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[chelsea]

the off balance thing may possibly be an ear infection??

 

Glad to hear she is perking up slightly though.

[hilda-and-evadne]

Daktarin Gel is useful in cases of sour crop. A pea sized blob into the beak 3 -4 times a day.

 

Thank you for mentioning this. Neither of the first two hens I had ever got sour crop but Bécassine (Maran, not yet laying) has a soft crop that has not completely emptied for the last 36 hours or so. She is still alert and still pooing, and her breath doesn't seem to smell yet. This afternoon I picked her up and gently massaged her crop and then gave her a pea-sized blop of Daktarin Gel and then all of them a dish of probiotic yogurt.

 

I'll give her more Daktarin Gel tomorrow x 3 or x 4, if her crop does not empty overnight.

 

If this works, how soon does one start to see results?

[sandyhas3chucks]

Some one today told me maggots were also good for sour crop, but can't see how or why and mine went off the maggots when they needed them most but hey culd be worth a try.

[Chooks Aloud]

She hasn't got sour crop or egg bound (the vet told me this) but she is still wobbly - looks like she's been on the drink and I noticed this morning that her feathers were in the nest so she might be going in a moult.

 

This is exactly how Chico was last year, and we lost her at the beginning of this year.

 

I'm going to worm them again (belts and braces job) then I've covered everything I can think of. Any more suggestions, gladly received.

[hilda-and-evadne]

Some one today told me maggots were also good for sour crop, but can't see how or why and mine went off the maggots when they needed them most but hey culd be worth a try.

 

Looking on the web, maggots seem to be for a blocked (hard) crop.

 

Bécassine is eating and behaving normally this morning, and although her crop still feels like a small water-filled balloon it might have reduced a little. I gave her another blob of Daktarin Gel first thing and am reading up on how to make her "sick" without causing her to choke. Hope I don't need to do that.

[shtw00724]

Hi Rachel.

 

My chook has crop problems too so I'll be keeping an eye on this thread to see how things are going.

 

I might give the maggotts a try anyway once I can get my hands on some this weekend.

 

Good luck

 

Susie

[sandyhas3chucks]

yes I know just how you feel. I hate doing it. Yes I agree the maggots should be blocked but as someone said it thought I would mention it.

If you pick your girl up with your body & hers slightly tilted for loger than you would normally, a rally full sour crop will start spilling out, so right or wrong this is what I did. you dont need to tip them too far for it to empty whilt gently massage crop to beak direction. Once it flows it can be quite a lot and was a shock to me. disgisting smell. watch carefu;ly as soon as she stats drinking back & gently level off and let her get herself together. I was also scared silly and worried at her ;little eyes they went all sort of sharp & wild looking. When the dappy vet did it a tiny bit he did it with her standing up and only about 10 ml came out before he popped in the metronizidol pill. that was the day and th e1st time i did it, midnight as we were there at 5pm and he said he wanted the pill to stay in there to work, which it clearly wasn't and she was kind of drowning in a s our crop, I felt there was no choice. You are doing the daktarin 3 /4 times a day?

I still feel you need to know WHY IT HAS GONE INTO STASIS & TREAT THE REASON FOR THAT.

It really is not a nice way for them yto be dying.

[hilda-and-evadne]

If you pick your girl up with your body & hers slightly tilted for loger than you would normally, a rally full sour crop will start spilling out, so right or wrong this is what I did. you dont need to tip them too far for it to empty whilt gently massage crop to beak direction. Once it flows it can be quite a lot and was a shock to me. disgisting smell. watch carefu;ly as soon as she stats drinking back & gently level off and let her get herself together.

 

I am trying to visualise this. Say I have picked her up and am holding her in the crook of my right arm, with her head towards my right upper arm and my right hand holding her legs. Which way then do I tilt? This evening I tried sort of tipping her backwards and slightly head down but she moved her head to keep it upright. For massaging her crop, I would have to use my left hand and so would have no spare hands to hold her head down.

 

 

You are doing the daktarin 3 /4 times a day?

 

I managed only two doses today, as I had a deadline to meet and in the end could not give her her lunch-time dose. I made the second dose, about half an hour ago, a bit larger than I would have done if I'd been able to give her some at lunch-time. This evening, her crop is not bigger but not smaller either.

 

I still feel you need to know WHY IT HAS GONE INTO STASIS & TREAT THE REASON FOR THAT.

 

"Stasis"? A sour crop is caused by bacteria, and all the fluid is produced by the hen's body trying to deal with the bacteria. (I only read that this morning on t'interweb and am already an "expert"!)

 

It really is not a nice way for them yto be dying.

 

Well, I hope I can prevent that.

[sandyhas3chucks]

OK but I read this

"Sour crop" is a familiar used by many people to describe the phenomenon of delayed crop emptying. Thinking of it as "sour crop", though, can lead you astray as this is not a primary condition. That is to say, there is no "sour crop" bacteria or "sour crop" yeast. The delayed crop emptying comes about because of other reasons, some of which may be:

 

I am afraid I can only explain how I coped And all by accident. I am right handed I pick my girls up to carry them in my right hand. Bum under arm so to speak head looking forward.

