Sour crop

[Sunflowergirl]

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.

Twocrowsranch, I had read a chicken vet's thoughts on sour crop where he said not to do the ACV water. I had wondered about that since everyone says to do ACV water for sour crop. ACV is definitely not alkaline. The vet's statements would agree with what you have to say about the crop needing to be on the alkaline side. Also, yogurt is going to also be more on the acid side! What things do you use to get the crop back to more alkaline?

 

[pwand]

Twocrowsranch, I had read a chicken vet's thoughts on sour crop where he said not to do the ACV water.  I had wondered about that since everyone says to do ACV water for sour crop.  ACV is definitely not alkaline.  The vet's statements would agree with what you have to say about the crop needing to be on the alkaline side.  Also, yogurt is going to also be more on the acid side!  What things do you use to get the crop back to more alkaline?

I used yogurt a few times for sour crop and my chicken had sever diarrhea to that and it seemed to make her sour crop worse, and vomiting her after she was so mucousy. Would never recommend yogurt. I found it was best to feed her own food to her with added water to it to make it mushy and adding probiotics to water. Lots of vomiting. After no success after a week its recommend an antifungal, liquid nystatin from the vet can often help. My hen had sever watery diarrhea to that so I reduced the dose and added clotrimazole 2% vaginal cream and she cleared up. Could not find anybody else having the diarrhea to Nystatin, i believe this is most common treatment for sucess with sour crop. It took a month to get her better. I believe it was an impacted crop to start with then went sour.

The apple cider is confusing, lots of opinions on this which makes it so confusing. I had a vet recommend just doing doing apple cider in water for a few days to see if it would clear it up, it didn't work, however, she was most likely still had impaction and probably that is why it didn't work. Close to end I did add the apple cider and also put raw garlic in her water. I did the garlic for about two days and feed her pieces of it. I feel that helped.

 

[TwoCrows]

Apple cider vinegar is definitely acidic when it goes in. HOWEVER...once the body digests it, it turns the body alkaline. So it has an alkalizing effect on the body. At first the ACV may not alkalize on contact, but over a day or so, it is starting to alkalize the crop via digestion. And by adding ACV to a chickens water once a week keeps the crop in a healthy state all the time with less chances of souring.

I don't do the yogurt either. As Pwand has talked about, it produces a lot of mucus. So while there is ACV in the water, I add probiotics to the feed. Attack with good probiotics on all fronts. And by the way, ACV with the mother in it, has probiotics as well.

If the yeast infection goes unnoticed for a long period of time, it can get completely out of control and need medications. I have tried vet recommended Nystatin with absolutely no luck. The problem with Nystatin is, that it MUST come directly in contact with the yeast/fungal infection. So if there is ANY food in the crop, Nystatin just does not work. And because the chicken needs to eat all through out treatment, it seems to me to be a useless drug.

And as Pwand has mentioned and used, I have had SUPERIOR luck with vaginal cream. The Clortrimazole 2% works fabulous. I have not have much luck with Miconazole (monistat). I use a syringe (without the needle) and load in 1 cc of cream and dose the bird down the throat 3 times a day for the first few days. If the sour crop is not too far gone, 4 days later I can clear it all up.

I have a bird that is prone to sour crop. She will get it if someone even mentions raisins! (too sugary for her crop) Her first case of it was at 6 months old and it took me 2 full months to clear it up. She nearly died of not only of sour crop toxicity, but of starvation. I did not catch this sour crop until it was too far gone. She has had many more cases of it over the years, although because my sensitivity to her needs, she gets it very little any more. Although I now have a "crop obsession", LOL and everybody gets their crops fondled regularly.

So...the moral of the story is...add ACV to your chickens water once a week for good health, don't over do the acidic foods and be careful with free rangers. Check their crops on a regular basis first thing in the morning. If you catch it early on, sour crop can be cleared up in a few days.

 

[Sunflowergirl]

Thanks for your input Pwand and Twocrowsranch! I think this info will be very helpful to others!!!

 

[shell3]

Wow some great info there twocrowsranch! sounds like you have had a simular experience with this crop bussiness as me! but i love to hear that others have cured this and continue to keep it under control as it reoccurs. i too have become a little crop obsessed!lol my birds get checked daily, they expect that now and dont seem to mind at all, bombie walks over each morning for her inspection, just to get it over with im sure!lol

Ipana, thank you for checking in on bombie and for saying youve been thinking of her, thats so nice i have thought about pm'ing you and i will do that as soon as i get time, she has her ups and downs but mainly ups these days, the crop is without problems but we have a few kinks to work out with the laying still. interesting stuff! ill try and update you soon xx

 

[TwoCrows]

I'm too sexy for my Crop Bra...Too Sexy!!...




