Do you have to worry about sour crop on an older bird?

[failurebydesign]

I feed alot of fresh food so just wondering if the food can go bad in his crop and if so how do I avoid it? I know baby chicks that are handfeeding have this problem.

[xafsmom]

It's possible, but very uncommon. You find it happening to people who continue to hand-feed their adult birds or if the bird has an underlying issue already. Normally though, even while feeding fresh foods, you won't find this issue popping up.

[failurebydesign]

Does warm food have anything to do with it?
Cause I feed a bean mix, and sweet potato warm he likes to eat warm food.

How would you know if they get it?

[xafsmom]

Nope, warm food doesn't have anything to do with it. What happens is this:

When the digestion slows down in a baby, the contents of the crop remain in the crop. Since babies are fed in such a way - either by parent or human, to hold X amount of food in the crop, that food stays there until it's digested. Well, when the digestion slows, the contents remain and bacteria and fungus begin to grow. Picture it like a loaf of bread, wrapped in the plastic sack, sitting out on a counter for a while in hot weather. It will mold. That's essentially what's happening in the crop.

With an adult, like I said, you can have underlying issues already like PDD... or by filling the crop to full with hand-feeding foods or baby food or whatever. The thing you do not want to do with an adult bird is fill their crops up like they were babies.

If your bird is eating the soft/warm food himself, he isn't going to suck down 30-40 cc's of it and fill himself to bursting. Since he's not, don't worry it.

However, signs to look for? Bulging crop - and possible white plaques on the mouth that don't come off easily. Abnormal breath odor. If for some reason you can see what looks like cottage cheese in the crop (which is difficult when they're older, to see), that's also a sign.

If you're worried regardless, add a few drops of ACV or GSE to the food first.

[failurebydesign]

I'm not worried or thinking he has it, I was just wondering because I've never done fresh food for a bird, I had a quaker on pellets way back when, and now Tiki is on a complete fresh food diet so theres a few worries that goes with it.

Thanks so much for the information I'm sure it wont be a problem for us in that case!

[xafsmom]

My Ekkies are all on about 90% fresh foods, and my other birds - pets, breeders and babes are all on at least 50% fresh and I've never had an adult get a crop disorder. I think you're good! But, it's great to find out the warning signs and such anyway!