Right so if you bend to sit down their head goes lower than their body, try with a cushion you might See what I mean. It was simply doing this that stuff poured out the 1st time.

So to make it happen I just exaggerated the movement whilst very gently massaging from bottom of crop towards beak, with my left hand.

Sorry I HAVE NO IDEA HOW RIGHT THIS IS, it was just the way I found to do it.

 

Honestly though it has been a while now, if the crop is in stasis very little if any food will be getting through and she will be dehydrating and losing weight. getting weak.

Please take her to the vet.

writing about this just has me in floods of tears . She was our very special little girl, always with me wherever I went, new her name, chatted to me constantly. Got her through it once , then lost her breaks my heart.

I will give you the link to the whole article if you want but there is a lot of stuff therre that suggests you do that I and clearly our resident experts think is best left to a VET.

[sandyhas3chucks]

The second step is to call your avian veterinarian if one is available. The vet can do a gram stain to find out if yeast, bacteria, or some other cause causes the crop problem. They should also be able to empty and flush the crop and give medications to treat the primary cause of the problem, in addition to medications to stimulate the crop to empty itself. If no veterinarian is available to you, the next step is to empty and flush the crop yourself. Leaving the old crop contents in the chick’s crop, no matter the cause of the crop slowdown, will allow bacteria and yeast normally present in the environment to multiply in the crop.

Some books recommend turning the chick upside down and "milking" the crop; that is, pressing on it until the contents are expelled. I did this a few times before I learned to empty the crop using a soft rubber catheter and my results weren’t good. Yes, the crop can be emptied this way. No, the chick doesn’t always live through the process. Often, they will aspirate the crop contents and die immediately or within a few hours to a day thereafter.

 

In those cases, you have no choice but to "milk" the crop to empty it. The chick might die, but it will usually be fast. If the unmoving crop contents are left as is, the chick will die a slow death of dehydration and starvation.

in this case crop contents and/or droppings, and placed on a growth medium. Bacteria present will grow into a colony or patch on the growth medium, and various methods are used to identify the specific bacteria and any yeast present. The "plate" is then sectioned and a different antibiotic is applied to different areas. The antibiotic that most inhibits the growth of, and/or kills the harmful bacteria is the one that will be most effective against the bacteria when given to your chick.) Without this test, you don’t know which bacteria are causing the problem, for sure, or which antibiotic will be helpful. Many veterinarians, mine included, will entrust clients they’ve known for a long time and who they trust, with a broad-spectrum antibiotic (such as Baytril) to use in emergency situations.

 

The problem with this, in addition to not knowing if the antibiotic will be effective, is that treatment with antibiotic will sometimes encourage the growth of yeast. For this reason, vets often give Nystatin at the same time they give an antibiotic to unweaned chicks. As agreed with my veterinarian, I will often treat candida infections myself without ever involving her. She knows that I will bring any chicks that don’t improve immediately in to see her.

[hilda-and-evadne]

Well, fingers crossed, two more doses of Daktarin Gel today, and Bécassine is still perky and eating well; and I think that her crop felt less "pulpy" this afternoon when I picked her up and then I gave all the hens a dish of rolled oats and probiotic yogurt, and she had some of that too. If progress continues, I will keep this up until her crop feels normal and then for two days more.

[teee]

Hi guys.. read all the advice in this thread, think one of my girls has the same problem i went out today a bought some Daktarin oral gel, can anyone tell me how much to use, and for how long, also how did you give it? .... thanks

[sandyhas3chucks]

a pea size blob 3 times a day is advisesd on forum. I used a big pea blob as a lot got shook over the room.

[teee]

Thanks for that quick reply .... how many days did you give it for ... or is it till it goes..

a pea size blob 3 times a day is advisesd on forum. I used a big pea blob as a lot got shook over the room.

[sandyhas3chucks]

If it does not seem better after a day, to be honest I would take her to the vet. If you do a searcgh for sour crop ypu will find lots of threads with losads of other advice. no food. strewed apples ACV in the water. Live yogurt. It need s to be realised that it is soour as a RESULT of something. normally a blockage iether end. OR due to antibitics killing off the normal gut flora.

Many HAVE successfully got their girls through it and I reckon as many have lost them.

A good Avian vet is the best thing you can use.

the mod said 2/3 days....

guess depends how poorly they are when you catch it

[teee]

Thanks Sandy for that.... Hilda seems well, eating, drinking and scratching around. i`v given her the first dose of Daktarin tonite, she has had probiotic yogurt, maggots. I also always put a bit of ACV in with there water anyway, so fingers x ..... i`ll see how she is in a couple of days.

Thanks again.

[sandyhas3chucks]

If she changes & gets poorly, please don't wait take her to a good vet, but if eating scratching about, then that has got to be good. check it 1st thing pre any food.

good luck

[teee]

Thanks... will do, we have a very good vet !! have had to use her in the past.

If she changes & gets poorly, please don't wait take her to a good vet, but if eating scratching about, then that has got to be good. check it 1st thing pre any food.

good luck