask, do you think I should be seeing improvement by now or does the monistat protocol typically take a few days to work?

 

[kpenn26]

Mrs. Weasley remains basically unchanged since yesterday. Still a large squishy crop, still not wanting to eat or drink much. I am doing all I feel I can safely do--administering monistat morning and evening, administering docusate sodium once a day, digestive enzymes once a day, simethicone drops this morning, and probiotics. And crop massage of course.
I'm beginning to lose hope. I'll keep you all posted regardless of the outcome. Thanks for all of your advice. Hoping my big girl pulls through.

 

[triciayoung]

Mrs. Weasley remains basically unchanged since yesterday. Still a large squishy crop, still not wanting to eat or drink much. I am doing all I feel I can safely do--administering monistat morning and evening, administering docusate sodium once a day, digestive enzymes once a day, simethicone drops this morning, and probiotics. And crop massage of course.
I'm beginning to lose hope. I'll keep you all posted regardless of the outcome. Thanks for all of your advice. Hoping my big girl pulls through.

please send me a picture.

 

[triciayoung]

Mrs. Weasley remains basically unchanged since yesterday. Still a large squishy crop, still not wanting to eat or drink much. I am doing all I feel I can safely do--administering monistat morning and evening, administering docusate sodium once a day, digestive enzymes once a day, simethicone drops this morning, and probiotics. And crop massage of course.
I'm beginning to lose hope. I'll keep you all posted regardless of the outcome. Thanks for all of your advice. Hoping my big girl pulls through.

I should have told you this, the digestive enzyme has to be given with food and by itself. I don’t think you should worry about the monistat, I think she has stasis not sour crop.