A chicken with sour crop has an abnormally large crop.
I had noticed that one of my pullets had this amazingly huge crop and that it didn’t seem to ever go down – even overnight. Picking her up and palpating the crop revealed that it was overly spongy and the size of a baseball. She also had horrendous breath. These were all signs that she had sour crop.
The crop is a pocket located on the chicken’s chest that holds food before entering the gizzard where it gets ground up. Chickens like to have a full crop when they go to bed in the evening and then by morning the crop is all emptied out to get refilled again. Sour crop is basically a yeast infection in the crop. A piece of food gets stuck in the crop and the natural yeasts for the surrounding environment starts fermenting that piece of food. As more food enters the crop, the yeast multiplies until the crop just becomes this fermenting vessel. The spongy feeling is from all the trapped carbon dioxide bubbles.
Fortunately, just like with sick chicken, there are natural ways to heal a chicken with sour crop.
Some websites say that you need to empty the crop. I’m hesitant to do this because it can cause the chicken to aspirate if not done correctly and it doesn’t actually help eliminate the yeast since it’s already established in the crop. So instead I just left the food in her crop and worked on attacking the yeast and resulting carbon dioxide instead.
The first thing I did was separate her from the rest of the flock. It’s not contagious so I actually did this mainly because I needed to keep her from eating the grain-based feed which provides more food for the yeast. So into the wire dog crate she went. We kept the crate in the chicken coop so she could at least be around the other chickens.
I put some raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar in her water. The bacteria, acetobacter, that turns alcohol into vinegar, would help balance out her pH. Her food consisted of 2 scrambled eggs with olive oil and plain, whole milk yogurt twice a day. The eggs provided her with protein. The olive oil helps break down the bubbles from the carbon dioxide that the yeast creates. The yogurt helped provide additional protein and carbohydrates. The sugar in dairy, lactose, cannot be fermented by yeast so it doesn’t add onto the problem. In addition the live and active cultures in the yogurt kill and consume the yeast. This works for all yeast infections, just so you know….
We kept her on this diet for 3 days, which was long enough so that her crop was completely emptied in the morning and her breath no longer smelled bad. She’s now happily scratching and pecking with the rest of the flock.
*Disclaimer – I am not a veterinarian and this is just my experience with dealing with sour crop. It worked well for me and for others. Please consult a veterinarian if your bird is very sick.
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We had a hen that used to get a very compacted crop every so often. At the time, our hens got lots of grass and I think this particular hen had a hard time with it. We used to give her a plate of feed (grains & seeds) doused in olive oil. It seemed to help break everything up and aid her in emptying her crop.
Awesome tip. The turning the hen upside down to squeeze it out has always scared the bejeezus out of me. Glad to know of an alternative if we ever come across that problem.
I had a hen die with a huge crop. I didn’t know at the time that there was a treatment for it. Good to know for next Time.
I love these remedy stories! I mean, I’m sorry that your chickens were sick, but it is fascinating to read about treating them with totally natural methods.
I love your blog. I love your stories. We are not raising hens or any barnyard animals (I would be devastated if anything happens to an animal under my care), but I just absolutely love how you have done all this research and know so much stuff!
I just found my hen to have sour crop after much research on line I diagnosed her problem and I did turn her upside down and she puked three times…..I think she ate some greatstuff foam I was using to seal up openings because I had a mink coming and killing my hens! What was I thinking! Alot of the fluid is gone now just seems to be a little sack of it left. I have been giving her olive oil (with a syringe) and I am just about to syringe feed her some yogurt and apple sauce. She has not went poop at all, not drinking and has no appetite…..I really do not want to induce vomiting again although it has not even been 24 hours since I caught this sour crop. I am hoping for some improvement.
Don’t give her applesauce as that can ferment and continue the problem. Stick with yogurt, scrambled egg and olive oil.
I have a 10 day old chick with sour crop, I have isolated her & given her access to apple cider vinegar water – that’s it. I have massaged her ( must of felt good she fell asleep) but no vomiting. What else can I do? I really am worried as these are my first chicks!
You don’t want to induce vomiting or she might aspirate. Give her some scrambled egg, olive oil and plain whole yogurt. Feed her just this with the apple cider vinegar in her water for at least a week.
what is the ratio of apple cider vinegar to water?
