Sour crop

[shell3]

you know im quite tempted to leave that gate open a tidge when the sun graces us with its presence!lol im thinking just when im out there with them. hubby thinks its a terrible idea!lol he didnt built fort knox so i could leave the door open you know!lol i would love to see them go for a good wonder round the garden but im sure i would be full of nerves! haha and if anything should happen i will have to take full responsibility having gone against the husbands 'better judgement'

we'll see, i just have a little garden thou and if they decide to jump the fence they will be extremely hard to retrieve!! plus neighbours dogs ect! our garden backs on to five other properties! one either side and three accross the back! i dream one day of having 'land' lol

 

[ipana]

How great to see Bombie doing well! I was just thinking of the two of you the other day and had intended to PM to check. Glad I looked at the site so I could see her picture. It's a wonderful thing to work hard to save one of these little creatures. Many people would sooner do away with a sick one and get another. They've never looked into those eyes though, have they? We see the spirit and I think they see ours, too. It's a great thing. Thanks for posting the update.

 

[seminolewind]

Why does sour crop not let the fluid go down? How do you know if it's a blockage further down?

 

[pwand]

Why does sour crop not let the fluid go down?  How do you know if it's a blockage further down?

There is no way to know if there is a blockage further down. If its sour the crop can't function normally. Sour crop is basically a yeast infection in the crop the same as a woman's yeasts infection.

 

[TwoCrows]

Why does sour crop not let the fluid go down? How do you know if it's a blockage further down?

It all depends on what is causing the sour crop to begin with. Many times it is an imbalance of ph and good bacteria in the crop, which causes a yeast/fungal infection. Or it can stem from an illness in the body somewhere to which the sour crop is a secondary issue. It can also come from a blockage in the intestinal tract.

Generally with sour crop, (and not impacted crops), something is always moving thru the GI tract. When the crop has gone "sour", it slows down. Rarely does it stop all together. So the bird will still move some material, and usually it comes out as diarrhea. If absolutely nothing is moving, then it could be a blockage further down the tract or in the crop itself.

But as the yeast infection grows, the crop slows down further. The crop controls how fast the food moves into the GI tract in conjunction with the gizzard. And when the ph is off in one of these areas, it slows the entire thing down. Crops need to be on the alkaline side and the rest of the GI tract in the neutral zone.

 

[Bogtown Chick]

Of course i'm prejudiced

...but I think this thread has become one of the most comprehensive Sour Crop threads on BYC. Some of the insight and research, vetrinarian approach, contributing links and byc member comments...very very insightful. Sour Crop/Slow Crop/Impacted Crop are all touched upon in this thread. The mechanical or physiological issues, the chemistry...remedies. It's all here. Nice thread.

Twocrowsranch I really like your insight. Well phrased about the pH and bacteria imbalance.

 

[seminolewind]

I never thought I'd see this one.

I finally got up the nerve and vomited her. I did it with frequent breaks so she could catch her breath. She was so full that she had to keep her head up to not spew water. I just did it to make her comfortable. She's already wasted. Small bits of bright green poo.

I just read last week that Marek's can attack the nerves that make the food go down, so they get this big distended crop. Since I have Marek's in my flock, I'm going to have to think about that. I will just make her some yummy stuff tomorrow and make her feel like she's eating.

She did this once before, about 7 months ago, and snapped out of it.

Thanks , you all are great

 

[TwoCrows]

I never thought I'd see this one.

I finally got up the nerve and vomited her. I did it with frequent breaks so she could catch her breath. She was so full that she had to keep her head up to not spew water. I just did it to make her comfortable. She's already wasted. Small bits of bright green poo.

I just read last week that Marek's can attack the nerves that make the food go down, so they get this big distended crop. Since I have Marek's in my flock, I'm going to have to think about that. I will just make her some yummy stuff tomorrow and make her feel like she's eating.

She did this once before, about 7 months ago, and snapped out of it.

Thanks , you all are great

There is great value in being able to "vomit" a bird with sour crop. If done properly, it can save the bird's life. If not done correctly, it can aspirate the bird. The rotting food in the crop releases very toxic poisons and if left in the crop for a long period of time will poison the bird to death. "Vomiting" the bird while working to correct the sour crop, will keep the bird alive while the healing process is taking place.

 

[seminolewind]

Now, what if a chick does it? 5 days old?

 

[TwoCrows]

I had an approximately 10 day old chick once that was recuperating from AE, Avian Encephalomyelitis. The day she began eating regularly again, her crop became both hard and or squishy, depending on the time of day. I also raise Cockatiels and have referred to the following web site many times in the past. I used a portion of the "spice remedy" to help move the crop...

http://www.justcockatiels.net/sour-and-slow-crop-remedies.html

I was out of garlic at the time, but used the ginger and cinnamon. It worked wonders on her crop and after about 3 or 4 days, her crop issue disappeared completely. This concoction seems to help move a stubborn crop.

Edit to add: I use a medicine dropper to administer to small chicks.