Sour/ impacted crop

[Porpie Pie]

Hi everyone,

I have a hen that I suspect sour crop but not really sure at the same time. I noticed her keeping to herself and figured she was molting as I have another hen that's going through a molt. I checked her heiny and that's clear so no back up there. I came across a post for sour/impacted crop so i checked for that. It felt grainy but it was the middle of the day but at the same time compared to the other chickens it felt bigger and hard. I took the food out of the run and checked her first thing in the morning and did not notice a change. I gave her olive oil and massaged it around kept her separate with water only. Next morning crop seemed empty. She seemed good for a day but now is keeping to herself again. I felt her crop and this time it's large and squishy like a water balloon. They have apple cider vinegar in water bottles with chicken nipples so it stays clean. She was pooping when I was treating for impacted crop but I'll have to keep an eye on her again to make sure she still is and her comb is a nice rosey red. I have some plain oikos triple 0 yogurt I can give her. I'm wondering if there's something I'm missing?

 

[OwO]

Is her crop still large and squishy in the morning? Is there any sort of bad smell coming from her mouth, especially if you gently massage the crop?

 

[Porpie Pie]

Is her crop still large and squishy in the morning? Is there any sort of bad smell coming from her mouth, especially if you gently massage the crop?

No I don't smell anything bad that's what makes me unsure that it actually is sour crop. I brought her a little dish of yogurt and she wasn't interested. I put a little on the tip of her beak to get her to taste it and she still wasn't interested so I let my other little piranhas have it. I did feel some of my other chickens crops and I guess they feel similar to hers but hers felt like it was large and squishy when I went out this morning.

 

[OwO]

How is she today? I hope someone else can offer some suggestions as I am unsure

 

[Porpie Pie]

How is she today? I hope someone else can offer some suggestions as I am unsure

She seems uninterested in anything. I've separated her again with only apple cider vinegar in her water and yogurt with some cinnamon. She stands in one spot with her neck tucked in and I think her feathers are a little fluffed. No change in her crop it still feels big and squishy. I'm going to try and induce vomiting and see if she starts to look any better

 

[OwO]

Be really really careful, AFAIK chickens cannot vomit so any liquid that comes up will just be liquid that is sitting in the crop spilling out of her mouth. It can be dangerous as since she isn't actually "vomiting", she will still be trying to breathe as normal and may aspirate any fluid that comes up. It is not recommended normally, and you should only do it for a few seconds at a time.

 

[avjudge]

No I don't smell anything bad that's what makes me unsure that it actually is sour crop. . .

Lots of us have had sour crop without noticing a smell from the chicken's beak. The "water balloon" crop is pretty diagnostic.

It's generally secondary to impacted or slow crop (as I understand it from my reading and one case of it). You should treat it first, then the impaction if it's still there, since you want to massage the impaction to help break it up/move it along, and you don't want to massage when there's sour crop present for fear of pushing it up to the mouth and then having the chicken aspirate it. (I see OwO just warned you about that.) Having said that, giving some oil at the same time as you treat the sour crop should be OK (or coconut oil which will be hard until it melts in the crop, so less likely to be aspirated). But no massaging while you have the water balloon feel!

You could try the probiotics (yogurt) for a while and see if that helps the chicken fight the yeast, but I'd go right to a proper yeast treatment. I've read about but haven't used flushes. I went straight to the miconazole treatment as recommended in the article here on Backyard Chickens.

I dosed using an oral syringe which was just about the same size as the generic Monistat tube opening, drawing back on the plunger as I squeezed the tube. I think I gave about 2 ml a day but it's been a few months now. It seemed to work but the sour crop did come back - I did several rounds of treatment and tried a crop bra and finally just let nature take its course, and a few weeks later noticed it was all cleared up. But this was in a growing chick and I wonder if she might have grown out of the problem (if there was something about her digestive tract that had been restrictive).

 

[Porpie Pie]

Be really really careful, AFAIK chickens cannot vomit so any liquid that comes up will just be liquid that is sitting in the crop spilling out of her mouth. It can be dangerous as since she isn't actually "vomiting", she will still be trying to breathe as normal and may aspirate any fluid that comes up. It is not recommended normally, and you should only do it for a few seconds at a time

 

[Porpie Pie]

Yes I only did say 10 seconds max then let her breathe. I tried 5 or 6 times but nothing so I stopped. I gave her some olive oil like I seen in a couple videos online and also used a syringe to give her some apple cider vinegar water and she's got her yogurt. Hopefully that will get her enough good bacteria and help. Having her vomit wasn't my 1st choice but she's been this way for a good week and a half now so I'm feeling kind of anxious for her

 

[Porpie Pie]

Lots of us have had sour crop without noticing a smell from the chicken's beak. The "water balloon" crop is pretty diagnostic.

It's generally secondary to impacted or slow crop (as I understand it from my reading and one case of it). You should treat it first, then the impaction if it's still there, since you want to massage the impaction to help break it up/move it along, and you don't want to massage when there's sour crop present for fear of pushing it up to the mouth and then having the chicken aspirate it. (I see OwO just warned you about that.) Having said that, giving some oil at the same time as you treat the sour crop should be OK (or coconut oil which will be hard until it melts in the crop, so less likely to be aspirated). But no massaging while you have the water balloon feel!

You could try the probiotics (yogurt) for a while and see if that helps the chicken fight the yeast, but I'd go right to a proper yeast treatment. I've read about but haven't used flushes. I went straight to the miconazole treatment as recommended in the article here on Backyard Chickens.

I dosed using an oral syringe which was just about the same size as the generic Monistat tube opening, drawing back on the plunger as I squeezed the tube. I think I gave about 2 ml a day but it's been a few months now. It seemed to work but the sour crop did come back - I did several rounds of treatment and tried a crop bra and finally just let nature take its course, and a few weeks later noticed it was all cleared up. But this was in a growing chick and I wonder if she might have grown out of the problem (if there was something about her digestive tract that had been restrictive).

Ok I'll take a look at that. I tried to get her to 'vomit' but nothing so I let her be. Like I told OwO I did about 10 sec 5 or 6 times then gave up. I gave her some olive oil and apple cider vinegar water from a syringe and she's got yogurt. Ilshes been this way now for about a week and a half so I'm starting to feel anxious for her. I'll check out the link too thanks