(I am posting another comment just to request that I receive an email when there is feedback – I forgot to do it the first time! lol)
This is our first “batch” of hens also. Lilah (our sickie) is the one with the huge crop. We DID induce vomiting about a week ago without issue (I was scared to do it, my boyfriend did, while I stood by nearly hysterical). She seemed fine all week, but as expected the crop has swollen right back up again. We are separating her and putting her on your “diet” today, but I was unsure how much apple cider vinegar to give her. Thanks!
hi everyone,
i have an approx 1 yr old hen who i noticed not following her friends as usual but sitting in the open.she moved with encouragement to a sheltered spoy but stayed there all day and her breathing was heavy.the following day was no better and she had only eatin a dit of plum and a little water so i took her to the vet.diagnosis sour crop…dont know how i had missed noticing that breath!
now on baytril a gluggy antibiotic administered by syringe and lectade in her water which we are also having to syringe.
she aet a couple of pieces of corn and thats it yesterday.
her breathing was so bad this am …all gurgly…that i decided to try the upside down vomit thing…nasty slimey smelly liquid did come out about 2 teaspoons before i chickened out doing it. her breathing was quieter but then after a break we gave her the vet dose and now she is exhausted in her cage.she seems to be getting weaker all the time.
my question is …is the yogurt with active culture worth while if she is on antibiotics or only when they finish?
i also read somewhere that the applecider vinegar was not the standard in your supermarket kind but a special one for horses? if this what you all have been using and if so where do you get it? i live in tasmania australia.
many thanks and wishing you all many happy hen days! henrietta
Henrietta, I would most definitely give her yogurt while on antibiotics and afterwards as it will help take care of the sour crop as well. The apple cider vinegar I use is called Bragg’s and is unfiltered and raw. I usually can find it at health food stores. I know you can also order it online but I’m not sure if they ship internationally. Good luck and let me know how she does!
This worked great! I had a buff orpington with sour crop, and I fed her the egg/yogurt/olive oil combo and shes bouncing back to health!
I am so grateful for this website!
I’m glad it worked for you!
I am also experiencing a pullet with sour crop for the first time. I did induce vomiting and it seemed to help her feel better. I always add ACV to my chicken’s water, but I just got the new youngster yesterday (I’m assuming she came with the issue). I am going to try the other remedies for her. She is a beautiful chicken and I would hate to lose her.
My Australope, Rainbow, seemed to have either a slow crop or sour crop. I never smelled any stench but every other sign seemed to make me believe it was sour crop. The first day after reading a lot I massaged her crop and she spewed a little the first and second time. I was not really trying to make her do this, but it happened anyways. I started her on egg/kefir/olive oil/ACV in her water and crop massages. Thanks to your sight and wisdom she seems to have recovered quite well after 3 days. She is desperate to return to her flock and eat the suet treat she tried before I separated her. Thank you so much for your blog! May God continually bless you and yours.
I’m glad it’s working for you!
I just had all five of my birds get over sour crop! I have one that I suspect has had it for much longer, and I can’t get her to shake it- she’ll clear up- hard crop and no smell, only to have it come right back the next day. I’m going to try this method, and keep her inside on this diet for at least a week-
How much olive oil are you adding to your eggs?
and THANK YOU so much for giving the actual amounts and times that you used- there is so much information out there that just says ‘feed yogurt’ and doesn’t tell you how much and how often and it’s SO frustrating!!
So thank you!
I’d probably give her a tablespoon of oil a day if she’ll eat it.
Thanks for responding so fast! She’s an 18 week old crested polish that I’m starting to think might be a bantam, so I’m going to only give her one egg and keifer and a teaspoon of oil. The poor girl is starving and practically licks the bowl clean when I give her anything!
I hope this clears it up!
I’ve had my 1.5 year old Araucana on the eggs/olive oil/yogurt for four, almost five days and she doesn’t seem to be getting any better. I don’t think she’s eating at all. Today I put her feed in there with olive oil and she hardly touched it. She’s drinking the water with acv but I’m nervous that she’s not eating much. Should I just keep her on this regime, and if so, for how long before I totally freak and call the vet ?
The feeding of eggs/olive oil/yogurt really only works if they are eating. Definitely take her to the vet if she’s not eating.
