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Is this sour crop?

gamermouse

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This little guy was a day overdue from hatching and has been in the care of his mother since Monday. I heard her feeding him all night long but this morning when I looked in his crop appeared like this. Yesterday it appeared exactly as it should with an equal mix of liquids and solids now it seems like it’s full of air. I saw him poop yesterday but now I’m not so sure

I called my usual avian vet office.
vet is out of town
I found a second vet near them
He said he has no experience with sour crop
There are still two eggs in the nest so taking the entire nest box with mom would be tricky.

i bought pedialyte and applesauce as I saw suggested in another thread but wanted further advice before deciding what to do 5FAA380C-A46C-40FF-974E-541B0BBC649B.jpeg
 

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MommyBird

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I have no experience. I don't know what it would look like
You can tag (@) people you wish to ask and also use the search tool upper right for "sour crop" on this site.
seems like there are things to do like crop flushes and using ACV (apple cider vinegar ) dilution.
 

gamermouse

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I have no experience. I don't know what it would look like
You can tag (@) people you wish to ask and also use the search tool upper right for "sour crop" on this site.
seems like there are things to do like crop flushes and using ACV (apple cider vinegar ) dilution.
Thanks! I actually read one of the threads but was worried it may not be sour crop and may just be air. Calling around and trying to find a backup avian vet.
 

Zara

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That is a lot of air in there.

I saw him poop yesterday but now I’m not so sure
Is he pooping now?
Is the crop going down at all?

If he is pooping normally this could be aerophagia. Swallowing nothing. Are the parents eating well? How well are they tending to the little one?

Though if I remember correctly, didn´t you have the hay/straw bedding? I would be looking into yeast infections.
 

gamermouse

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That is a lot of air in there.


Is he pooping now?
Is the crop going down at all?

If he is pooping normally this could be aerophagia. Swallowing nothing. Are the parents eating well? How well are they tending to the little one?

Though if I remember correctly, didn´t you have the hay/straw bedding? I would be looking into yeast infections.
we’re at the vet but she said she isn’t an expert. But this was the only vet I could find.

he is pooping now. His crop went down twice since then and she filled it right back up. When she fed him this time he appeared to aspirate some. He makes sounds and chirps and the usual noises while feeding but he has rapid breathing and his wings are shaking. He’s mobile.

there has been aspen over the straw sinceMonday. Would that make a difference?
I brought the entire box to the vet
 

gamermouse

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As for the parents only the mother is feeding him and she’s eating as well as I can manage. She’s fussy.
She came from a home of only seed almost two years ago and I was able to transition her to pellets and some vegetables.
But when she feeds him sometimes nothing will come up and they just stand there making the sounds.
 

gamermouse

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He’s receiving antibiotics. They don’t have an anti fungal small enough in concentration.
 

gamermouse

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Vet wants to try the antibiotic first and will order anti fungal if needed.
 

Zara

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he is pooping now. His crop went down twice since then and she filled it right back up.
That is good

But when she feeds him sometimes nothing will come up and they just stand there making the sounds.
This is what is causing all that air in the crop. It also happens when inexperienced people handfeed using a syringe too slowly. The baby is gulping and gulping away but only swallowing air.

Is this your birds first clutch? It could be why the hen is not the best at feeding.


we’re at the vet but she said she isn’t an expert
Vet wants to try the antibiotic first
Interesting.
If it were me, I would have just pulled the chick and fed myself because if the hen is feeding like that, the air will always come back until she starts feeding the chick some food properly.
Coparenting (human feeds, hen broods) could work but you would have to monitor them around the clock to feed the baby before she does. It would be quite a lot of work.

there has been aspen over the straw sinceMonday.
Empty the box and then fill it with a good few inches of the aspen. I have a teatowel in a small bowl to place any babies/eggs in while I quickly clean nests, it keeps them warm and safe. Be sure to gently press down the bedding, and make a little dent to put the chick into, near the corner the farthest from the entry hole.
 

gamermouse

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I just remembered to check in here.

I removed them from the box and emptied it and put in fresh aspen a couple hours ago! I put the chick in a tupperware lined with makeup cotton pads LOL. Glad I didn't screw that up. I did not make a lil dent however and I'll rectify that in a moment.

It is her first clutch yes.
TLDR version of events I adopted her from someone who had her 3 years without her ever laying an egg. I was told she was a male Lutino. Noticed her behavior wasn't matching my known male's behavior and discovered she is a female Lutino. She's basically gone 5 years without ever breeding and now is hog crazy about it.

I'm not sure I feel confident enough to feed right now when he's so small but was planning to jump in and co-feed at 2 weeks with a spoon. I'm an insomniac work-from-homer so I can swing it if necessary. Whenever she feeds I go over and monitor now. She's been a lot better and he seems to be recovering well. He's up to 15 grams now when he was 5 just Wednesday and about 9ish yesterday and looks noticeably bigger.

He's also super regular I noticed. It seems every time I look in, he's pooping now. It's a nice medium green, not too pale or dark I think. I tried googling for the expected color because I am a dork.
 
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gamermouse

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I want to add that there's still some labored breathing on occasion. it seems less at some times than others. Possible he's getting over it?
And that the crop still has that bit of visible blood vesseling but it also doesn't look as severe as what photos of sour crop say. (Just like in the photo above but full of food instead of air.)

Without an avian vet able to see us until mine is back in town, what do y'all advise?
 

gamermouse

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And we're back to where we were before. His crop is pretty full and I can't recall exactly when she last fed him. I went to give him his antibiotics but his crop is so full he wouldn't take it.
 

Crazy4parrots

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And we're back to where we were before. His crop is pretty full and I can't recall exactly when she last fed him. I went to give him his antibiotics but his crop is so full he wouldn't take it.
But does it have air?
 

gamermouse

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There's NO air in it. But he's entirely full and looks like he's uncomfortable because of how full he is. She really went overboard.
 

gamermouse

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Update: his crop hasn't emptied yet but he's still pooping so can't be backed up too bad.
He's so full that it's stretched and he can barely lift his head. I caught her trying to feed him again and stopped her.

What should I do?
 

Crazy4parrots

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There's NO air in it. But he's entirely full and looks like he's uncomfortable because of how full he is. She really went overboard.
That sounds more like a stretched crop and slow crop you should let it empty completely over the course of 12 hours and the feed him the right amount of food. Is he the only chick?
I had it with one of the chicks I hand raised he got slow crop. The air slows down the food passing down. Sour crop is common in hand raised chicks but not the ones that are parent raised.
 
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Shezbug

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Update: his crop hasn't emptied yet but he's still pooping so can't be backed up too bad.
He's so full that it's stretched and he can barely lift his head. I caught her trying to feed him again and stopped her.

What should I do?
Zara is not on just now- Ill have a look to see if anyone who is capable of giving you good safe advice is online. In the meantime is there a chance you can call and chat with your vet?
 

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