[lucylou]

Hi! my araucana, Sissy has an enlarged and squashy crop which has not gone down very much in the morning.  She is eating and drinking and acting normal apart from now she stretches her neck up fairly often as if trying to swallow something that wont go down. Her poos are normal.  Ive looked up the stickies and this seems to be the symptoms of sour crop BUT her breath doesnt smell at all bad and nothing comes out when i have turned her to try and make her sick? she is Sissy by name and nature and  the neighbours must have thought something was trying to kill her this morning the amount of fuss she made with me picking her up and examining her - if she is not made to be sick first will antibiotics still work? Does anyone know if terramyclin is used to treat sour crop? many thanks in anticipation, lucyloux

[joyfull]

as far as I am aware sour crop is caused through a fungal infection and therefor an antibiotic will not work. Hopefully somebody who has experience of sour crop will be along to help you (touch wood none of my girls have ever had it).

[joyfull]

just checked in one of my books and yes it is fungal - Candida albicans.

[lucylou]

thanks joyful - but do you think there is anything else it could be or does it sound like sour crop to you?

[oliviamaryb]

Hi,
I had a cockerel who had this exact problem. (Although this is in past tense, I believe he is alive and well!) I did all the things you said, too. I used to catch him and feed him olive oil and massage his crop, but it didn't make any difference. In fact it made him so tame that I often used to have to bat him off my lap. I don't know what it was but, apart from the weird neck-twisting which didn't seem to really bother him anyway, he was perfectly happy.
I had them for  a year but I had to give them away because of the crowing.
So my advice is to not worry.

[joyfull]

thanks joyful - but do you think there is anything else it could be or does it sound like sour crop to you?

not sure as all my books say that sour crop smells, sorry.

[lucylou]

thanks - i will see how she is in the morning!