I have been treating my hen for the last 3 weeks for impacted crop. I finally had to perform crop surgery. Now she has all the symptoms of sour crop and I will follow your advise. My question is she seems to constantly poo water, even bubbles. Her poo seems to be more solid since I emptied her crop but still just leaks water constantly. Is this from the crop being sour or is there something else going on? Thank you
There could very well be something else going on. Could possibly be even parasites which will explode in population due to stress. To be on the safe side you might want to consider taking her to a vet.
I have a problem with my hen also. She is just the age to begin laying eggs and I noticed her crop was pretty large for the last couple days. Her crop is the size of the palm of my hand. It is not hard and is very pliable. It stays large day and night. When I massage it, it feels like the rubber stress balls that people squeeze when they are stressed. At first I could feel small bits of hay or straw and I massaged it for 2 days. It was up high in the chest at first too. Today I noticed it was hanging a lot lower and when I massage it, the stuff inside is smooth and I can’t feel any small debris like I was feeling before. She appears to be eating somewhat and drinks a good bit of water. How can I help this chicken? I have not dealt with this before and feel pretty helpless. She is not soured yet as there is no smell but fear she will be soon if I can’t get her cleaned out. Does your remedy mentioned here work for a situation like this?
It sounds to me like she’s got sour crop even if her breath doesn’t smell yet. Go ahead and starter her on the diet. It won’t hurt her if she doesn’t have sour crop so I would say go ahead and give it a try. Most likely it will help.
Ok, will do! I am hoping it will help soon. Thanks so much!
Hello! I wanted to post a follow up for my hen’s sour crop. It is definitely sour crop and I wanted to get your opinion on her progress if possible. She only ate the scrambled egg with olive oil for about 2 days and then refused it. She eats a small amount of the yogurt but thats about it. The only thing I could get her to eat today was a mash I made out of her crumble feed. The odd thing is, she acts perfectly normal. I have kept her in the barn in a dog crate with water (ACV in it) and her food. She did poop a lot today and some actually looked like it may have contained some of the stuff that may have caused the sour crop. But it looked mostly normal and firm. She is alert and walking around like normal. The swelling is not as large and feels like it contains less fluid than it did before, but when I picked her up tonight to clean the crate she spewed a bunch onto the floor. Then when I set her back down everytime she reached down to eat or drink she spews a bunch more. My question is, is this an improvement or is she worse? If I even slightly massage it, it comes up and she swallows it back down. Could she aspirate on this or will it eventually just all come out on its own? I know a lot of people have said to turn her upside down and squeeze it out, but I am extremely weak-kneed about that and just could not do that for fear of her drowning in it.
I have absolutely no experience with this at all and the internet is just full of a lot of scary, crazy stories and a variety of mixed opinions on how to get rid of it. Your solution has made the most sense but I am having problems getting her to eat this diet. I called every farm animal vet in town and not one would even return my call.
Any advice or opinion you could give would be very much appreciated! Thanks!!
Try just giving her plain scrambled egg and plain yogurt separately. The chicken I had this issue with didn’t want the diet at first either but he got hungry enough eventually that he started gobbling it down. The problem with giving her the mash is that it ferments really easily which will just continue the problem. Can she see her flock from where she’s at? You can also try giving her a buddy to reduce her stress. The diet won’t hurt a healthy chicken so it’s OK to keep them together. The only reason you want to separate her is to keep her out of the regular feed. Having a buddy might also convince her to eat her food because there’s competition for it now. And yeah, I’m not comfortable either with emptying the crop.
The rest of the flock can be seen from the barn door and she is probably 20 yards away from them. I have thought about putting the crate in the chicken run but worry that if it starts to rain or get bad she is not covered and I am at work all day and unable to get to her. I could put another hen in the crate but it would probably be a bit crowded plus there is a concern the healthy chicken will eat the eggs before the sick chicken gets to it.
I will try plain scrambled eggs in the morning with some yogurt on the side and see what happens and keep her off the feed.
Did your chickens vomit like that too?
Thanks again for your help, I do appreciate it!
Is there any way to keep another chicken in the barn at least? Or at least temporarily so that she thinks there is competition and will eat more? My chickens never vomited but it’s not uncommon when they do.
Also remember that anything coming out is bad bacteria and try and let her not to swallow it back up.
