sour crop/impacted crop - advice needed

[polo]

HI everyone,

I am still having major problems with one of my hens who is repeatedly getting sour crop because of impaction. I can drain of the sour brown liquid quite easily and get rid of it with oral daktarin but as soon as the water balloon squishy feeling has gone I can feel a good lump in the crop which is squidgy (just) its perhaps golf ball sized. I think she could have been eating the hemp bedding because these problems only started when i changed the bedding and it feels like it through the skin. The sour crop has occurred twice now because I cant get this compaction clear.

Tonight I have massaged the crop after I syringed in about 10ml of some warmed veg oil but this lump is very reluctant to break up but it is mobile. Last time I tried live maggots and they seemed to help.

Is there anything else I can try? I've read soda bicarb mixture can help but has anyone had success with this?

I realise that she may not be long for this world if she is prone to this. The bedding has to go = back to plain newspaper for a while to see what difference it makes. This hen is one of the ones I rescued = don't know how old she is although she is laying every other day or so.

thanks, Polo

[its hilly]

Polo, do you mean that she keeps getting impacted crop, or that you have never managed to completely clear the lump, and it keeps building back up.
If it is the last then I would try again with the maggots and if they almost but not quite clear the lump then keep her seperate at food times, and keep her on sloppy porridge/layers mash etc giving her oil and a gentle massage of the lump twice a day 'till its gone completely.
And changing the bedding will quickly show if thats what is causing the trouble.
Good luck.

[Suechooks]

Just a couple of thoughts Polo - are you sure its a compaction - could it be a tumour or growth of some sort? Also the longer it goes on the more flaccid the crop becomes and it is more difficult to empty. My vet operated on my young Black Rock with this but although the operation was successful the crop was constantly distended so didn't ever empty properly.
I've used maggots once but there's a school of thought that they really shouldn't be given to laying hens as they are grown on meat.
I had a hen (ex-batt) who had a constantly distended crop and managed ok with just occasional massage over an 18 month period and in fact died of something totally unrelated.
In Katie Thears book she recommends a teaspoon of Epsom salts diluted in a glass of water and syringe 5 ml into bird - thats for sour crop.
Its a difficult condition to manage with variable prognosis so I hope you find a solution for your girl.

[motherhen]

What are you feeding any scraps or cabbage? castor oil can help it pass, or a tiny amount of liquid parafin and warm water. When are you feeling the crop if they are on grass all day it will feel very hard is it still solid in the morning? What are the droppings like?

[polo]

Another development today. The crop is still large and watery today and tonight as I was emptying it a roundworm came up. I worm every 4 months with flubenvet and they are all being wormed as we speak. I'm concerned a roundworm would be in the crop assuming it was a roundworm anyway.

motherhen - they are fed layers, and greens but nothing else. They are not on grass being in a run and thats why I give them some greens everyday. Her droppings are watery, I thought that was because of the soup crop but maybe its a heavy worm load. The crop is water balloon like in the morning until I drain it then I can feel a compacted lump. I'm tempted to try the liquid paraffin

Do you think its OK to increase the worming to every 2 or 3 months?

Sue - I also wondered if it was a growth in there stopping then crop from emptying properly but if so I dont think theres anything I can do. I remember your experience recently with the surgery. Very difficult!

Its Hilly - I dont think I got the lump cleared last time and thats why it reoccurred. She is separate from the others with one friends and I gave her soft layers mash today.

Will keep you posted and thanks for the advice so far
Polo

[RichmondHens]

Are you sure the worm wasn't one she'd eaten? I'm not sure how a roundworm would find its way into the crop from lower down the digestive system - a bird's system is very different from ours. And yes it is fine to worm every two or three months. In fact, I think I've read somewhere recently that with heavy infestations you can worm each month with Flubenvet, ie worm for 7 days, leave for 3 weeks then worm again for 7 days.

If you are set on keeping her because you are very fond of her then I would get a vet's opinion on the crop problem, rather than struggle on by yourself.

[frias]

I don't feel confident enough to deal with sour/impacted crop and leave it to the vet to decide which it is and treatment. Live yogurt seems to help but my last hen was treated successfully with antibiotics.
Re worming. Despite all my efforts with resting the ground, liming, ***** fluid, Stalosan and Diatoms we have a problem with tape worm and I worm monthly with Flubenvet. It did worry me at first that it was too often but I've done it for some time now and the girls seem fine.