Very Unwell Chicken - Reoccurring Sour Crop

[Laraeaf]

Hi guys,

I've looked through dozens of online articles for help with this (including many on this site) but can't find anything that really fits the situation I'm in.

About 3 weeks ago, one of my Isa Brown hens (approx. 4 years old; ex-battery hen) became a bit lethargic and lost some of her normal appetite, but for several days she was still walking, foraging, socialising, and eating fairly well so I wasn't too concerned. Approx. 2 weeks ago, I noticed she was no longer wandering the yard or eating/drinking. I knew she had sour crop right away as had all the typical signs of swollen, soft crop, sour breath, and regurgitating. I regurgitated her (have done safely many times before) until the crop was basically drained and administered salt/vinegar and water flush. Let the flush sit, massaged crop to loosen things up, and then let her rest.

The next day, she was looking worse and the crop hadn't emptied at all, so I played it safe and took her to the vet. He took a faecal sample, and prescribed her with some anti-fungals and antibiotics (8 day treatment for both). While on these medications, I was administering an electrolyte solution via careful syringing to keep her hydrated 2-3 times a day. A few days into the treatments, she seemed to start feeling a bit bit better. Her crop had reduced quite a bit, though was still squishy. On the first good day, she ate some probiotic yoghurt and drank some electrolytes by choice. The next day, I allowed her to have a couple of blueberries and a tiny bit of tuna for some fat/energy, because she has lost so, so much weight and I'm worried she's got no energy reserves left.

Anyhow, after those 2 days of feeling okay and eating a little bit, she was worse again the next day. Big swollen crop again; straining to poo and poo was green-white and completely liquid; asleep almost all day, so I went to the vet again. He had received test results and found no worms, no coccidia, no concerning bacteria or viruses. He was unsure what it could be, so has given me a course of Amoxyclav for her in case it is a case of peritonitis or something else bacterial. It's been 2 days since she started Amoxyclav and she's only gotten worse. I'm concerned this drug cocktail has done more harm than good, however she is so unwell that I'm sure what else I can do for her.

So far, I've tried (each method over several days, but I'd eventually move on to try something else given I never noticed improvement):
- Flushing crop and allowing approx. 12 hours, before offering small bits of yoghurt and water/electrolytes.
- Massaging crop to 'break up' anything that might be impacting, and administering small amounts of vegetable oil to assist in loosening.

I've even give her a warm bath in the hopes that a) it would help shift things in her crop/digestive tract, b) it was a case of peritonitis/ egg binding.

Today, I have massaged her crop and I can feel something gritty and 'sticky' in there (gluggy is probably the right word), but I've flushed and regurgitated her several times over the past 1-2 and don't get anything up except straight, smelly liquid. I will say that when she does eat something, it is obviously being partially digested because when she regurgitates 1-2 days later there is only liquid (never solid, undigested food)

What should I do for my poor girl? I feel that perhaps there is a bigger, nastier problem going on inside her that won't be resolved without surgery or the likes. I don't really trust the vets in this area as none are avian specialists, and all of them just seem to prescribe random drugs in the hope they get it right.

Can anyone provide any advice?

 

[Lillith37]

Poor lady. Does she still lay eggs? What do you feed them usually? She might have cancerous tumours pressing on her insides and slowing/obstructing her digestive system. If you palpate around her abdomen can you feel any unusual swelling or lumps?

 

[Laraeaf]

Poor lady. Does she still lay eggs? What do you feed them usually? She might have cancerous tumours pressing on her insides and slowing/obstructing her digestive system. If you palpate around her abdomen can you feel any unusual swelling or lumps?

She hasn't laid for about 3 months now (neither have the 2 other hens she came to me with). But from what I've seen, it's pretty standard for retired battery hens to stop laying earlier because they put so much energy into laying early in life.

I thought the same, but I've done several really thorough checks all over her body and I can't find any lumps or anything else concerning.

She did pass two big white-green watery stools this morning, but she is still so emaciated and exhausted.

 

[Lillith37]

I’m really not quite sure… is it cold where you are and they have stopped laying for winter? Or do you think they have naturally come to the end of their laying years? I’m not sure if internal laying causes swelling or infection straight off the bat, or whether it occurs progressively, or whether it depends.

The antibiotics and antifungals not working is quite concerning.

Could she have eaten something mouldy or toxic? Does her poop have an egg-like quality to it?

