Silkie Roo with squishy crop not emptying

[SilkieChickensLove]

Hi all,
Thankfully it has been a bit since posting here - which means our chickens have been doing well! But unfortunately, one of our silkie roos has what seems like sour crop but I am wondering if it might also be an impacted crop.

We noticed he was drinking a lot of water and my husband picked him up and felt a squishy water balloon type crop. He has been out with his rooster friends but not as robust as usual, does do a bit of chatting but haven't heard him crowing and he seems tired so he is not himself and kind of keeping to himself. He has not been interested in food but he definitely wants to drink a lot of water.

We brought him inside, massaged his crop several times yesterday and gave him a bit of kefir and electrolytes and probiotics from SAVE A CHICK packs. I tried smelling his breath- thought *maybe* a little bit of a smell but then I realized he also had watery poop and so it might also have just been a smell from that on his feathers.

We started giving some of the miconozale (sp) cream yesterday and he had a second dose this morning. He does also have runny poop- yesterday it was yellow/green/white runny and this morning still runny but more brown was in it as well I am guessing partly because he is having a lot of water, electrolytes and the kefir/probiotics in his water.

My questions:
His crop was still squishy this morning and it seems like I can feel a couple seeds in there also which makes me wonder if it is also impacted and not emptying.
Should I also try giving him coconut oil or olive oil or something for an impacted crop just in case?

How long does it take for the miconozale to work? I am in California which limits so many of the medicines allowed in other areas so I haven't been able to order anything else.

Should he be allowed to drink as much water as he wants? He seems very thirsty and keeps wanting water but he hasn't had food in 24 hours other than some of the kefir yogurt unless he snuck a bit in before we noticed his crop being squishy.

Is there anything else we should be doing? He is such a sweet boy and of course, one of my favorites. I posted in the Facebook group but have gotten no responses there so am hoping that someone here can offer some advice and I can help him get better quickly.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Yes, I would give him the coconut oil. Mine like it in hardened chunks, they will gobble it up, hope your boy likes the taste of it.

I would make sure to give the Miconazole 2X a day for 7 days.

Let him drink and eat if he's willing. Hydration, especially is important.

Sometimes a crop or the digestive system (intestines/gizzard, etc.) can have a blockage/partially impacted. This can cause the crop the Sour, so treating as a whole would make sense.

I always give Coconut oil in addition to whatever else, like the Miconazole or Clotrimazole (athlete's foot cream).

It does take time for a crop problem to resolve, depending on what caused the symptom in the first place. You may need to give him a flush in the next day or so if the crop is not improving.

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

 

[SilkieChickensLove]

Yes, I would give him the coconut oil. Mine like it in hardened chunks, they will gobble it up, hope your boy likes the taste of it.

I would make sure to give the Miconazole 2X a day for 7 days.

Let him drink and eat if he's willing. Hydration, especially is important.

Sometimes a crop or the digestive system (intestines/gizzard, etc.) can have a blockage/partially impacted. This can cause the crop the Sour, so treating as a whole would make sense.

I always give Coconut oil in addition to whatever else, like the Miconazole or Clotrimazole (athlete's foot cream).

It does take time for a crop problem to resolve, depending on what caused the symptom in the first place. You may need to give him a flush in the next day or so if the crop is not improving.

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

Thank you so much for your quick reply and advice! I appreciate it so much!
I just gave him some coconut oil and he did gobble up a bunch of it and then I massaged his crop for about 10 minutes. Fingers crossed he starts to improve!
Based on how he ate the coconut oil, he would probably eat if we offered it to him but I will repeat the oil again in about an hour as the article mentioned and see if that helps before offering any food. He did have a bit of fluid come out of his mouth when my husband bent down with him to get a water dish so he is pretty full of fluids already.
I just googled how to do the molasses flush- sounds like he would need to want to drink that or I would need to give him in a dropper? I am really hoping that the coconut oil makes things move and he is going in the right direction soon but will pick up some molasses just in case. Thank you again!

 

[SilkieChickensLove]

Yes, I would give him the coconut oil. Mine like it in hardened chunks, they will gobble it up, hope your boy likes the taste of it.

I would make sure to give the Miconazole 2X a day for 7 days.

Let him drink and eat if he's willing. Hydration, especially is important.

Sometimes a crop or the digestive system (intestines/gizzard, etc.) can have a blockage/partially impacted. This can cause the crop the Sour, so treating as a whole would make sense.

I always give Coconut oil in addition to whatever else, like the Miconazole or Clotrimazole (athlete's foot cream).

