[bob-the-chick]

Hi there all,

I've a 3 yr old hen who's gone downhill over the last two days.

I've isolated her from the other hens and left her with water and mushed up layers pellets. Her crop is filled with fluid. I'd read that I needed to empty her crop so I held her upsidedown and massaged it which brought a bit of fluid out.

The same thing happened earlier on in the year and the above action seemed t fix her up but she's definately not looking good now.

One more thing; her crop has started to turn blue on the edge.

If anybody has anything they can offer by way of advice then I would be very very grateful.

Many thankyou's

Simon

[jhub]

Not an experienced owner (2years) but this is what ive read. Sour crop is associated with a foul smell so check her breath. If it is sour crop you could try feeding her some live yoghurt. Some people recommend using anti fungal drops such as nystatin- many treatments for humans aren't licensed for use in chickens but only because the research hasn't been done.
You may need to empty the crop again but be careful you allow her time to breathe as there's a risk of inhalation pneumonia.
I hope people with more experience will be here to give more advice.
Good luck.

[marygall]

I had a hen with sour crop and lots of fluid came out when she was held upside down. I also tried the live yoghourt but sadly, it didn't work in the end.
I think if it happened again, I would give the hen two days and then humanely dispatch both for the hen's sake and for my own.
I really hope your hen pulls through and proves me wrong.
Best of luck

[bob-the-chick]

Thank you. I've emptied her crop and fed her 20mls of live yoghurt. She actually seems a littler perkier this morning... Although what came out from her absolutely stank!

Is there anything that I could feed her - she's got some mushed up layers pellets mixed with water which has made a paste. Any other suggestions?

Also, should she be kept away form the other hens? She currently is but seems a little lonely out in her pen on her own ;-(

Thanks again

[bantam novice]

If she is still a little down you could put another chook in with her to keep her company but watch for bullying.  Is there a particular hen that she went round with a great deal?

[bob-the-chick]

So sour crop isn't catching as such then? (sorry for the dumb question)

[kegs]

This should help (the bit you need is right at the bottom of the page) ....

http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=4345.0

[mr.mellow]

I had a hen with sour crop, I held her upside down and emptied her crop which was full of very smelly fluid. I repeated this about 1 hour later and only a small amount came out I then let her wander about the garden alone, after half an hour she started scratching about, then 2 hours later she was OK.   

[bob-the-chick]

Hi All,

Thank you all for your help. I can report back that emptying her crop and feedign her live yoghurt seems to have done the trick. She's much better now and happily scratching around with the rest.

Thanks again

Simon

[Prod]

Daft question... but do you use a syringe to feed her the yoghurt  if not how???

[bob-the-chick]

I did. I used a feedign syringe and she wasn't completely happy about it. I syringed yoghurt towards the back of her mouth and let her swallow managing to get about 20ml in.

[Blobbs]

What causes sour crop, please?

[Prod]

Thanks... and by live yoghurt  do you just mean ordinary plain yoghurt that you buy at the shops??   

[joyfull]

sour crop is usually a fungal infection.
full details can be found here  .

Live yoghurt is shop yoghurt that is live and has pro or pre biotics in it. It should say on the tub that it has live cultures in it 

[Blobbs]

Ok. Thankyou. So much to learn!