- Jul 9, 2008
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This is me 2nd time doing the crop surgery on a bird and I'm so worried I did something wrong- I don't want to put a bird in danger due to my own squeamishness, yet I don't want to put her through "too much" all at once. Ok- from the beginning:
Our Barred Rock is about 1.5yrs old-- our best layer with a steady 1-egg-per-day.... even through winter. And she's big- or has always been healthy. They are housed in a coop w/ straw deep litter and allowed to range a few to several hours each day.
A few weeks ago, we noticed her crop was big- so we started doing oil & massage. It would go down, so we weren't even sure if it was impacted or not... at first (even been through this before with other hens).
But then it seemed... pendulous & soft & "fizzy" or fluid-filled. Fungal infection? We separated her-- did an Epsom Salt flush-- followed by molasses water & then Copper Sulfate w/ cider vinegar & cranberry juice & soft food for 5 days. The last 3 days we added antibiotic since she didn't seem to be getting better & the day before yesterday we "flushed" her crop with baking soda & water to see if we could further loosen the impaction & get it to come out on her own (oil massage & all).
But no, there was a hard mass of something... and it wasn't coming out. We let her rest, gave her soft scrambled eggs the next day (she was STARVING) and got ready to do the surgery that night (last night).
The surgery went well- I'm confident we got it all out (and yup- there was a lot), we had a small-ish incision (about .8" long), and we closed the skin w/ steri-strips-- bandaged & put her to sleep in a cozy corner of the house last night (around midnight). We woke up this morning & she'd managed to pick her bandage off & started pecking at her wound (got the steri-strips off- it was OPEN!)
In the midst of getting the kids ready for school, I quickly tried to assess & do quick "repairs." The wound had actually started "drying"-- the exposed crop seemed to be dry. I used tweezers to quickly try to pull the skin away from the crop- flush with water/iodine to moisten & re-seal with steri-strips & do a VERY THOROUGH wrapping job with bandage (over & under the wings with tape going all the way around).
We quickly gave her antibiotics & copper sulfate in a dish of water & we all had to leave for school/work. I'm worried about adhesions. I'm worried that it won't heal properly-- yet I'm worried about totally traumatizing her... especially since she's been on antibiotics/fungal meds & limitted nutrients for so long. I feel like she needs to build up her strength a little... yet I wdon't want to wait so long as to jeopardize her further.
Any advice/ideas?
She was droopy this morning-- is alert & quiet this afternoon after a little rest & water.
She has pooped twice since the surgery- both watery, but she really hasn't had much else to eat (cuz we aren't giving her anything until tomorrow)... no traces of blood.
THANKS for ANY and all advice /suggestions!
Sincerely,
Lenore
Our Barred Rock is about 1.5yrs old-- our best layer with a steady 1-egg-per-day.... even through winter. And she's big- or has always been healthy. They are housed in a coop w/ straw deep litter and allowed to range a few to several hours each day.
A few weeks ago, we noticed her crop was big- so we started doing oil & massage. It would go down, so we weren't even sure if it was impacted or not... at first (even been through this before with other hens).
But then it seemed... pendulous & soft & "fizzy" or fluid-filled. Fungal infection? We separated her-- did an Epsom Salt flush-- followed by molasses water & then Copper Sulfate w/ cider vinegar & cranberry juice & soft food for 5 days. The last 3 days we added antibiotic since she didn't seem to be getting better & the day before yesterday we "flushed" her crop with baking soda & water to see if we could further loosen the impaction & get it to come out on her own (oil massage & all).
But no, there was a hard mass of something... and it wasn't coming out. We let her rest, gave her soft scrambled eggs the next day (she was STARVING) and got ready to do the surgery that night (last night).
The surgery went well- I'm confident we got it all out (and yup- there was a lot), we had a small-ish incision (about .8" long), and we closed the skin w/ steri-strips-- bandaged & put her to sleep in a cozy corner of the house last night (around midnight). We woke up this morning & she'd managed to pick her bandage off & started pecking at her wound (got the steri-strips off- it was OPEN!)
In the midst of getting the kids ready for school, I quickly tried to assess & do quick "repairs." The wound had actually started "drying"-- the exposed crop seemed to be dry. I used tweezers to quickly try to pull the skin away from the crop- flush with water/iodine to moisten & re-seal with steri-strips & do a VERY THOROUGH wrapping job with bandage (over & under the wings with tape going all the way around).
We quickly gave her antibiotics & copper sulfate in a dish of water & we all had to leave for school/work. I'm worried about adhesions. I'm worried that it won't heal properly-- yet I'm worried about totally traumatizing her... especially since she's been on antibiotics/fungal meds & limitted nutrients for so long. I feel like she needs to build up her strength a little... yet I wdon't want to wait so long as to jeopardize her further.
Any advice/ideas?
She was droopy this morning-- is alert & quiet this afternoon after a little rest & water.
She has pooped twice since the surgery- both watery, but she really hasn't had much else to eat (cuz we aren't giving her anything until tomorrow)... no traces of blood.
THANKS for ANY and all advice /suggestions!
Sincerely,
Lenore
