Sour crop is the kind of panic that turns a perfectly good chicken keeper into a basement-dwelling worrier. LemonyFresh108 did everything right, fasting, ACV, a lonely dog crate overnight, and now Beebe's crop is soft but not full, perky but profoundly annoyed. The question hanging in the air is the same one that haunts every feathered-friend first-aid scenario: *now what?*
Our honest take: you are not out of the woods, but you are standing on the edge of them, squinting into the sunlight. A crop that feels empty and soft is good news, because it means the sour-gunk has moved along instead of fermenting into a bigger problem. The yogurt was a brave call, probiotics can help rebalance the gut flora that went rogue, but we would hold off on the flock reunion for another half-day. Beebe may look perky, but her digestive system just staged a coup, and a coup leaves a mess. Let her stay in that crate for one more morning, offer plain water and a small handful of her regular feed, and see if her crop empties properly before lunch. If it does, she can absolutely rejoin the flock, though we'd keep an eye on her pecking order status, hens are jerks to the weak, and Beebe has been out of the loop for a full day.
What this means for you, reader, is that sour crop is rarely a one-and-done crisis. You treat the immediate blockage, but the underlying cause, a too-rich diet, a swallowed bit of straw, stress, or just a hen who drank too fast, can linger. Watch Beebe's droppings for a day or two. If they look normal and she's eating and drinking without getting a hard or squishy crop again, you're golden. If she relapses, you might need to revisit her diet or consider a longer fast with more aggressive probiotics. The ACV trick works for many, but it is not magic, it just shifts the pH enough to discourage the bad bacteria.
The practical takeaway, and the only one we'd give a friend who asked us about this exact post: trust your hen's behavior more than your thermometer. Beebe is "perky but very unhappy to be in a dog crate." That unhappiness is a good sign, it means she still has fight left. If she were lethargic, puffed up, or glassy-eyed, we would be worried. Since she's just pissed off, give her half a day of quiet observation, then let her back into the sunshine. Just maybe keep her away from the yogurt for a while.