What can cause a squishy crop?

[tiny529]

I haven't seen my Sussex eat in 2 days, yet her crop feels full and squishy. She's walking fine and doesn't seem distressed, but I do see her shaking her head some. Is there anything other than sour crop that can cause something like this?

 

[speckledhen]

Does it feel gassy and bloaty or doughy? Does her breath smell sour/fermenty? Could be sour crop, possibly. If you determine that's what is wrong, then:

Same protocol or all sour crop issues. Separate the hen, 24 hours with no food, only water with 1/4 teaspoon of acidified copper sulfate (comes in powder form usually at the feed store) in a gallon in plastic waterer only. If you can't find that, use 2 tablespoons of organic, unfiltered apple cider vinegar in the plastic gallon waterer, changed daily. Day 2, add only plain yogurt. Day 3, add plain scrambled egg to the yogurt. Each day, massage the crop, several times each day, pushing toward the back of the crop, not upward. Day 4, maybe some soupy oatmeal added to the eggs and yogurt, but NO grains. Hopefully, that will clear it up.

 

[tiny529]

I'd say it feels doughy. I don't smell anything on her breath, though she does fight me when I try to sniff and she won't open her mouth so I'm probably just smelling her beak. When I lost my EE a few days ago to whatever it was that I lost her from (either egg binding, sour crop, or both), I was shocked by the vile smells emanating from her.

Anyone who doesn't know her would think she looks fine, but I know her and she's not fine. She's usually a pig (I call her my Basset Hound chicken) but I still haven't seen her eat anything today. She keeps doing that odd little head shake. It's not a hard, violent shake. Just a little shake about every 5 seconds or so. Also she usually comes running when she sees anyone outside and but now she's ignoring everyone. She walking fine and doesn't seem droopy, though she's nestling down for naps more often than usual (I'm used to everyone taking a short afternoon nap).

Is there anything else that it could be?

 

[speckledhen]

The only time I find a doughy crop is when a crop has quit working and feed is mushed up with water in there and not moving out of the crop. You have to massage it and push the contents to the back of the crop where the hole is. Since I cannot feel it for myself, I'm not sure you are dealing with crop stasis.

 

[tiny529]

I felt her crop this morning and it is MUCH smaller. It feels about the size of a golf ball, but still doughy. For the past couple of days, it felt baseball sized or larger and doughy. She's still doing that little head shake though, so if it's a blockage, something might still be there. I still brought her in (she's in a cage in the dining room) since we are in a nasty bout of thunderstorms and I can't stay outside to watch her.

What can cause crop stasis? This chicken is prone to eating strange things. I saw her swallow a whole toad last year. I'm still amazed that she didn't get sick from that.

I did lose what I believe may have been the" top of the pecking order" girl on the morning that this started (the more I read, the more I'm convinced that she was egg-bound and then got an impacted crop) . Not that there seemed to be any bond there, but could she have gotten stressed from that?

Could it be a result of this weather? Their run is a disgusting swamp right now but it has literally been thunderstorming multiple times per day for the past week so I can't do much about it. I buried Trixie and mucked out the coop during a really hot bout in between storms on Thursday, but the ground in the run was so swampy that my rake wasn't pulling up anything. I've checked their food container and it still looks good and dry (the bag is new, just bought last week).

I'm not sure whether to try feeding her anything this morning. She's got a small waterer in her cage, but I don't have any plain yogurt in the house. Only fruit on the bottom types. I guess I'll just leave her in with the waterer for now and then pick up some yogurt at the store later today.

 

[Charlotte D]

I felt her crop this morning and it is MUCH smaller. It feels about the size of a golf ball, but still doughy. For the past couple of days, it felt baseball sized or larger and doughy. She's still doing that little head shake though, so if it's a blockage, something might still be there. I still brought her in (she's in a cage in the dining room) since we are in a nasty bout of thunderstorms and I can't stay outside to watch her.

What can cause crop stasis? This chicken is prone to eating strange things. I saw her swallow a whole toad last year. I'm still amazed that she didn't get sick from that.

I did lose what I believe may have been the" top of the pecking order" girl on the morning that this started (the more I read, the more I'm convinced that she was egg-bound and then got an impacted crop) . Not that there seemed to be any bond there, but could she have gotten stressed from that?

Could it be a result of this weather? Their run is a disgusting swamp right now but it has literally been thunderstorming multiple times per day for the past week so I can't do much about it. I buried Trixie and mucked out the coop during a really hot bout in between storms on Thursday, but the ground in the run was so swampy that my rake wasn't pulling up anything. I've checked their food container and it still looks good and dry (the bag is new, just bought last week).

I'm not sure whether to try feeding her anything this morning. She's got a small waterer in her cage, but I don't have any plain yogurt in the house. Only fruit on the bottom types. I guess I'll just leave her in with the waterer for now and then pick up some yogurt at the store later today.

This sounds exactly like what my hen is going through. This too follows the death of another hen (the boss) last week and this one should've been the next in line to take over.
I know it's a long time since this thread was started but I'd you can let me how things worked out I'd appreciate it.