Sour crop,

[StandardLover]

Hello.
I think one of my hens has sour crop. She has most of the symptoms like tossing her head back and forth, large crop, etc. The one that keeps me from saying she has it, is that she doesnt have stinky breath. I used to use hay for the bedding (3 days ago) and I heard this sometimes cloggs them. She eats amazingly well. I gave them yogurt and olive oil (+water today. They loved it. Is there anything else I should give them that will not hurt a bird even if she doesnt have it? Thank you!

 

[Trampledbygeese]

Poor girl. Sorry to hear she isn't doing so well.

Is her crop squishy to the touch? Like it's full of unset jello?

When my hens get sour crop, I isolate them for a few days. First day I give them only water, with vitamins in it and a few drops of sour red wine. I don't know if the wine does anything to help or if it's just an old wise tale. After 24 hours, I give them a small amount of mush (porage made from water and hen food) and lot of cooked eggs. The third day I give them as much food as they want, and lots of cooked egg all mashed up. I keep giving them the wine/vit/water until the end of the third day.

If it's really bad, you need to do the vomit thing, but it doesn't sound like you are there yet.

It's important to restrict their grain intake until they are fully healthy again, so no scratch! Once they are healthy and outside, then they can eat scratch.

Also, having access to sand seems to help some birds.

Good luck.

 

[StandardLover]

Thank you so much for the help! No her crop isnt squishy. Is it normal for chickens crops to have water in them?

 

[CinnamonQueen12]

Is she sleepy? Is she hiding in a corner of the pen and lying down? If so, she could have a tummy ache. Was she recently on antibiotics? One of my chickens was on antibiotics and got a tummyache. She was crouching low and eating little and shaking her head. Try giving her some yogurt. Even if she doesnt have a stomach ache, it will replace any good bacteria in the stomach that was lost for any reason, and it'll tase good, too!

 

[Trampledbygeese]

Quote:
I think it depends on the time of day. At night, when they get ready to roost, they usually fill up their crop with food to digest overnight. This is the best time to check for sour crop, as the crops should be easy to locate and fairly solid.

Perhaps someone else could chime in here? It might just be a mild case of sour crop, or perhaps something else?

 

[StandardLover]

Quote:
Yes! I am giving her antibiotics right now for an upper respratory infection. Its over tomorrow, could that be the problem, is tha sour crop still?