VERY stubborn doughy crop with gas

[WilliamC]

Butters has been battling doughy crop for a long time. Shes 9 and a Buff Orp. She poops fine, is alert and eats. I use Monistat 7 to keep it under some control. The other day, without thinking, i gave her some watermelon. Mistake. She went into breathing hard and the usual symptoms. Doughy ball formed, crop slowed down, felt warm. Does not smell, so its not sour. So i have been using unfiltered vinegar(50/50 mix with water) and Monistat 7. First time using the vinegar. I never seen it this bad.
When i give her the vinegar the dough ball gets bigger and she becomes VERY gassy. I literally have to massage and burp her. Added Simethicone drops to it. Feeding her non gassy foods. Upped her probiotics and added non sweetened yogurt.
Has anyone treated doughy crop and it create SO much gas? I may need to go with something stronger, i am on day 3 of this and this morning there was some dough and a bit of grain left in her crop. Treatment created alot of gas but she did seem to feel better after.
Should i go to acidified copper sulfate? We go out of town next week and we have to take her.


Note, she was on long term antibotics for a staph infection. Shes indoors pretty much now. Her poops are fine, color fine, not over white.

 

[azygous]

Cut out the vinegar and miconazole. Give a probiotic with this: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=butyrate&crid=HVIX2A1VIRRZ&sprefix=butyrate,aps,374&ref=nb_sb_noss_1 It's a postbiotic.

For the doughy crop, give chilled coconut oil with crop massage.

 

[WilliamC]

Cut out the vinegar and miconazole. Give a probiotic with this: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=butyrate&crid=HVIX2A1VIRRZ&sprefix=butyrate,aps,374&ref=nb_sb_noss_1 It's a postbiotic.

For the doughy crop, give chilled coconut oil with crop massage.

Ok, i was following the writeup on this site for doughy crop. That is why i was using the vinegar and miconazole. https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...nd-treatments-of-crop-disorders.67194/?page=7

The Butyrate, just plain without the calcium and magnesium? 1 capsule daily? I see sustained release, since she is a hen would i want to steer away from that?


This is the probiotic i am using: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07TSL55B5?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

The ingredients list corn maltodextrin. Is this a type of sugar that can exacerbate doughy crop?

Ingredients​

Corn maltodextrin, Inulin, Dried Propionibacterium freudenreichii fermentation product, Dried Propionibacterium shermanii fermentation product,. Dried Pediococcus acidilactici fermentation product, Dried Pediococcus pentosaceus fermentation product, Dried Bifidobacterium bifidum fermentation product, Dried Bifidobacterium animalis fermentation product, Dried Lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, Dried Lactobacillus plantarum fermentation product, Dried Enterococcus thermophilus fermentation product

 

[azygous]

Shop for a brand with the least amount of additives. The link was mainly to steer you to the right shopping aisle.

"Doughy" crop I take to mean impacted crop. We call yeasty crops sour crop. They are two different crop disorders. I wrote this https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/ to explain the treatments that have worked well for me. It may give you another angle on the issue.

Impacted crop often happens when the digestive tract is sluggish or a lot of high cellulose foods and not enough water are consumed. If the crop is hard, we introduce coconut oil and massage the lumpy crop until the lump breaks up and goes down. If the mass has been lingering in the crop for a while, it may also be yeasty. So the second step is to use miconazole to get rid of the yeast. Or an Epsom salt flush will also work to flush out the entire system, including any yeast.

 

[WilliamC]

Shop for a brand with the least amount of additives. The link was mainly to steer you to the right shopping aisle.

"Doughy" crop I take to mean impacted crop. We call yeasty crops sour crop. They are two different crop disorders. I wrote this https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/ to explain the treatments that have worked well for me. It may give you another angle on the issue.

Impacted crop often happens when the digestive tract is sluggish or a lot of high cellulose foods and not enough water are consumed. If the crop is hard, we introduce coconut oil and massage the lumpy crop until the lump breaks up and goes down. If the mass has been lingering in the crop for a while, it may also be yeasty. So the second step is to use miconazole to get rid of the yeast. Or an Epsom salt flush will also work to flush out the entire system, including any yeast.

This morning her crop was 98% empty but with that doughy squishy mass in it. So it is moving and she is pooping fine. Alert, drinking plenty. She still has a soft mass in her crop, and some grains at the bottom from yesterday. She is gassy, very gassy in her crop and is burping. It has an odor but not really sour/sauerkraut. Since the long term antibiotics i been kind of battling this and yesterday it just exploded in severity. She has been on a good dose of the probiotics i posted. Some yogurt too. All points to a fermentation. Why else the gas? Since it is soft, she is pooping fine and the crop partially empties i will lean toward yeast and slowing crop. Might be droopy some. I did do the coconut oil, massage (with alot of burping) a bit of Simethicone ( maybe it will help?) and putting a bra on her tonight to help support her crop and help empty. I just gave her 1ml of Miconazole and messaged really well.

Thanks for the replies. I am doing what i can for the old girl. I can pretty much give her what i need, she trusts me a lot. I read your post very well and will keep it up for quick reference. This is Butters this past spring. Being 9 with arthritis in her hips and recently coming out of a MSRA shes been a trooper.

 

[azygous]

The postbiotic will help with the gas formation. It installs the right microbes in her gut to combat it.

For very old hens, and I've had more than my share of oldie but goodies, to find a small amount of material in the crop in the morning isn't of much concern as long as the crop is moving food out as it should. The probiotic and postbiotic will help keep her gut working to draw the crop down.

You can always help that lump go down with a little gentle massage. All chickens, from baby chicks to the matrons, find a crop massage soothing.

 

[azygous]

Butters is one lovely lady.

 

[WilliamC]

Butters is one lovely lady.

I do massage it. As a matter of fact every time i pick her up my hand goes right to the crop. Shes the last of our flock. My daughters 4H chickens we raised together. Daughter married last year and lives away now. So is me and old Butters. She is pretty much indoors now and literally kicked one of our cats out of his bed. Its hers now, she sits in it by the door looking out. I will keep working on the crop, and i ordered that this evening and will be here tomorrow.
I have never seen it SO gassy and at her age i worry.
Thank you!

 

[azygous]

I love Butters. I love you, too.

 

[Sally PB]

This thread is why I LOVE BYC!

People who love and take care of their chickens, and people who have done it for many years and pass along what they've learned.

Thanks to both of you.