This is our favorite girl, a little adventurer. When she started to act lethargic with her feathers puffed up, we worried she was egg bound. But a while into worrying about her, we held her upside down (to look at her vent) and a ton of black liquid poured out of her mouth. (😦) That's when we started to think sour crop. We tried feeding her some anti-yeast medicine and yogurt, but she wasn't really into either. It's been several weeks since then and she's acting less lethargic, mostly normal, still eating and drinking—but she still has the sludge.
How can I help her?? It seems like her crop may be empty-ish, and when I massage it, she sounds airy. No more pouring. TIA!!
by teensytinywitch
4 Comments
vet time
Unless they accidentally got into some pepto bismol or they were fed leftover squid ink pasta, sour crop seems like the consensus. There’s no burnt wood or Charcoal in their area, right? For some reasons my chickens liked to peck burnt wood.
Vet is first option. If you are unable to that sounds like sour crop or an impacted crop. Isolate in a warm dark space, 24 hour fast, water always. monistat 7 small dollop mixed with water and syringe feed AFTER the 24 hour fast if she is still a bit sickly. Probiotics, prebiotics and electrolytes will help balance her crop as well. Won’t hurt to throw some b-complex vitamins in there or maybe some rooster booster.
Keep an eye on what she is eating. Long grass can cause in impaction. Moldy food can also cause sour crop and other issues. I am not a vet so take my advice solely as another chicken lover. Vet will be more expensive, but will hopefully give you the answers you need. Hope this helps
I’m no veterinarian but I work with chickens and e.coli symptoms looks very similar