Hi ChickenPeep. Firstly you need to be sure what her symptoms are. I can tell you how to treat impacted and sour crop as sadly I have had experience of both with my hens but you must be sure that that is what it is. If she is still pooping then food is getting through albeit perhaps not a fast as it should but this is encouraging at least. Secondly you should also be aware that sometimes an impacted crop comes about because there is another underlying problem. Also if a hen has had a greatly stretched crop then it can take anything up to 2 months for it to work properly again so you must check it every day and repeat the treatment if necessary. Sometimes it just won't clear no matter how much you try to help and in that case you should ask your vet if it can be emptied surgically. You will have to be dedicated in your care of her afterwards if this happens and might well have to help it by massaging daily until it returns to normal. The advice I am about to give you was given to me by a specialist hen vet, it is not coming from me rather via me. Sorry I don't know how old you are but it might be best if an adult does the following for you.
A hen suffering from a sour crop usually drinks quite a lot which is why the crop feels enlarged like a balloon filled with water rather than with air. This can be caused by something they have eaten. In the case of my hen it was a piece of raw potato peeling which she had scavenged out of the compost bin. Basically it was preventing any food from passing through the crop so the food started fermenting giving off a sour smell. Hunching up and being lethargic are just ways that anyone behaves when they are feeling out of sorts. The way to deal with sour crop it to manipulate the contents out of her crop and up through her mouth. The first time a specialist hen vet told me how to do this I was horrified but it saved Poppy's life. Basically what you are trying to do is rinse the crop of its contents. If it is full of water you are off to a good start. If it isn't then you have to give her as much water as she will allow you to by using a syringe. See below for how to do this. Wrap her in a towel, sit her on the edge of your knee and massage/knead her crop quite forcefully in an upward motion. (I was really worried about this and of hurting my hen but I found that when I was too gentle it had little or no affect) When she starts to open her beak, as if to retch, lean her forward or even almost upside down so that gravity will help the contents come out. Don't stop kneading whilst she is in this position until you feel the first amount of food has come out. I found it helps if someone can gently stretch out the neck so that she doesn't try to look up otherwise she will form a u bend and nothing will come out. Sit her up gently and give her more fluids and a little time to recover. Repeat this as many times as she will allow you to. If she is in good condition you'll be able to repeat this several times, however if she is already too poorly due to an underlying problem then she might go floppy. If this is the case stop straight away. I was a bit too timid in my approach when I first did this and the whole process went on for a few days. Not nice for anyone. Not realizing at that time that she could have surgery as a last resort I panicked and thought she would die if I didn't succeed so I decided to be a lot more firm and persistent and that finally did the trick and the potato peeling came out. I gave her one last rinse and the rest is history as they say. One healthy happy hen who went hopping off as if nothing had happened. I think I was more traumatised than she was!
If the crop is hard then that means there is a compaction and this needs loosening and massaging to help her pass the contents. It is not wise to allow her to feed when compacted if her crop is very full but if it is just a small compaction you could offer her bread soaked in oil and warm water but do offer her plenty of water, preferably warm with oil mixed in it. Caster oil is good but basically any oil you have in the kitchen will do. You need to catch your hen and sit her on you lap. If she is fidgety wrap her in a towel to keep her wings tight against her and to prevent her from being able to stand up. Tuck her under your arm and with your free hand gently squeeze, rub and knead the crop. If she has enough water and oil in her crop you will start to feel the contents thinning, if not then using a syringe slowly administer oil and then warm water into her mouth. Try to either get it running under her tongue giving her time to swallow or insert the syringe past the hole in the tongue and squirt it gently directly down her throat. (You can also use a tube to do this but I imagine you would need a specialist supplier to provide you with that.) The reason for doing it this way is to avoid it going into her lungs - the airway is actually in the tongue! you don't want her drowning or getting oil in her lungs!! Don't worry though, she will fight the syringe violently if this happens by mistake so you will know to stop straight away and she will cough and sneeze to clear the fluids. The more you can get down her the better, but I'd say at least 5mls - 10 mls each time and then stop to massage her, aiming to move the food downwards. This should be repeated as many times a day as you can manage. It could take a few days to work. During this time you must strictly limit her food as the more she eats the more you will have to get rid of for her.
Just remember that hens sometimes do easily give up the will to live and often by the time we realise something is wrong it can already be too late. Don't beat yourself up if nothing works, hens can be quite good at hiding symptoms until they are too ill to hide them any more. Having said that using the techniques above which my vet gave me I managed to save 3 out of 4 hens so good luck and keep me posted. I'll be willing you along and hopefully you will have your normal Ebony back to good health soon.
By the way, it is good to let hens follow normal light patterns, ie get up when it is naturally light and go to sleep when it naturally gets dark. Light levels tell a hen what time of year it is and so they know when to moult and when to lay. She is a very beautiful hen. She is lucky to have an owner who loves her so much.
