What is Sour Crop?
Sour crop is basically a yeast infection in the chicken's crop. It often occurs because of an impacted crop that hasn't been cleared. Then yeast begins to grow and feed on the food that is stuck in the crop.
How do I know if my chicken has sour crop?
One way to test if your chicken has sour crop is to massage the area, if she makes a beer like burp, she has sour crop. Be aware that a chicken's crop usually gets bigger after eating, then it goes down when she rests.
You may also hear the gurgling from fermentation if you listen carefully to the breast area. The breath of the affected bird will have a distinct putrid sour, smell to it – hence the name. If you can look in the mouth of the bird you may see whitish patches, or in a really bad case the entire mouth will be white.
What causes sour crop?
There are many ways;
1) Separate her from her flock. Only give your hen water for 24 hrs (you may have to force feed it to her by holding her wattle and beak and putting a couple of drops of water in her mouth by using a dropper) then the next day the crop should go down (if it doesn't try some of the other ways). Then feed her three small meals a day (scrambled eggs, grit, and her normal feed) for two days. Then add her back to her flock if she is doing better.
2) Separate her from her flock, don't feed her food or water for 24 hrs. Massage her crop every single hour for those 24 hrs. The next day introduce the water back in but not the food. Then feed her three small meals a day (scrambled eggs, grit, and her normal feed) for two days. Then add her back to her flock if she is doing better.
3) THIS WAY COULD BE DANGEROUS (chicken could aspirate) Separate your chicken from the flock. Turn her upside down and push up on her crop in a upward motion, you can do this safely 3 times.
Sour crop is basically a yeast infection in the chicken's crop. It often occurs because of an impacted crop that hasn't been cleared. Then yeast begins to grow and feed on the food that is stuck in the crop.
How do I know if my chicken has sour crop?
One way to test if your chicken has sour crop is to massage the area, if she makes a beer like burp, she has sour crop. Be aware that a chicken's crop usually gets bigger after eating, then it goes down when she rests.
You may also hear the gurgling from fermentation if you listen carefully to the breast area. The breath of the affected bird will have a distinct putrid sour, smell to it – hence the name. If you can look in the mouth of the bird you may see whitish patches, or in a really bad case the entire mouth will be white.
What causes sour crop?
- A slow emptying crop – will cause ‘back-up’ of food. Food cannot be processed as quickly as it is eaten.
- Impacted crop – food cannot pass if the crop is impacted.
- Antibiotics – treatment with antibiotics causes problems since the antibiotics kill good bacteria too.
- Infection – an ongoing infection can precipitate it.
- Worms – a really bad worm infestation can cause an intestinal blockage.
- Injury – an injury to the crop area can lead to delayed emptying of the crop.
- Long tough grasses – hens eating long tough and fibrous grasses can lead to sour crop and impaction.
- Other possible causes include strange or weird diets and moldy food
There are many ways;
1) Separate her from her flock. Only give your hen water for 24 hrs (you may have to force feed it to her by holding her wattle and beak and putting a couple of drops of water in her mouth by using a dropper) then the next day the crop should go down (if it doesn't try some of the other ways). Then feed her three small meals a day (scrambled eggs, grit, and her normal feed) for two days. Then add her back to her flock if she is doing better.
2) Separate her from her flock, don't feed her food or water for 24 hrs. Massage her crop every single hour for those 24 hrs. The next day introduce the water back in but not the food. Then feed her three small meals a day (scrambled eggs, grit, and her normal feed) for two days. Then add her back to her flock if she is doing better.
3) THIS WAY COULD BE DANGEROUS (chicken could aspirate) Separate your chicken from the flock. Turn her upside down and push up on her crop in a upward motion, you can do this safely 3 times.
