advice for sour crop (i think)...day 4 now...please help

[nmayhew]

good morning

i have 5 light sussex, which free range in the garden and veg patch when we are out with them; diet is layers mash, odd bit of corn, cheese, raisins as a treat

4 days ago i noticed Poppy was listless, holding head funny (hunched down), and swollen crop area

i followed sour crop advice, and tipped her upside down, and lots of fluid came out from beak; crop felt like water-filled balloon, just like i have read

she came out with other girls, and did scratch a bit, but was still "poorly"

day 2 i repeated process, but much less came out

day 3, nothing

thins morning, fluid, snotty goo like, bits of corn and greenery from veggie patch came up
not too swollen or bloated but i did notice a small gristly lump low down - is this just part of the crop, or should it be smooth all way down front?

her coomb is a deep deep purple colour (other girls' just a nice bright red - they all seem fine)

yesterday i gave them a sardine / ginger / garlic / live yoghurt tonic mixed with grit, but she probably had only a few tiny beakfuls

have put ACV in water, which i now do one week a month (following advice on here of course)

am getting worried now, and not sure what to do

please help

Nick

[Suechooks]

You have to be very careful when you empty the crop that you don't get any of the gunge back into the air sacs as this can cause respiratory infection.
The treatment for sour crop is an antifungal drug (ketoconazole or nystatin)as it is a Candida infection.
Your bird sounds pretty poorly if she has a purple comb - maybe an undelying problem?
If she was mine I'd try live yoghurt today and get her seen by a vet for a proper diagnosis and some antifungal drugs tomorrow.
Hoe she's ok for you

[nmayhew]

Sue, thank you
ok, it will be vets tomorrow i think then
i have some live yoghurt (just had it with my cereal ), but not sure how she is going to eat any of it if i just put it down or mix it with her mash

should i inject a bit into her beak?
i have some teet pipettes handy if need be...

thanks again

Nick

[Suechooks]

Try to encourage her to eat it herself maybe by putting some cooked egg in it? Or maybe a couple of pellets so it becomes a mash. You can put it in the beak but again you need to avoid the airway or you'll give her pneumonia. I usually wrap them in a towel and kneel on the floor with the bird between my knees which gives you both hands free to open the beak and administer whatever! If you're home all day maybe you could try every hour or so.
Good luck. Keep us posted.

[nmayhew]

hi all,

sorry i didn't get round to posting this before, but sadly Poppy didn't make it

did indeed go to the vets next day; he flushed her out via tube w saline, but didn't have any nystatin; he called 2 days later with some, and i took her back for another flush

that afternoon she looked absolutely full of beans and did that run / fly thing that only chickens can do!

the next day she looked a bit off colour and by end of next day when we got back from work, it was clear she had not moved since she got up, and it was the end

another trip to the vet and he agreed

despite morning and afternoon injections of nystatin by me, his view was that the infection had overcome her and prob gone to the liver (or something like that); he said it was not a coincidence that she was the weakling of the bunch (anti biotics last year)

so, she is now scratching in the big flower bed in the sky, where at least she won't have me shooing her on every few minutes...

the other 4 birds are fine, and we are now looking for 2 new Light Sussex...anyone know if the Lamber & Foster poultry auction still going up at Detling??

cheers, and sorry to report bad news

Nick

[elizajay]

Ah that's sad Nick, at least you know you did your best for her. I hope you find your Light Sussex. I know that Michelle of
Home - Maidstone and District Poultry Club has Light Sussex as I bought 3 LS and 3 Wyandotte eggs from her once. (bantams)

I wanted LS hens, but they were cockerels and I still have the Wyandotte hen that hatched. She has just survived her 2nd attack by a ? bird of prey - same injury as before behind her ear and she is on Baytril again. This time I definitely thought she was gone for good, but I collected her from RSPCA West Malling today - they left a notice on a post down the road.