Yes, I thought of something I could try. I have a large crate with hardware cloth walls that I used to brood the chicks with and I can put a chicken in that right next to her pen in the barn. They will be separated but still side by side and it won’t take up too much room in the barn. Think that would work?
When I picked her up this morning she did start spewing again, but I tipped her forward a bit and let it come out and then she seemed ok. She did dive into her yogurt this morning so I was happy to see that. Unfortunately I have to work all day so can’t see her progress otherwise until tonight.
Thanks so much for responding and caring. I am sure you know how bad you can feel when they are sick and you’re not sure what to do. It helps me a lot to hear your experiences and extremely helpful tips!
I finally got all of my birds to break the cycle by adding Kefir to their diet- It’s like yogurt with twice as many good bacteria. I live in a large city, so it’s not hard to find, but most grocery stores will carry it for you if you just ask- the Lifeway brand is very common here in the southeast, so it’s probably carried by a large distributor- make sure that your yogurt is high fat (more protein, less processing) and has no flavors or added sugar.
Thanks for another great tip! I will see if I can locate Kefir. Is there a certain amount you use? Can you add it to food or water? (I have never heard of it). She is on organic natural yogurt with 6 active cultures but it is low fat. Think that will make a big difference? Do you give them both Kefir and yougurt?
Kefir is similar to yogurt but more liquid. It’s a fermented dairy product and offers a lot of probiotics. I’m not as familiar with the cultures in it so I can’t say whether those cultures feed on the yeasts that cause sour crop like the yogurt cultures do.
So the yogurt cultures do feed on the yeasts so maybe I don’t need the Kefir? She ate quite a bit more yogurt this morning so I’m hoping that will help. She drinks a lot of the water with ACV and I gave her scrambled eggs too.
Yes, the yogurt cultures work too- Normal Yogurt has 3-5 different types of good bacteria, and Keifer has 10-15, depending on what kind or brand you get.
I usually find it in the yogurt section, or in some stores in the organic and specialty cooler.
I’m not sure about which specific bacteria attack what, but I know my flock improved extremely faster once I changed the yogurt to Keifer. I just poured it over the scrambled eggs. I read about giving some birds the grains you use to start Keifer, and it helped their crops super fast. Since getting my hands on grains was going to take some time (you can order them or call your local heatlh food store and ask if they’ve heard of someone who has them- it’s a bit like passing starter bread yeast to friends.) I just bought some and gave it to them several times a day with their eggs- It’s not as easy for them to scoop up as yogurt, but they love it so they find a way to drink it up whenever I give it to them.
Interesting..I will see if her current yogurt helps or not and if not, I will see if I can locate the Kefir. We do have plenty of health food stores close by that may carry it.
Thanks again for the tips! I sure need them right now!
Hello! Just wanted to post a follow up for my hen. After trying all the conventional treatments mentioned plus several others, my hen was not really showing much improvement. I found a suggestion online to try Monistat3 for the infection since it is basically the same type of yeast infection that women get, and lo and behold after 4 days of treatment my chicken was better!! Its been 4-5 weeks since treatment and her crop now acts perfectly normal and she is a healthy happy chicken! Just wanted to pass this along in case anyone else wanted to give it a try as well.
Thanks for your suggesions!
Merry Christmas!
Thanks for the update! Glad you finally found a cure!
Found this from a google search of “sour crop”, top result, and glad I clicked this was very helpful! Grateful for your sharing and all the comments. Glad to see there is a simple, diet remedy. I have a frizzle that seems to be spry and healthy but the biggest breast, like a big gushy pillow (now I am thinking it must be her crop, I had always thought crops were higher in the throat) so I am going to inspect her a little closer. Thanks!
I am so glad i found your site months ago…it saved one of my australorp pullets. Now i am back because my blue laced red wyendotte, Bertha, is having the same problem. She first had an impacted crop, which i treated right away. Now it has become sour (vile smell!). The problem i am having is that i cannot get her to eat the egg. She simply refuses! I have to use a syringe to get some kefir and oil in her…she does not like me very much right now. I don’t know if she drinking the acv water when i am not there. She has lost no weight. She does move her neck funny a few times after i give her the kefir and oil. she will gobble anything else up she finds though. very frustrating! any suggestions?
