Suspected Sour Crop / Gleet

[janamacdon]

Hi fellow backyard chicken friends,

This site has been a wealth of knowledge for me as we tend to our very small flock of backyard chickens, so I thank you. I am here once again to seek your wisdom.

A few days ago, we noticed our 3 year old RIR/White Rock cross wasn't coming out of her coop. And when we'd take her out, she would just sit under a bush. We set up a hospital in the garage and after some research, realized that she probably had sour crop. We were able to help her regurgitate what was in there, and there were grapes that had been fed at least a few days prior! Poor girl. This is our first experience with sour crop and we're sorry we didn't catch it sooner. We followed the advice of others, and withheld water and food overnight. Her crop seemed empty, so we started introducing a bit of plain yogurt, oatmeal, egg yolks with applesauce, and water with ACV. She would eat a little, but not very much. She did appear to have more energy and it appeared like she wanted to go outside, so we let her free range with us in the yard, where she pecked around for a bit, and then we put her back in the hospital. The next day, her crop seemed empty, but she hadn't been eating much. She still wouldn't eat what we were feeding her, so we let her free range for a bit thinking she would get some nutrients from pecking around - then we found her hiding under a bush again. We noticed her fluffy butt was terribly dirty with sticky yellow/white poo. I'm suspecting gleet?

I gave her some probiotics in her water and vitamins. And we were advised to spray some Blu-Kote on her vent for the gleet.

She's still alert and is "talking" a little bit, but she still isn't eating or drinking anything we've given her. We're giving her water with a dropper. She just sits in her nesting box.

Can you recommend anything else I can try? Thanks so much in advance for any advice you can give.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

3 year old RIR/White Rock

realized that she probably had sour crop. We were able to help her regurgitate what was in there, and there were grapes that had been fed at least a few days prior

Her crop seemed empty, so we started introducing a bit of plain yogurt, oatmeal, egg yolks with applesauce, and water with ACV.

We noticed her fluffy butt was terribly dirty with sticky yellow/white poo. I'm suspecting gleet?

she still isn't eating or drinking anything we've given her. We're giving her water with a dropper. She just sits in her nesting box.

I'm sorry she's not well.
Can you post some photos of her and the poop?

If you wash the vent/clean up all the poop - does she have that leaking out of her vent or is it just poop is accumulating on the feathers?

When is the last time she laid an egg? Does she normally lay normal/hard shelled eggs or has she had trouble in the past with shell less eggs?

Any bloat/swelling or feeling of fluid in the abdomen below the vent between the legs?

No lice/mites?

I would try to get her hydrated, see if she will eat her normal feed made into a wet mash.
Bits of scrambled egg is usually enticing as well.

She may have a blockage, the crop issue is not resolved, hard to know if it's gleet or if she's having some reproductive problems. All of these things can be common in laying hens and often can be seen together.

Vent Gleet would be treated with an anti-fungal/yeast. The Sour Crop would be as well. Instructions for treating sour crop with vaginal yeast cream is in the link below. If I suspected gleet as well, I would use that topically around the vent in addition to treating the crop issue. Clean her bum daily, if you need to, trim some of the fluff around her vent to help keep it a bit cleaner.

Hopefully with photos we can tell a bit more.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

 

[janamacdon]

Hi! Thank you so much for responding to my post. This morning we went to check on Pippy and she was out of her nesting box and very chatty. She still would not drink. We tried to give her a dropperful but she wouldn’t take it. She refused the scrambled eggs but did eat a few pellets of food that were lying on the garage floor outside her cage. We gave her a small amount more and she ate some. She seemed very interested in being outside, so she pecking around there and scratching in the dirt. Seems fine except she won’t take water.

I’ll attach a few pictures. It doesn’t look like there is anything leaking from her vent. Just poop that has stuck in the feathers. I will try your recommendations to clean and trim the area.

My daughter thinks she hasn’t laid an egg in a few months. I’m not sure about that. I feel like she was laying a few weeks ago, and there were a few eggs that had broken in the coop, maybe due to a thin shell. I felt her abdomen area and didn’t feel anything. She just bones.

No mites or lice as far as I can see. She did have mites in her legs over the summer but I think we had resolved that with some Desitin.

So you can treat sour crop with a vaginal yeast cream orally? That won’t harm them? I think her crop is emptying, but I’m keeping an eye on it. Poop today is still runny but it looks like food is passing through.

Thanks again for you help!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Yes, you can treat Sour Crop with the cream orally. Information is in the article linked previously.

Have you ever wormed her?

 

[janamacdon]

Sadly, I have never wormed her. I didn't realize that was something we should be doing regularly . When I asked at the feed store, they said they are no longer allowed to sell the medication. I guess I'd have to get it from a vet? I have been putting food grade DE in their feed, so hopefully that will help? She's still pecking around outside, so maybe she's turned a corner?

Thanks again for your help, and for the link to the article. I'll try that next if things go downhill again.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Where are you located in the world?

DE is not effective as a de-wormer. Ideally getting a fecal float to check for presence of worms is best, but sometimes that is not an option.
Most use Fenbendazole (Safeguard) or Valbazen to de-worm their flocks. These can be purchased in feed stores or online - depending on what country you live in.

 

[janamacdon]

Thank you so much for all of your help! Pippy seems to be doing great - free ranging and gaining weight. I was able to get the Safeguard to de-worm the chickens and I plan to do that. Thanks again for all of the great advice!