Hen with sour crop that hasn’t gone away, please help!

[ArtsyChicken25]

Hi all I have a 11 year old Buckeye chicken that seems to have sour crop. A couple weeks ago I noticed she seemed a little off and happened to feel her crop in the morning and it was like a water balloon. Her breath smelled and I couldn’t feel anything in her crop except liquid. I gave her some Acidified Copper Sulfate for nine days and it seemed to clear up the liquid in her crop, but there would always be a marble sized amount of grit left in there in the mornings. It was like that for almost a week.

Today I noticed her breath smelled again and her crop felt slightly squishy with grit. She’s acting like herself for the most part. Though I notice she’s been eating a lot of grit and oyster shell, and she’s only interested in eating very small pieces of things and eats the “dust” of the layer pellets but not the whole pellets. She’ll eat a bit of hard boiled egg pieces, small pieces of chopped veggies and she will gladly eat bugs/worms when I let her out in our yard. I’m giving her water with Manna Pro HydroHen electrolytes/probiotics currently.

Sometimes I’ll see her go into one of the nest boxes for a minute then come back out. She poops pretty regularly, a couple foamy poops and cecals but for the most part they’re very small mostly urates. Sometimes some of her urates were more solid/chunky?

Right now she’s on day two of Safeguard Equine Dewormer to try to eliminate the possibility of worms. I have her confined to the chicken run and coop. She’s getting pretty thin, I can feel her keel bone. Should I put her back on Acidified Copper Sulfate too and is it okay to have that the same time as the dewormer? Maybe she has a blockage somewhere? Any ideas or help would be appreciated, thank you!

 

[Debbie292d]

11 years old! Wow, you've done well by her and I think you are doing the right things too. I doubt your ACS would conflict with the Safeguard but with an ill chicken, it's best not to throw too many things at them at once. I'd keep the probiotic water going and after the Safeguard, I'd alternate vitamin water with the probiotic water.

Here are two excellent crop articles that might help give you more ideas.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

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

I hope she improves and feels better soon!

 

[ArtsyChicken25]

11 years old! Wow, you've done well by her and I think you are doing the right things too. I doubt your ACS would conflict with the Safeguard but with an ill chicken, it's best not to throw too many things at them at once. I'd keep the probiotic water going and after the Safeguard, I'd alternate vitamin water with the probiotic water.

Here are two excellent crop articles that might help give you more ideas.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

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

I hope she improves and feels better soon!

Thank you for linking these articles! Tomorrow will be her last day of the Safeguard, would it be okay to start the ACS again the day after? Her breath still smells and her crop is not completely empty in the morning. I also have some Dulcolax like the article suggests that I could give her. Should the crop be empty of grit in the morning? There’s always a good amount of grit I feel there in the mornings and during the day. Also she now has runny brown poop, is that a side effect of the sour crop or dewormer?

 

[Debbie292d]

The runny poop is most likely from the dewormer. Probiotics should fix that. Probiotics would also help with her sour crop. ACV is good but I'd opt for using some of the powder that's put in their water too, like Hydro-Hen or Sav-A-Chick, etc., to lay off the acidity for a few days.

I don't think I'd give her the Ducolax now though until they get over that.

Mine pretty much have empty crops in the morning. I've noticed on occasion one or two might have something leftover in there. I don't know if it's grit or what as I didn't really palpate it. I just noticed it a time or two and assumed they ate a mouse or something the night before.

 

[Lillith37]

Make sure she has access to fresh medium sized sharp grit. If you’ve got a perpetual grit tray out there, they will eat all the good stuff first. If they aren’t getting the proper size & sharpness it can cause issues.

You can give her some coconut oil and a little massage in the mornings & evenings to see if that helps move things along. You can chill coconut oil in the fridge and then she may eat it herself, otherwise you can give via syringe. Coconut oil has anti-fungal properties.

I would encourage her to eat scrambled/boiled eggs. She looks pale so you could also give her some beef liver.

You should be able to feel a hen’s keel bone at a healthy weight. It’s the muscle condition either side that gives an indication of body condition. If you feel her belly between the end point of her keel bone and under her vent, does it feel squishy or hard or like a water balloon?

Also does she lay eggs or long past that?

 

[ArtsyChicken25]

The runny poop is most likely from the dewormer. Probiotics should fix that. Probiotics would also help with her sour crop. ACV is good but I'd opt for using some of the powder that's put in their water too, like Hydro-Hen or Sav-A-Chick, etc., to lay off the acidity for a few days.

I don't think I'd give her the Ducolax now though until they get over that.

Mine pretty much have empty crops in the morning. I've noticed on occasion one or two might have something leftover in there. I don't know if it's grit or what as I didn't really palpate it. I just noticed it a time or two and assumed they ate a mouse or something the night before.

OK, I made sure yesterday that her water in the chicken run and coop has the Hydro Hen in it. I let her outside only to scratch in the dirt, not eat any grass. She ate a bunch of insects and worms and I had to put her back in the run because she bent over and semi brown liquid came out of her mouth. Her crop was really full.

