Sour crop

[wolvesarelove]

Squishy crop first thing this morning. Went to massage and stinky water regurgitated. She acts fine. I brought her in, withheld food and water, gave monistat Question?
Massaging 4x a day, Monistat 2x, but how long to with hold water???? She regurgitated it up when I massage….how about food?
Thank you

 

[alinas2010]

Hey sorry to hear about your chicken getting sour crop. I’m not sure about how long to withhold anything, but nothing is mentioned in this article by @azygous about withholding water or feed:

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

This is another good article about crop issues by @TwoCrows, it really doesn’t mention withholding water or feed, either, I don’t think:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...ntion-and-treatments-of-crop-disorders.67194/

I do think some people withhold feed but probably not longer than 1 day. I don’t think I would withhold any water. But maybe one of the two authors will chime in with some advice on that for you. Let me tag some more educators and we’ll see what they think, too. @Eggcessive @Wyorp Rock

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I would follow one of the articles linked previously.

I would provide fluids during waking hours; you risk dehydration by withholding fluids.

Withholding food up to 24hrs, that's your preference. I never withhold food when treating crop problems.

 

[azygous]

I don't withhold food and water when dealing with a crop issue because chickens usually self regulate. They lose their appetites generally when suffering from a yeasty crop. They also tend to lose their desire for eating when they have an impacted crop, but they do tend to drink a lot of water. This helps to flush out the digestive system.

In addition to the above, letting a chicken regulate what they eat and drink with a crop disorder, this helps them keep their digestive tract active.

I don't see any benefit to withholding food and water. There might be one, but I've never seen it.