Chicken bald back

[JenniElves]

Hi

 

We have a Warwickshire Honeysuckle (about 8 months) who had previously suffered from an impacted crop which then turned sour. We managed to clear this up (so we thought) by separating her with no food and just water for a few days... turned out she'd been eating the sand from their dust bath as her poop was suspiciously sandy following her isolation! Once we were happy with her, we put her back in the coop with the others & she was great for a week until her crop turned sour again.

 

We followed the same procedure and she was back to normal again within the week. We had about three great weeks (she even started to lay again) until we noticed her crop looking very swollen again.

 

I think because we are newbies, we were initially a bit slow to notice the very first time, her crop has stretched a bit, but one morning, when I picked her up to check her (something we do with her anyway as her crop is stretched) she vomited that horrid brown, smelly stuff all over me (she shook her head just to make sure I got a good coating!) So I isolated her straight away, with only water and gradually she got better (I used oregano tonic in her water rather than acv) then started her on a bit of probiotic yogurt with maggots to try and prevent her gorging herself again when she was put back with the others (oh, she's a greedy madam who would probably eat til she exploded if she could!)

 

This was last week & we thought she was ok, however, the last couple of days her crop has, well, blown up for want of a better word, like she's been pumped up with air... I can't feel a lot in her crop, although she has definitely been eating & when I massage her, it's almost like a small bubble of skin pokes through her feathers. She's not too down in herself and the massages seem to help but I'm not sure what is causing this? Her breathe doesn't smell and there is no discharge from her mouth. She is drinking and pooping normally as far as I can see.

 

Has anyone ever had this or heard of this before? I did make a crop bra to see if that helped but the other girls just undid it (another one is under construction which will hopefully be more chicken proof)

Any thoughts our advice would be greatly appreciated.

[JenniElves]

Ok, scratch the above. Just been out to let the girls put for the day and Honeys gone sour. Again. Third time now I think. Have separated her with some plain water and some water with oregano tonic added. Made her sick (which is never pleasant) but really worry about doing this - should I try to clear everything out this way or let nature runs its course?

[Plum]

What about a more aggressive treatment from vet, antifungals or whatever they prescribe. I would think it's going to be a big risk if the crop is stretched but if the underlying organism is attacked it may help

[mollyripkim]

I had a girl with sour crop this year following antibiotics, treated successfully with probiotics from the vet. I also gave her daktarin oral gel, it's a human treatment. As Plum said the underlying imbalance in organisms needs to be treated. In my case the vet said the antibiotics had upset the natural balance. I think people have had success with natural yogurt as well.

Hope you manage to sort it out.