Sour crop

[Bogtown Chick]

Okay hold on the wine bit right now. (and I can't believe I suggested Fermented Feed to get some weight on her) That's a no no. Glad you have your head on your shoulders Shell...because I didn't when I suggest THAT!

Here is an article on baby cockatiels with slow and sour crop. This lady has a step by step process for clearing and getting peristalsis going in the digestive tract again. I think almost it seems Bombie has clearing at times but do you think slower peristalsis (movement of the food thereafter) is slow?

Anyways have a look at this. Some of this is worth a try. You'd have to get some syringes and tubing from your Vet or Chemist. http://www.justcockatiels.net/sour-and-slow-crop-remedies.html

 

[shell3]

Thanks for the link bogtown, ill check it out in a bit. ipana pm'd me last night she also suggested the wine thing so not a bad suggestion i dont think, however it still makes me nervous. i will try it if i have no luck today.
last night the crop seemed emptyish... i think it was empty but just saggy?! anyway she wanted food so i gave her a scrambled egg, just the one, and this morning after a bit of massage it emptied completely. im gonna give her another egg now and see if that passes through. i did a silly thing though... as im vegan i give all my eggs away and i gave loads away a couple days ago!! arhh!! should have kept hold of some, too late now so i have only one egg! girls havnt laid yet today but ive had a chat with them and their gonna try and lay me some later lol i hope! if not i might try some apple sauce or baby food but she didnt like the baby food, i dont know if shop bought apple sauce is ok? ive bought some apples and plan on googling how to make it! cant be hard surely?!
anyway shes bright and has an appitite so thats good. vet said to keep heron antibiotics but shes been on the for so long already that im doubting this advice. i read in my new book,chicken health handbook, that antibiotics can interfere with their natural microflora.idk!
though i have to think that a vet knows better than i so...
hoping for a better day

im off to check how rogers toe is now

 

[shell3]

well just had her egg and she now has a nice neat crop, flat with just the little lump where the egg is,

i know im getting ahead of my self with the celebration! but hey,small victories...
now the waiting game to see if it gones down. this chickens def teaching me something ive never been able to learn in the past......patience!!

 

[shell3]

Bogtown chick: i love that link!! some really good stuff on there, they mention ginger as well which i know you suggested before as well as cinemon and garlic, thats meant to be good for preventing this from reocuring so im def gonna do that. said also to use half an alka seltzer in water when you first notice the crop becoming slow. i think thats a great idea and def one to try if this happens again or dosnt improve.
thanks

 

[Bogtown Chick]

I thought it was a pretty wonderful link too. Along with Frosty Bird Toes in my evenings after the kids go to bed I do little searches on sour crop.

yes. I think antibiotics and over use is not a good thing. They create "super bugs" as you know and then the antibiotics don't work anymore. then you end up wasting valuable time with yourself or your bird and they are worse for the wear. I would express your concern with your vet and see if he concurs. The garlic, cinnamon, ginger combo has some antibiotic properties. and even now oregano has been in the news. There's been a few large chicken operations going to natural preventatives, as people become more aware or particular about how their food is being raised. Bombie has been so ill though I would just show your vet some of this stuff and work with him though. He's been wonderful to you both. Working together is going to be best for her.

my fingers are crossed for your dear girl. If shipping didn't take so long and the risk of freezing and cracking wasn't there-- Sylvia, Iris, Fleur, and Holly would send over a batch of eggs for their girlfriend Bombie!

 

[shell3]

oh me too, i spend most nights searching for miracule cures lol
im def liking the natural stuff.
bless you for the thought of sending eggs! i think i need to stop giving them away!! or get more chickens x

 

[Bogtown Chick]

I think I liked that cockatiel thread because it explained alot of mechanics of how sour or slow crop works, and why her approach works. Hopefully it's the "jackpot" for Bombie.

Also I think if you buy applesauce...look for those without added sugar. There is a difference in some varieties. Yeast likes sugar. And that's what you want to avoid. Making it yourself of course would be quite nice too, but extra work for you.

 

[shell3]

think your right about the sugar feel safer making my own .avoid any aditives too as i dont need any complications! from what i can tell you just peel core cook and smoosh so not
too hard lol
shes had two eggs today and now it feels like its not gonna empty! not gonna feed her anymore today as would just be adding to problem! dont like not feeding her thou! see where i am in the morning but considering alka seltzer and mixed spices. need it empty first!
weird to find it on a cockatiel site! i had cockatiels for about 15 years, they were never ill! never, not one illness .my 'rosie' was 15 years old when she passed and was not ill once her whole life! i clipped her claws once in a while and thats all, she passed in the night from old age as much as i can tell but was quite well until then we assumed her heart wore out.
anyway ill massage her again before bed and see what happens! xxx

 

[pwand]

When you took your chicken to the vet, did they do any suctioning? My chicken is dealing with this as well. Yesterday I tried to empty her crop and there was like a jelly with grit in it came out. She felt like she has some more goop with grit in it about the size of a quarter. After that she pooped three times and the last was normal last night. Today she felt like she was filling up and I vomited her again, that goop feeling still there. She had diahrea today. I feel that blocks them. I'm Thinking of flushing her out. Was considering in suctioning her crop.

 

[shell3]

pwand: hi no they didnt suction her, i assume you mean with a rubber tube inserted into the crop to suck out the liquid, my vet emptied it by tipping her up and massaging it out, i have emptied it a lot of times by tipping her that way but i hate doing it! infact just did it now and the liquid is clear no smell but very thick and gloopy, i cant empty it completely because im worried she'll choke.
i have been thinking myself to get a tube and suck it out. there are flushes ive read about on here that you can tube into the crop first to break it up and make it easier to get back out throgh the tube. i read the link earlier that bogtown posted above, it mentions using alka seltzer as a flush and then leaving some in the empty crop to flush the system.
this is what im planning to do next,however i dont have a tube! ive emptied out as much as i can by tipping her and as none of it was sour (problem only reoccured yesterday) i think im going to try giving her the alka seltzer into the crop even though its not fully empty and them see where i am in the morning. my hope is that it will flush the crop contents through and flush the proventriculus as well.
i definatley think the flushing is the way to go but ive never put a tube into a crop before, im going to ask my vet to show me how before i do it. but i am going to try the alka seltzer tonight out of sheer desperation! shes so thin and i cant leave her without food for much longer!!
keep me posted on how you get on, and if the alka seltzer works ill post tomorrrow. good luck x