Sour crop

[shell3]

not fluff at all lol all coments welcome as you know i. i always put it out there and hope if im doing something stupid that someone will pivk me up on it.
she seems happy outside and think a bit of excersize and fresh air is needed.
her crop is massive and she is over eating but i cant starve the other two so trying for a happy medium. im hoping she will have some self control but know she hasnt much! hoping she will roost with them tonight thou i may have to lift the little gannet up there! i cant keep such a close eye on her outside of course but hope shes having a fuller life this way and ill do my best to check on her often. being locked in a cage all day is sad when its a long time illness.
this will be a trial day if it turns out to be a terrible idea i will change tact yommorow and maybe limit all their food to every two hours. just worry that they search for other things to eat when food runs out! bombie the most!

 

[Bogtown Chick]

To me I would just limit the feedings Shell. I think she needs to be outside and learn her own limits again. Keep birdy bra on too. So she feels that food coming down to the gizzard. I know you worry about her finding stuff...but you've got it so cleaned up out there. I'm sure she'll be fine. I think of the one poster, Tiger, who said she just let hers go and it is still doing fine but with pendulous crop still. You gotta give yourself a break I think and let Bombie try to sort things out a bit too. Talkin' out loud....sorry I do that alot. lol

just you know keep an eye on her if she starts to fail.

Oh I feel like I talk out of both sides of my mouth sometimes. Balance, I guess is where I'm going with this post. xx

 

[casportpony]

OK plan for today- im gonna start grit, my thinking is if shes blocked with grit me giving tiny amount isnt going to make a lot of difference as shes not had grit for a while so if shes still blocked from ages ago then imgonna need to do oil and flushes to clear it. dont want to flush til i have tried to break down any large pieces so its logical to try and break down blockage before flushing.
so ill try grit in small amount for a few days and if no improvement them think about alka selzer flush. she is trying to pick up anything to eat so maybe she needs the grit! she was out in run day after procedure so should have found some grit out there as ive been throwing it out on the ground.
second thought- ive been giving her food every few hours to limit the amount she stuffs in, however if shes ever going back outside i need to get a handle on the food situation because if shes hungry then shes gonna stuff herself outside with constant access. of course the flock would all be back on mash but if i limit it i know she'll find crap to eat outside and stuff with that instead! ive removed all things i can that i dont want her to eat (no bedding , removed wood from floor ect) but of course they spend all day looking so im sure she will find something ive missed! so idea is to give her constant access to food today , soft mash of course, and hope the birdy bra stops her from over stuffing. see how she goes today and if all well then carry on with constant food for this week so i know shes not desperate to eat eat eat, before she goes back outside. then hopefully i can get her back with the flock. this is gonna be a long long process and may not end well, for that reason it would be nicer for her to be outside living a chicken life with the girls and then i can monitor her closely from there which allows me to fit everything in to my daily routine as more of a norm. so far im putting a lot on hold while i 'cure her' thinking its a short term arrangement but now it seems this is not a short term thing i need to get on with life while still giving her all she needs. this will be easier if shes outside and happy.
so thats the plan thou it may change as thing progress!! it helps to decide on some direction!

You might want to try chick grit, it's much smaller.

 

[shell3]

chick grits a good idea ill see if i can get some
well bombie slept with her girls last night but i think i broke a chicken rule!
when i put them up to roost(they wont go up on their own,too high?) i put bombie in the middle of the other two,for extra warmth,nut they didnt seem happy about it! is this a pecking order thing? anyway i stayed til they settled and then went out to check them an hour latter and bombie was on the floor so i picked her up and put her next to the others but at the end this time as the other two were snuggled together. checked half hour later and there was a gap between her and the other two! again i moved her over but didnt check again. this morning the two were on the floor having water but she stayed on the roost till i opened the door.
she seems ok crop still smooshy and enlarged but clearly smaller than last night and lots of poop under roost(i put paper under them as no woodchip equals hard clean up) quite a bit runny and loads normal but whose is whose i dont know i havnt seen her poop yet today. shes eating. and happy outside thou the others still chase her a bit they kept pulling on her bra!but seem to have accepted it now lol x

 

[Bogtown Chick]

Hard to see them not accept her initially. But they'll get it Shell. Bombie for all she's been through might even work her way up the pecking order too. I think it's good you're getting her back out there. Cute. I can see them all sitting out there on that new roost together!

Smaller crop than last night and poop on the paper are all good signs. I feel confident Bombie contributed her share.
The other girls will get bored with Bombies Bra in time I'm guessing. Maybe they are eetsy bit jealous of the Bra. (Had scene from Bridget Jones Movie where she was in prison with the other girls pop into my head. lol)

 

[shell3]

omg! thats the exact image i got too! lol. was humming 'like a virgin' to myself! ha ha ha!
i think they are jelous lol!

 

[gardener4477]

HELP! I've read all about sour crop on this forum and I'm still a little unsure if this is the problem with our hen. She was doing great but quite suddenly has gone down hill. Very lethargic, with a messy vent and off her food. She's sat there preening herself but not much else, I can feel a small amount of food in her crop but not much, nowhere near the size of a golf ball or grapefruit! Her wattle has lost it's deep red colour too and is more pinky. It's the wife's favourite too so any help would be much appreciated, thanks

 

[Bogtown Chick]

OMG. I just love the Bridget Jones Movies! Own them both of course. Too Funny. Poor Bombie. She's just one of those girls making fashion statement before the other's know it's "cool".

Gardener: I almost wonder about worms on your poor bird. As the crop is not huge. Can you smell sour or stench from her beak if you squeeze the crop a bit? If not- I'd try worming her. Mites and lice can also make your hen's vent messy and because they drink blood cause a paler comb.

 

[shell3]

well shes much the same. went to get chick grit but cant find any so got grit for caged birds not sure if thats ok but its smaller. ive put a new thread up with pics called is this safe for chickens. cos also got sand im not sure about and coffer suphate which is weird hopefully somone will know but i think grit should be ok.
dont know what else to do for her really. want to prevent sour crop reocuring so thinking copper sulphate or that spice mix. also might book her in for second endoscopy but will decide with the vet when i see him next. for now just keeping a close eye on her and have limited mash to every 3 hours.

 

[Bogtown Chick]

I've seen the copper sulfate mentioned more than twice on sour crop threads. Seems like a logical next "thing to try". I'm sure the pet bird grit would be just fine for her.