Sour crop

[kiwichick]

I've had a bad few days with one of my chickens, called Toru. She was off her feed and hadn't laid an egg so I thought it might be pre-moult. Then I noticed a round lump on her. After checking the internet I thought it could be sour crop - I could feel a ball of mash in her crop. So, for the last 3 days I've been syringing olive oil in the morning, and warm water in the afternoon and massaging the crop in a downward direction.
Today her crop is back to normal, she's feeding and has laid an egg. Phew! I was getting quite stressed thinking I was going to lose a chicken. If anyone else experiences this (I understand it's not common) then the above steps should hopefully do the trick.

[MaureenHall]

Well done you !!!!! Not only for diagnosing the problem but also for treating it correctly too Glad the chook's back to normal again. The symptoms sound more like impacted crop rather than sour crop though. Had she had access to long grass?

I think there's some information on treating impacted and sour crop in the "Chicken Health" thread

[kiwichick]

I did give them some weeds the day before. I will be more careful about what goes in their run.

[tlck9]

hi there, yes I had this problem with my omlet recently unfortunately she has to be operated on. However she is still with us, albeit under the weather today, so I'm sure we are not out of the woods yet