Sour/pendulous crop

[Eddie12109]

Hi everyone,
my eight year old hen seems To be having some massive crop problems.
throughout the end of last year into this year she has been having to come in to be treated for sour crop and about two weeks later she would be back in for it.
at the beginning of last week, she started to show signs of crop problems so I brought her in and she is still inside with a slow crop. Orginally last week i was able to get her crop down to a very small size but then she kept eating and it went back to being full and it has been slowly digesting. her crop is still quite big, little smaller than tennis ball but it is complete liquid and she does eat eggs and lettuce and things like that still but her crop isn’t digesting.
her poops have been very liquidy.. I will get a picture tomorrow, but after she eats and all she still have liquid poop with a bit of green since it seems like she isnt eating even though she is.
also, I am not sure how to describe but at the base of where the wings begin and by the neck, there are these pockets in every chicken, and on one of hers, it kinda inflates when I squeeze her crop with air.
i Should be receiving a crop bra tomorrow to see if that hopefully helps but she is losing weight still even though she drinks and eats.
my main questions are: could she have another problem going that could cause green in her poop (I know it is a sign of not eating but anything else?) because she does eat but is doesn’t show up in her poop.
what else could I do with what problems I have listed, besides a crop bra?
i know that with age she can have some more serious problems inside her like digestive but I am hoping the crop bra helps
any advice would be great!

 

[azygous]

The bra is a good first step. Know that it will require a few days of fine-tuning the placement to support the crop to achieve good results.

There almost always is an underlying cause of crop disorders. Sometimes the cause isn't readily apparent. The green poop signifies that not much in the way of nutrients is making their way into the intestines to get absorbed into her system. This may be due to a blockage in her gizzard. I would try encouraging her to eat extra grit to see if that can help.

Giving her oil may also benefit her to soften and move the contents through the gizzard. If the crop seems squishy and won't empty, treating with miconazole can help reduce the yeast in a slow crop to help move things out.

The air sac thing may be harmless or it could be an infection. You need to keep an eye on that as you treat her crop disorders. She may require an antibiotic at some point, but that's premature at this point. Here's my article on crops disorders that may help fill in some blanks. https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

 

[Eddie12109]

Thanks for all the information!
so this morning she had a completely empty crop but there was extra skin so it’s pendulous crop... the bra is not coming until Thursday now.
Tomorrow I will try with the extra grit and oil and I will look into miconazole... what’s the dosage for that?
I was confused on the air sac thing so I will keep an eye on it but also what I noticed is that whenever I massage her crop she almost has burps... like a noise comes and then her breath and around her smells pretty gross. I might be over thinking it and it’s a sign of sour crop but..?
I will read your article now!! Thanks again

 

[azygous]

Burping and the unpleasant gassy smell is likely from crop contents fermenting due to not emptying regularly. Get the miconazole at the store in the women's hygeine products. Get the seven day tube of cream. It's easy to use by squirting out half an inch onto your finger and wiping it off inside the hen's beak. Some hens will eat it off your finger. You must treat twice a day for a full seven days.

 

[Eddie12109]

So if she is not eating grit with other food should I place some in her beak and close it so she swallows it on her own?

 

[azygous]

Put the grit where she can find it. Best to sprinkle it on the ground or floor. This is the natural way chickens look for grit. Grit should be available at all times. Chickens replace grit daily as the old grit in their gizzards wear down and get pooped out.

 

[Eddie12109]

Alright and she isn’t eating at all currently so she isn’t getting grit..
And I just got home and she has had a slightly normal looking poop that isn’t liquidy.. I will still treat her for impacted gizzard but does the poop show that the gizzard is normal? And she had another poop in the picture that is greenish
also the bra arrived today!
so what is a good amount of tightness for it... I don’t want to regurgitate her but I want it to work. Should my finger still be able to slide in the back strap?

 

[azygous]

The poop indicates that whatever she is eating is getting through, and she is eating apparently whether or not she lets you see her do it. If she needs grit, she would be very eager for it, eating or not.

The proper bra fit is achieved by installing it so the crop is supported moderately. It likely won't be the final fit. You will need to check her each morning after fasting all night to see if the crop has emptied. If it hasn't emptied, then you need to adjust the bra so there's more support.

The objective is to support the crop at a higher position so that the contents at the bottom of the crop are raised up to within easy reach of the crop "drain" which is located about a third of the way up from the bottom of the crop.

As the crop empties more efficiently, her appetite should improve unless she has another more serious condition that is behind all of this.

 

[Eddie12109]

Ok thank you for that!
She hasn’t been interested in the grit so I am assuming she doesn’t it need too badly.
so you are ruling out gizzard problem as of now? I understand that can still be the problem but it doesn’t seem to be
And after I cleaned up that brown poop it seemed to be a cecal poo and the other one was obviously greenish. So what I am wondering is besides the cecal poop she still hasn’t had a normal brown poop since two weeks ago.. could this just be because of her crop is or there a more obvious problem that can be seen through the green poop?
also it’s not really urgent but I was giving her a little check up and I noticed that both of her eyelids, the nictitating membrane, was slow to go back to place. She would blink with it and then it would retract and then come out half way and go back to normal position. It was like it was stuck and her eye was dry.
I put saline solution in both and that seems to help but I’m not sure why it was like that... any ideas?

 

[Eddie12109]

So this is what she looks like with it... she isn’t moving but I am sure that is expected. There was sizes for a regular bird and a large bird and we got the regular.. is that fine?