It does take time for a crop problem to resolve, depending on what caused the symptom in the first place. You may need to give him a flush in the next day or so if the crop is not improving.

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

Okay so I gave him the coconut oil 2x and he ate it both times so that was good. His crop *may be* a little less distended and squishy so hopefully it is helping but it could be my wishful thinking. I still feel some what is probably seeds in the crop but not a ton of them it is mostly squishy and bigger. I am trying to give him some molasses water which he drank a bit of along with water with nutridrench - and also trying to get him to eat the miconozale again this afternoon. He has not eaten since yesterday morning probably -so feeling like he might need some nutrients or he is just going to get weak? How long is it okay for him to not eat? Would it be okay to give him some raw egg or something like that or will that just back his crop up again since it hasn't drained on its own yet?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I usually let mine eat normal feed or provide wet feed. Bits of cooked egg or if you wish, you can give raw egg if you prefer to do that.

Hopefully the crop will begin to empty soon. He may have a blockage further down.

Is he pooping at all?

 

[SilkieChickensLove]

I usually let mine eat normal feed or provide wet feed. Bits of cooked egg or if you wish, you can give raw egg if you prefer to do that.

Hopefully the crop will begin to empty soon. He may have a blockage further down.

Is he pooping at all?

He is pooping and though it is watery yet - it also now has some darker bits of more solid stuff included in. I am hoping that means that things are moving along at least in some amount and maybe we are going in the right direction. His crop does feel smaller than it did but it is not emptying fully- this morning feels about the same as it the night before. We are offering eggs and yogurt so far- but he doesn't seem too interested in those at the moment -he seems to want the seeds and mealworms mix. I just am not sure if he should have seeds if he isn't fully emptying his crop? He is about over the coconut and miconozale so that is not as easy to get into him this morning but will keep on trying.

 

[SilkieChickensLove]

So latest here is that he seems to be doing okay even though his crop is not emptying fully and is squishy yet. I do think it is a bit smaller but still noticeably squishy and full. He is pooping, he wants to eat- but only the things he wants to eat lol, he is resisting the medicine but I am getting some in his mouth. We gave him a bunch of coconut oil yesterday- he is not happy about it today so finding it harder to get him to eat that too.
He is drinking a bit of water yet, nibbled at some eggs and a few seeds and was out all day with his bachelor flock and seems to be getting around fine. He climbed the porch steps up and down and doing the usual squeaky noises with the boys, chattering and what not but not crowing yet. He is tired and probably not feeling great.
I am hopeful that he is on the mend and the medicine is doing its thing and the crop is just going to take a bit to go down all the way. I am confused on if it is impacted, slow moving or is sour crop- it isn't big and hard it is squishy- so I would think sour crop but also, it doesn't go down overnight or all during the day today even -so does that mean impacted somewhere or is that usual for sour crop as well? He has now had 4 doses of the miconazole so far- hoping it kicks in big time soon.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

When all else fails, syringe the Miconazole into him 2X a day. I've been known to open the beak an put in small pieces of the coconut oil too.

He can have food. Personally, I don't give mine much seeds or scratch weekly, so if I have one with a crop problem, I eliminate these things from the diet until I'm satisfied to issue is resolved. But he may be able to process the seed o.k. Do make sure there is Grit (Crushed Granite) available free choice.


https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...dications-to-all-poultry-and-waterfowl.73335/

 

[SilkieChickensLove]

When all else fails, syringe the Miconazole into him 2X a day. I've been known to open the beak an put in small pieces of the coconut oil too.

He can have food. Personally, I don't give mine much seeds or scratch weekly, so if I have one with a crop problem, I eliminate these things from the diet until I'm satisfied to issue is resolved. But he may be able to process the seed o.k. Do make sure there is Grit (Crushed Granite) available free choice.


https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...dications-to-all-poultry-and-waterfowl.73335/

We will trying to do that today I think since he is so uninterested in it- thank you for the article. I tried to get some of the stool softener recommended in the article you shared into him last night. We probably got about 1/2 the dose in his mouth at least. But his crop is still not going down so I am not sure if I should try that again this morning?
We did put some grit out and he is interested in the seeds but not eating a ton of them or much else really. He is pretty tired when not with his friends- my husband held him for several hours in the middle of the night hoping he would sleep better and it did seem to perk him up a little as he was preening a bit this morning.
His crop is still larger and squishy but it seems like things are somewhat moving at least because it gets smaller overnight to about the roundness size of a tennis ball & squishy. But the minute he drinks anything it is right back up again so I am unsure if it is sour or impacted or both at this point.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I think it may be time to give him an epsom salts flush. I'll tag in @azygous to see what she may suggest.