Hunched up/Drinking lots- Think its SOUR CROP

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elmwood

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Hi,

Our matronly pekin, Lavender, the most buxom and loudest, was sitting in the middle of the grass hunched up after letting them out for the day. She was waiting by the "frozen" drinker, and as I was defrosting it, and scooping up the water dribbles from the slabs, she has continued to drink constantly.

Having seperated her from the others, and giving her "softish" BUT full crop a massage, water along with a couple of spoonfulls of porridge laced with a few mealworms, which she didn't touch.... I have isolated her. Whilst she continued to drink, she is sitting, and her eyes are closed tight.

The last few days, there have been several loose poos, which are extremely watery but didn't know which girl it was? I can't be sure if she laid yesterday, as she was in the nest box with her sister, but then I found her sitting on her sisters egg, which I removed.

We have been so busy remodelling the garden, I wonder if all the change, movement of houses, noise, workmen etc, has caused stress? The whole gang has only just come of a 7-10 course of Tylan, as Lavender and another were showing signs of respiratory problems. I also gave her and two others a once over yesterday, as they all had dirty bottoms. I couldn't find any lice or crawlies, but still gave them a bottom wash, foot wash, and a spray of frontline, to be on the dafe side. Lavender was going to have her bum & foot wash today- as she wasn't too bad. (Thank goodness I didn't add to her woes by doing it yesterday.)

I have got some "Baytril" left from Last August, should I be giving her some or will it be ineffective now?
Any help, advice, ideas would be very welcome please....
 
Hi,

It looks like its "sour crop" having done some searching on the web. Her breath smells sour, as it were, and I have emptied her crop. Lots of liquid came up- along with a few grains. Have syringe 5ml olive oil into her.

Have got some Beryl's friendly bacteria in- should I give her that?
and or live yogurt?
OR let her rest a little while before emptying her crop again if necessary?
 
Hi yes, use the beryls, it could be her sour crop is the result of the antibiotics which kill off the friendly gut flora thus increasing the conditions for bacteria to flourish in the crop and gut, good luck with her! :-)17
Dont use anything else with the beryls though or ACV.
 
Thankyou Foxy,

We have bought her in for the night. She has gone down bank since this morning. Will give her Beryls tomorrow. After emptying her crop, she hasn't eaten or drunk anything- even though water is next to her beak. Hope she makes it through the night, am very worried about her.......
 
Lavender died this morning...... have lost 2 girls now in the past month, one to dogs and now this......so sad.......
 
Hello, sorry to hear of your loss- it's all part of livestock keeping i am afraid.
You need to be careful emptying birds crops and giving then anything by syringe/tube- sometimes you can do more harm than good, especially if it goes down the trachea and not the oesophagus - birds can drown very quickly if it's not done correctly. You need to be shown by a vet to see how it should be done. Hopefully your other girls will all live long and happy lives.
regards, David :)
 
Hi Elmwood, I'm so sorry about poor Lavender, especially after what happened to Buttercup. :( Just keep in mind that you give your girls such a lovely life but unfortunately chickens don't seem to be very resilient and can easily die. We have had 2 die since keeping chickens for about a year and a half but hopefully we are both continually learning and can continue to enjoy them for as long as we have them.
 
Aw sorry to hear your sad news again....
You have been really unlucky this past month or so.
It is hard and it is horrible but chooks are quite fragile little creatures really.
But you're a great mum, always remember that and any gal that comes home with you is a very lucky chicken whether they are with you for days. months or years
Chin up my chicken loving friend! x :-)17
 
Sharron, so sorry about Lavender. I've not been able to get to a computer for a while so only just catching up - and about to post my own sad story. I've also seen that Nutmeg hasn't been well either - hope she's ok. You really are not having a happy time recently are you. They give such pleasure, but they are so vulnerable in many ways. I can remember you saying when you first got the hens that the rabbits never gave you as much worry, I've kept cats for years and it's the same with them.

I do hope things look up, and you have a settled time of healthy attack free chicken, I know they'll be happy ones with the way you look after them.
 
I think my pekon is suffering from this too, i've posted about it.
How do you empty the crop? It started out between a golf ball and tennis ball sized hard ball and ive put olive oil down her and massaged it. Its half the size now and maluable... Any advice guys?
 
Hi,

I am sorry about you hen. Since we Lost our Lavender Pekin, we had a similar problem with another hen. I didn't hesitate in taking her to the vets. I wasn't prepared to see her go down bank as rapidly as our other hen. The vets, washed out her crop. Apparently there was lots of grit......They gave her some Baytril. To be honest she was a different chicken when she came out of the vets, the same night. Cost me £25, inc Baytril, but worth every penny.

As for sour crop, I checked with the vet whether I did in fact help or hinder our hen by empting her crop. It isn't for the inexperienced, and is very unpleasant for both you and the hen. I think our hen, was too far gone for it to make any difference, as the crop kept filling up and was extremely squishy. I would get her to your vets asap to confirm a diagnosis and give some antibiotics for any infection.

Hope this helps.
 
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