Thought it was sour crop but does not smell and hasn't got better?

[VerityK]

I'm in the middle of treating a slow/sour crop as well. I spoke with my vet yesterday and she suggested inserting a tube into the crop and using a syringe to draw out all the nasty stuff. Then suggested I inject and draw out some clean water mixed with probiotics.

It was much easier than I anticipated to tube her. It was easy to visualize the trachea vs the esophagus. There are lots of videos on YouTube. https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=tube+feeding+a+chicken&ru=/videos/search?q=tube+feeding+a+chicken&FORM=HDRSC3&view=detail&mid=0771E352EF74542213D80771E352EF74542213D8&&FORM=VDRVRV

So last night around 7pm I used the tube/syringe to empty and rinse her crop. I put her out with her friends, they were free ranging with access to layer crumb and water. I added probiotics to their water. I checked her crop before bed and she had eaten a bit and had a drink.
In the morning her crop wasn't totally empty, but she did go poo, and the smell from her crop wasn't as strong. I'll keep massaging through the day.

The vet is going to call me back tomorrow. If the crop is still slow and smelly I'll ask for Nystatin.

Like you, I still need to figure out what caused the slow/sour crop. I'll be worming the whole flock just in case. Otherwise I'll be crossing my fingers that perhaps she go into something bad that through the good-bad bacteria balance in her crop out of whack. The alternative is some sort of reproductive issue, cancer, liver disease, etc.

Oh Gosh its so stressful isn't it!

The tube sounds incredibly scary!
I had read a lot about turning upside down and vomiting the chicken (Frida) but decided I couldn't live with myself if it aspirated in her lungs! However on 3 occasions is was checking and massaging her crop and she vomited anyway! I have no idea what caused her crop issues! But I am slightly comforted by the fact that some of her food is still going through as she is poo-ing fine and laid an egg today!

Let me know how your chook gets on!