Watery poop

[Wyorp Rock]

The article makes it seem like, if the treatment is working, then the crop will quickly drain -- is that true? I wouldn't say "doughy" (like a water balloon). Its just not hard and lumpy anymore.

Well @azygous wrote the article, maybe she can give some insight on how quickly the crop will empty.
A lot depends on why the crop is not emptying - blockage, inflammation, etc.

 

[azygous]

Did you mention if this is an older hen? They can have stubborn crop disorders that are slow to resolve, though they eventually do.

Was the shell-less egg intact when it was expelled? Or was it collapsed? This is an important detail as collapsed eggs post all sorts of complications.

 

[HeyHo]

Did you mention if this is an older hen? They can have stubborn crop disorders that are slow to resolve, though they eventually do.

Was the shell-less egg intact when it was expelled? Or was it collapsed? This is an important detail as collapsed eggs post all sorts of complications.

She is just over a year old, and I have never had a crop issue with her before.

The shell less egg was intact when she laid it.

 

[HeyHo]

I have done a second round of coconut oil and massage. Crop seems a bit softer and maybe smaller. Alice is drinking a little, but not moving much, resting with her eyes closed.

 

[azygous]

She's young and there should be no remains inside the reproductive tract to gather bacteria. The crop issue should resolve in due time.

If you're treating for sour crop and the crop doesn't empty by morning by the third day, try doubling the miconazole or increasing the times per day to three, giving the yeast more exposure to the anti-yeast med.

Coconut oil really isn't needed unless it appears there is hard impacted material in the crop in the mornings. It's not difficult to determine the texture of the crop contents by feel. "Spongy" indicates sour crop. "Lumpy" indicates impacted material. These apply only to a crop still full in the mornings. During the day, crops can be all of the above and it doesn't mean much.

 

[HeyHo]

She's young and there should be no remains inside the reproductive tract to gather bacteria. The crop issue should resolve in due time.

If you're treating for sour crop and the crop doesn't empty by morning by the third day, try doubling the miconazole or increasing the times per day to three, giving the yeast more exposure to the anti-yeast med.

Coconut oil really isn't needed unless it appears there is hard impacted material in the crop in the mornings. It's not difficult to determine the texture of the crop contents by feel. "Spongy" indicates sour crop. "Lumpy" indicates impacted material. These apply only to a crop still full in the mornings. During the day, crops can be all of the above and it doesn't mean much.

Her crop has definitely been hard and lumpy the past two mornings. After the coconut oil today, it is softer. There is no foul smell, so I'm not thinking it is sour crop.

Should I be offering her food, or just letting her rest?

 

[azygous]

With crop disorders, I let the patient determine food intake, except for foods that could aggravate the disorder. For impacted crop, I would stay away from food heavy on cellulose such as grass and veggies and instead offer boiled egg or tofu or plain crumbles. With sour crop, you want to avoid carbs. Other than that, the patient will eat what she feels is best and the amount she needs.

 

[HeyHo]

Just an update: her crop feels soft and somewhat full. There is no smell. I compared the size to the rest of my chickens and hers is about as large as my largest hen. She still has not eaten anything, but has been drinking water with Nutridrench. She has had some lovely poops.

 

[HeyHo]

After a day of nice white/green fairly solid poops, she just had a liquid poop that looked like yolk. Could that be the coconut oil working its way out of her system, or did a soft shell egg break within her?

On the up side, she is drinking well, standing and preening....

 

[azygous]

We need a photo of the poop that looks like yolk. I take it that the poop is yellow? Coconut oil won't turn poop yellow.

A little known, but not uncommon, phenomenon is two eggs, not a double yolk egg, coming down the tract in a single 25 hour cycle. This can spell trouble for the hen that has this issue. I had an EE that spent an entire spring before this recent one producing two eggs each cycle. There isn't usually enough calcium secreted by the shell gland for two such eggs, so one may be shell-less.

Shell-less eggs are more likely to get bound up, and they are more likely to collapse. I put my EE on a daily dose of people calcium, around 500mg, and kept her on it until she reset her cycle. It took over a month, but she began laying a single egg each cycle again, and this season, there has been no issue.

If there's a stuck egg or egg material from a collapsed egg, the hen will be trying to push it out. There may be a watery discharge from the vent, either clear or milky white. It will change color to yellow when the collapsed yolk is expelled. There can be a danger of vent prolapse if the hen is pushing hard for an extended period. Giving calcium can help.