This morning it was still really full (squishy with lots of grit) and she was in one of the nest boxes when I went in the coop. She came out briefly then went back in. Not super talkative or trying to get out the coop into the run like she has been the past week. She did eventually go out in the run but not as energetic. She was eating little bits of hard boiled egg I put out for her. She is also done her treatment of Safeguard.

I know you recommended holding off on anything acidic but I feel like I should start her back on the Acidified Copper Sulfate. It seemed to help with emptying the crop when I first treated her with it. I'm afraid to let the stuff sit for too long in her crop without some treatment, she didnt seem well this morning.

Make sure she has access to fresh medium sized sharp grit. If you’ve got a perpetual grit tray out there, they will eat all the good stuff first. If they aren’t getting the proper size & sharpness it can cause issues.

You can give her some coconut oil and a little massage in the mornings & evenings to see if that helps move things along. You can chill coconut oil in the fridge and then she may eat it herself, otherwise you can give via syringe. Coconut oil has anti-fungal properties.

I would encourage her to eat scrambled/boiled eggs. She looks pale so you could also give her some beef liver.

You should be able to feel a hen’s keel bone at a healthy weight. It’s the muscle condition either side that gives an indication of body condition. If you feel her belly between the end point of her keel bone and under her vent, does it feel squishy or hard or like a water balloon?

Also does she lay eggs or long past that?

We have a pvc pipe that dispenses grit as they dig through it, we've never really had issues with the grit before with our chickens. This morning I did empty some new grit at the bottom and she was picking through it.

I will definitely try the coconut oil method, thank you! She is eating some scrambled eggs/hard boiled eggs but only a little bit at a time.

There's some muscle mass on either side of her keel bone but definitely not near the amount as a month ago or so. Her belly has some give to it semi squishy, nothing odd feeling from what I can tell. She actually did lay eight eggs around the beginning of the year when we had the heat lamp going, but it is very uncommon for her to lay since she's older.

 

[ArtsyChicken25]

Hey guys so I did start her on the Acidified Copper Sulfate again, today was day two. She still has watery poop, I’ve been trying to give her some probiotics from a capsule mixed with coconut oil and syringe it along her beak. Not sure how much she’s getting because she fights me. Her crop is still pretty full and it has a lot of grit in it. Do you think I should take away her access to grit for a bit? She keeps eating it and it seems to be collecting in her crop.

She did eat some wet layer feed this afternoon which she didn’t have much interest in before. I’m going to keep making her some hopefully she’ll keep eating it. Is there anything else I can give her to eat that would be safe with sour crop?

Also do you have any recommendations on what to disinfect a large plastic waterer with? I recently lost one of my chickens due to illness, I’m not entirely sure what her illness was but she drank out of this large waterer and I would like to use it for the Copper Sulfate treatment. My Buckeye chicken seems to not be drinking as much from the small plastic waterer now, and once I brought out the large metal one with the HydroHen she stood there drinking from it for a while, like she hasn’t drank much from the ACS water today. I’m wondering if a larger waterer would be better.

 

[Lillith37]

I can’t comment on the copper treatment as I’ve only ever used human thrush medicine to treat chicken crops. I’ve only had one case of sour crop which the clotrimazole cream/pessaries resolved.

I did have a different hen with chronic doughy slow crop. She eventually passed away and the vet couldn’t identify cause of death at necropsy. But she only ate grit at the end and had complete crop stasis.

Is there anything else I can give her to eat that would be safe with sour crop?

Give her soft foods. The wet mash and also scrambled egg. You could try some tuna. But you can also just try offering her regular food and see if she wants to eat it. Some people allow their chickens to eat normally even with crop issues, provided they are active and happy to be outside. Continue with coconut oil and massages as best you can.

Have you considered her crop might be pendulous? If the muscle is weakened and she can’t empty her crop properly that may cause the yeast build up. You could try a crop bra?

Her crop is still pretty full and it has a lot of grit in it. Do you think I should take away her access to grit for a bit? She keeps eating it and it seems to be collecting in her crop.

She is eating the grit for a reason. She may have a blockage somewhere or she needs to balance her gizzard ph.

Also do you have any recommendations on what to disinfect a large plastic waterer with?

Hot water and antibacterial soap or bleach.

 

[ArtsyChicken25]

My sweet girl passed away this morning. I went to check on her before work and found her in the coop… utterly heartbroken. She didn’t seem too unwell yesterday, we were walking around the backyard.. she was really hiding it I suppose..
She was my last chicken, I lost my other girl last Monday. She was such a sweet and energetic girl. I’m going to miss them so much…
I wish I could have helped them

 

[Lillith37]

My sweet girl passed away this morning. I went to check on her before work and found her in the coop… utterly heartbroken. She didn’t seem too unwell yesterday, we were walking around the backyard.. she was really hiding it I suppose..
She was my last chicken, I lost my other girl last Monday. She was such a sweet and energetic girl. I’m going to miss them so much…
I wish I could have helped them

Gorgeous ladies. I’m sorry for your losses.

Honestly though I think you did everything you could and more than most. 11 years old is excellent for a hen, probably at the top end of their natural lifespan in a domestic setting.

Please don’t beat yourself up. I’m sure she had a great life and if she seemed okay walking around the other day, she probably wasn’t completely suffering, and it was just her time to go.