Hazel, have you been able to confine her? I find that it’s the only way to make sure she’s drinking and eating only what she’s supposed to be eating. She will eventually eat it since she still has an appetite. Someone else tried and tried but to no avail so they used monistat instead with good luck.
One of my 7 hens has sour crop too. These are my first chickens ever, and they are about 7 months and all laying nicely. My australorp has had this for a good week or so. I have read so much info on the net I am very confused as what to do, lol. I also am VERY hesitant to make her throw up. I am now trying what worked for you.
I have her in a separate little crate and am ‘trying’ to feed her what you recommend. I started this yesterday & she did pretty well but today she won’t hardly eat or drink and paces back and forth carrying on wanting out of the pen. She is very active & still pooping some though. She can sorta see and hear the other hens.
Thank you so much for your excellent info and advice, I am just not sure what to do as I am as stressed as she at this point. : (
Maddie, block her view out of the pen. This will help immensely and get her to settle down. You can also add another hen in with her for company. The other hen can safely eat what she is so that’s not an issue. Oh, and make sure she has a little secluded spot to lay her eggs while she’s in there. A cardboard box or plastic cat carrier will work fine.
Ok. You are so wonderful to take time to try and help us newbies. : )
I will try to find something, but she hasn’t laid an egg since this issue, so idk. :-/
Truly appreciate your time, thank you. I’ll see what happens…
Hi –
I have a chicken with sour crop. After doing some internet research, I have come up with a “treatment plan” which I have been doing for about 4 days. I haven’t seen much, if any improvement. The chicken, Elizabeth, is eating well and is very alert. She and easter egger. She’s currently isolated from the others and I am feeding her the following mixture of things: scrambled eggs, olive oil, flax seed, active yogurt, homemade apple sauce, probiotics, herbal yeast cleanse, oil of garlic, ground up egg shells for grit. Her crop remains full and very waterly feeling…
Janet, the biggest flag I’m seeing is the apple sauce because apples ferment readily, which exacerbates the sour crop problem. I would also eliminate the flax seeds since they are also a grain that could ferment. Everything else looks fine.
Hi –
After reading several other posts, I had come to the same conclusion about removing the apple sauce from her food mixture. I’ll stop with the flax seed too — it’s supposed to be an anti-fungal, but I can see how it could ferment – I’ll take it out of her current diet. I just don’t really see why the liquid doesn’t go away or get reabsorbed or something… but I guess it takes a few days. thanks. When the crop finally empties, will it go back to normal or is it damaged from being too stretched out of shape?
Did you withhold food for 24 hours? That helps with passing the bad bacteria on through her system and clearing everything out. It will also tell you if she might also have a impacted crop as well, as it should be going down at this point.
And I’d second the apple sauce and flax seed removal. Start with egg and keifer for the second 24 hours to let the good bacteria take over without a lot of other stuff in her system.
With one of my chickens I fought it for almost 4 weeks, and I restarted her (with holding food for 24 hours and slowly adding things to her diet.) several times over that period. She came through, though, and is doing great now!
Good LUCK!!
Hi –
I have been working on curing my chicken, Elizabeth’s sour crop. I followed your advice and removed the apple sauce and flax seed from what I was feeding her. And, i withheld food from her for 24 hours. All this has helped tremendously — thank you!! After the 24 hour fast she had a relatively small amount of material in her crop. I decided that it must be “bad stuff” so I vomited her to empty it. The horrendous nasty smell was gone, so I figure I have dealt with the yeast/fungal infection. My question now is that her crop is still distended in the morning, although there isn’t much material in it. I am still feeding her the modified diet of yogurt and eggs and she is still isolated. Will her crop “tighten up” again or is it permanently damaged? And, when should I start re-introducing chicken feed? It’s been about a week since I have been treating her…
thank you,
Janet
Janet,
Somehow I missed your last comment asking about the crop. Yes, it will eventually return to normal. If the smell is gone it’s probably OK to put her back on regular feed. If it comes back you can just put her back on the diet. It should be fine by now though.
Thank you so much for this page, I am following your diet, I did give my hen olive oil by syringe and massage her crop. I could feel all of her grains still in it and she was making some gurgling noises as I was massaging it. Just made her some scrambled eggs and separated her from the other hen. I added the ACV to her water as well. What ratio do you use? Once again thank you so much, it makes me so sad to see her like this!
Do 1 Tbs ACV per gallon of water.