Similar to your situation — of my hens recently had sour crop (which I was able to treat with anti-fungal cream) but now has a slow crop and no appetite. I’ve been tube feeding her to keep her going. Loose watery stools with occasional greenish tint. She has been off the lay for quite a while too. Same as yours with no sign of swelling, lumps or other sort of illness. We’re going to the (avian) vet soon so I’ll let you know what they say and maybe it might shed some light on possibilities for your hen too.

 

[Lillith37]

So we are at the avian vet now and she has taken Constance for a crop flush and to receive some fluids.

She is doing blood tests to check organ function as well as heavy metal poisoning, and doing a fecal sample for parasites etc.

The vet said that heavy metal poisoning can cause a wide array of symptoms from mild unthriftiness and crop stasis to the full blown paralysis of very severe cases.

Do you know what the soil is like where you keep your chickens? Is there any debris or metal she could have eaten?
The people who have lived previously in my yard buried their rubbish (common in Australia) and my chickens have unearthed all sorts of things that could cause trouble — including a car battery which didn’t look like it had leaked but who knows.

I can let you know the results of these investigations but for your chicken, if you wanted to take her back to the vet, perhaps you could ask for some similar blood work to be done? Then you might have more of an idea what’s going on.

 

[TropicalChickies]

Hi @Laraeaf

Any word on your sick hen? I came across this thread yesterday. I have a 3 year old hen named Butchie who had a very similar problem last year. I was doing all the same things, vomiting her, flushing her, giving her antifungal cream. She is still with us, needs a bit of special care, but much better. In Butchies case, she does have a hard lump in her abdomen which I think is either a tumor or hernia that is obstructing her digestion partially.

(I live in a remote area in South America. Avian vets do not exist here, nor vets who would treat a chicken, so this is just my experience)

But whatever the underlying cause, hens with digestive or reproductive issues are prone to sour crop, in particular a condition called doughy crop. That "gluggy" sticky thing you feel in the crop sounds like doughy crop. Have you checked it first thing in the morning?

I highly recommend this article by @TwoCrows. It helped me tremendously with Butchie and I had the best result with a a very careful and precise use of acidified copper sulfate. It needs to be administered carefully. But it was the only thing that worked for Butchies crop and kept her alive and able to enjoy life this long.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...ntion-and-treatments-of-crop-disorders.67194/

Best regards

 

[Laraeaf]

Hi guys,
Sorry for my very delayed response. To answer all of the above questions:

I never found any mouldy feed that she could have eaten, and their food is kept fresh in a sealed container. I did check the feed but didn't find anything strange.

We live in a very pristine rural/rainforest area so I think the chance of having metals in the soil is fairly low but it is a possibility.

I did also look into doughy crop and was hoping to start treatment for it, however my poor girl passed away the night before we were due to return to the vet for additional tests/ treatment While I had asked our vet to run more tests on the Friday, he insisted we waited until the Monday to see if she responded to Amoxyclav (which I told him wasn't working) and unfortunately she passed away on the Sunday night. Fortunately, I was administering pain medication for her and it looks as though she just slipped away in her sleep during the night.

We didn't figure out what the issue was in the end, which was quite frustrating. The vet didn't know what the issue could be and after they had given me so much questionable advice, I wasn't willing to pay them more to do a necropsy. She continued to have crop blockages and/or sour crop in her last days, wasn't eating, and lost more weight. She did get a lot of love, though.

I hope Constance made a full recovery though!! I'm glad you found an avian vet to help out.

My advice coming out of this is to always seeks the help of an avian vet. My vet clearly didn't have very good knowledge about chooks and, honestly, didn't seem that interested in helping

 

[Lillith37]

I’m sorry to hear your lady didn’t make it @Laraeaf and that your experiences with the vet weren’t great.

Unfortunately ISA Browns are so susceptible to issues once they’re over a few years old. It sounds like you did everything you could and she had a good life with you.

 

[Laraeaf]

@Lillith37 did your girl make a recovery from her issues and did it end up being metal toxicity? Really hoping you had a happy ending!

Thanks so much for the kind words. She definitely had a happy, healthy end to life and that's more than what most of the cage egg girls get!

 

[Lillith37]

@Lillith37 did your girl make a recovery from her issues and did it end up being metal toxicity? Really hoping you had a happy ending!

Yes it ended up being lead toxicity. I have tested the soil and we have dangerous levels of lead for keeping chickens. We are in the process of remediating the soil.

It’s been a long road for Constance. She’s had chelation therapy and her organ function is okay, but unfortunately she also has suspected egg material inside her that has hardened and she recently had a related infection. She’s booked in for surgery on Thursday to see exactly what’s going on and remove whatever necessary.