Post surgery from impacted crop...need advice

[Jmcoe]

for the past two weeks I've been trying everything to deal with sour crop and impacted crop for one of my chickies. Cleared up the sour crop with monistat, yogurt,etc. couldn't get the impaction to break up so finally decided to do the surgery to remove the mess from her crop, which I did yesterday morning. She did great and things seemed to go well. We super glued her crop, and then the skin. Got some glue on nearby feathers which led her to pick to clean it off. The skin opened up so I re glued it and all was well....this morning I noticed some slight swelling, but no redness, pus, etc. she has been eating soft food..scrambled eggs and watered mash. Not drinking much, unless I feed it to her via a dropper..but I'm thinking that could be because I put water in everything she eats. She is pooping, seems active enough and wandering around as much of the house as I'll let her! Preening like crazy! This afternoon, I looked at her wound and it's split open again! I could see a line of what looked like mash just inside, so assume the crop is open. Not red, but does feel quite warm. I've been spraying with vetrycin...a few times throughout the day. She has been preening a lot and I think she's been trying to get the glue off nearby feathers and popped it open. I'm thinking of just leaving it open, removing more feathers so she quits picking (she isn't picking the actual wound, just feathers). Has anyone else dealt with this or something similar? Any advice or suggestions? I know my other chickens have healed up from some pretty nasty wounds without infection. Does this little chickie have a chance? Thanks!

 

[Jmcoe]

Anyone ha e any ideas on what I might do to care for this poor chickie? Thanks!

 

[casportpony]

Anyone ha e any ideas on what I might do to care for this poor chickie? Thanks!

Tube feed. Start with fluids at 9-15 ml per pound, wait 60-90 minutes and repeat if crop is clear or mostly clear, then give fluids one more time in 2-4 hours. Once fluids have been given, tube Kaytee baby bird food at 9-15 ml per pound 2-4 times a day.

You can get Kaytee at Petsmart or Petco.

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

Read this:
http://lafeber.com/vet/tube-feeding-birds/

Watch these:

These are using a crop needle, not a plastic tube.




This one uses a tube like I use​

 

[Jmcoe]

ok. thank you. i ended up with two threads going, and you're responding to both. is this in response to how thin the bird has gotten? She is eating regularly. Just this morning i put regular pellets on top of her watered down ones...thinking i'd move her toward regular food, since she is eating and it is staying in the crop. she loves them, and that's what she gravitates toward with all the options i've offered. are you suggesting tube feeding because she would get more calories than the pellets provide, or did you think she wasn't eating? I'm even wondering if she should be back with the others as a way to be "normal"... i'm wondering if living alone in the laundry room is stressing her and leading to weight loss. I will do tube feeding if i have to, but i wasn't successful with trying to get water down her that way...had to use the eye dropper and that worked. if i have to tube feed, i'll try. thanks.

 

[casportpony]

for the past two weeks I've been trying everything to deal with sour crop and impacted crop for one of my chickies. Cleared up the sour crop with monistat, yogurt,etc. couldn't get the impaction to break up so finally decided to do the surgery to remove the mess from her crop, which I did yesterday morning. She did great and things seemed to go well. We super glued her crop, and then the skin. Got some glue on nearby feathers which led her to pick to clean it off. The skin opened up so I re glued it and all was well....this morning I noticed some slight swelling, but no redness, pus, etc. she has been eating soft food..scrambled eggs and watered mash. Not drinking much, unless I feed it to her via a dropper..but I'm thinking that could be because I put water in everything she eats. She is pooping, seems active enough and wandering around as much of the house as I'll let her! Preening like crazy! This afternoon, I looked at her wound and it's split open again! I could see a line of what looked like mash just inside, so assume the crop is open. Not red, but does feel quite warm. I've been spraying with vetrycin...a few times throughout the day. She has been preening a lot and I think she's been trying to get the glue off nearby feathers and popped it open. I'm thinking of just leaving it open, removing more feathers so she quits picking (she isn't picking the actual wound, just feathers). Has anyone else dealt with this or something similar? Any advice or suggestions? I know my other chickens have healed up from some pretty nasty wounds without infection. Does this little chickie have a chance? Thanks!

I suggest tube feeding because of your dropper comment. She also needs more protein than what's in eggs and lay pellets/crumbles.

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

You really need a scale. Get a baseline weight ASAP, then one really should tube if they are still loosing weight. Knowing how much she weighs is so important because it allows you to calculate if she's getting enough water. Ideally she should consume no less than 25 ml per pound per day, but something like 50 ml per pound is what I usually shoot for.

-Kathy