I bought this Crop Bra the other day for my Australorp, "Miss Molly". She is the one I have spoken of in above posts that has chronic sour crop episodes. Right now she is doing well and does not need this bra. But it will no doubt come in handy in the coming months and years. The bra supports the crop during slow/stasis crops...ones that are beginning to get slow or ones that are recuperating from having gone sour. Of course it would come in handy DURING those sour crop moments. Because Miss Molly has had so many episodes of sour crop, her crop is starting to hang slightly. And over time it could become pendulous. In which case she would need to wear this bra all the time to keep the contents of her crop moving. I am hoping we never get to that point. Because I now watch her diet like a hawk, she definitely gets fewer sour or slow crops anymore.

Anyway, I thought I would show you my birds new attire should she need it. If any of you have a bird that is prone to sour or slow crops, you might give this thing a try!

Oh, and please ignore the purple feet. LOL

 

[shell3]

Ahh, Miss Molly looks so smart in her new bra!! so sweet thank you for sharing! my 'Bombie' has to wear hers all the time now and hers is getting a bit scruffy, seeing miss molly in her brand new one looking so smart makes me think bombie could use a new one!lol did you measure her for it and add the details on the order form? or go for the standard chicken size? i went for the standard because she was so bloated with the sour crop that i dint know what to measure!! but now i think maybe she needs a smaller one. it cost a fair bit with postage to England and i guess thats put me off buying extras but i think i will have to bite the bullet soon. ive taken her one off for washing a few times and then im in a panic to get it dry! not sure a few hours without it would be enough to effect her but i dont like taking chances!lol

so i cant ignore the puple feet!!lol what with that? are they actually purple? or do they just look that way in the pic? lol

 

[TwoCrows]

Ahh, Miss Molly looks so smart in her new bra!! so sweet thank you for sharing! my 'Bombie' has to wear hers all the time now and hers is getting a bit scruffy, seeing miss molly in her brand new one looking so smart makes me think bombie could use a new one!lol did you measure her for it and add the details on the order form? or go for the standard chicken size? i went for the standard because she was so bloated with the sour crop that i dint know what to measure!! but now i think maybe she needs a smaller one. it cost a fair bit with postage to England and i guess thats put me off buying extras but i think i will have to bite the bullet soon. ive taken her one off for washing a few times and then im in a panic to get it dry! not sure a few hours without it would be enough to effect her but i dont like taking chances!lol

so i cant ignore the puple feet!!lol what with that? are they actually purple? or do they just look that way in the pic? lol

LOL...the purple feet. I have a few hens that started a very bad habit that I just can not get rid of and that is toe picking. Specifically pulling the scales off the feet. I tried everything. All the antipic lotions, sprays, even pine tar. They loved the pine tar! LOL Anyway, by chance I tried spraying everybody's feet with Blu-kote. And that did the trick! However even a year later, I have to keep spraying them because as soon as the purple wears off, there they are, biting scales again. What ever works I guess!

I also chose the standard chicken size when ordering the bra, however I also included a size as well. I wasn't sure what to measure either and went with 4 inches a cross and 5 inches long. I think if I ever need a new one, I will reduce that to 4 inches by 4 inches. 5 inches is a bit long, but the bra will still hold her crop up well enough. I check her crop daily in the morning, and so far she has no need for the bra. Her crop does hang a bit even with the tiniest bit of food in the crop, but so far it is still emptying at night. Keeping the fingers crossed!

Well good luck with "Bombie". I hope she continues to do well with her bra. Keep up all the lovin' on your Bombie and other babies.

 

[shell3]

ahh i see!lol what a fab idea! im logging that one away in the old brain here in case i ever have a pecking issue. im always picking up such good tips on here! love it!
Thanks for the measurements, ill find that helpful when ordering a new one. and thanks for the well wishes for bombie, shes doing good for now xxx

 

[shell3]

Well little did I know that info from two crows would indeed come in handy as Bombie started plucking my other hens! Naughty girl! I've now got her to stop by letting them free range as much as possible and adding a handful of mealworms to their diet daily,thank goodness!
Bombie had a slight relapse, due I think to the feather eating! Her crop ballooned again,all fluidy, and when it didn't empty for two days I started her on over the counter canesten (thrush treatment) for two days and then it emptied on the third morning, relief! Lol so now she's been back to normal for a couple of weeks and is doing great. I was dreading a relapse but am so glad it was dealt with so easily . I'll be keeping a stock of canesten permenantly in the chook first aid box from now on thou I think my chemist thinks I have a serious problem! :/ lol