Crop not responding to treatment

[Elsie-Belle]

I have a year old Chocolate Orpington named Goose that has a crop issue that hasn’t responded to some of the suggested treatments. She eats a mix of layer mash and all flock crumbles with grit and oyster shell available.

I noticed her behavior was off on Friday (quieter, isolating, drinking obsessively and not eating much).

Crop check Friday night = water balloon with gravel in it.

Crop check Saturday morning = small bag of gravel. Moved her to hospital pen and started coconut oil and gentle massage several times throughout the day. Gave several doses of stool softener (several hours apart) when oil didn’t produce much change. Offered water and a scrambled egg (might have made a mistake not withholding food?). Very watery diarrhea with green specks. Very full watery crop. Put her back in chicken house to roost in evening.

Crop check Sunday morning = bag of dough with gravely bits. Back in the hospital pen. Gave several doses of “dough buster… lemon juice, cinnamon, cayenne, ginger”. Gave more oil, stool softener and gentle massage. Offered water and another egg. Started dewormer with liquid Safeguard. No sour smell from crop. Lots of diarrhea. Very full watery crop. Put her back to roost with the rest.

Crop check Monday morning = water balloon with gravel. Back to hospital pen. Dewormed again and started Monistat twice daily even though no smell from mouth. Made decision to put her back with the group and let her self regulate food and water (mistake since crop wasn’t really ever empty??).

Fast forward to today. Still doing dewormer and Monistat. No change really except she ACTS like she feels way better. BUT still very full crop and diarrhea; see picture from this morning when I put her back in the hospital pen for a few hours to monitor food and poop. There was a slightly more substantial poop from her this evening with a lot of short pieces of grass which is strange because she hasn’t been on grass for over 4 days! She produced that after an hour in the chicken tractor this evening… don’t think the grass could have gone through her that quick!?

Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance

 

[Elsie-Belle]

As mentioned, flushes are generally syringed/tubed/given to the individual bird all at once.
I would not flush a bird more than 2X since flushes can be dehydrating.

UPDATE: I want to give an update on how Goose is doing. After days, and days, and DAYS of massages, extra syringed water, miconazole, stool softener, molasses and several other crop treatments we were getting nowhere. She had a doughy crop each morning, a large practically overflowing crop at roosting time and super watery diarrhea multiple times through the day and night. I started her on acidified copper sulfate 4 days ago and am relieved to report that her crop and stools are miraculously back to normal!

 

[Elsie-Belle]

Glad to hear she's doing better!
Thank you for the update

Thanks for all the advice and support. Sometimes having chickens can feel like a lonely venture when there’s practically no veterinary help. This site and it’s contributors are vital!!

 

[Elsie-Belle]

Appreciate that! She is a bit more quiet today and not as active as she was yesterday. I am still giving her the feminine yeast cream twice daily as it seems her crop, while full, isn’t impacted. I put a puppy pad under her on the roost last night so I could better see what she is putting out (I use a poop tray with Stall Dry on it to scoop it like a littler box but loose stools can get a little lost). Sorry for all the poop photos but I guess it really is a good gauge of how they are doing. Think the photo shows any improvement?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Still doing dewormer and Monistat

You're on day 5 of Safeguard right? So that should be it for the dewomer.

Give the Monistat for a full 7 days even if she gets better.
She's finally pooping grass and hasn't had any in 4 days, so that tell you that while her crop may not be impacted, she may have a partial blockage in the digestive system somewhere.
I'd give her another stimulant free stool softener, make sure she's got plenty of water and wet mushy feed, see if she's able to pass more material.

If you don't see results in a couple of days or she really goes down and is not able to poop, then you may need to give her a flush.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

 

[FunClucks]

How is your chicken doing now? Bumping for you - I'm not a crop expert.
@Wyorp Rock any ideas?

 

[Lor]

Hopefully the feminine product helps.
I too have a chicken with a crop issue. Trying the things that you have been.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Well, a flush might work that way if she drinks enough of the solution.

Usually you just give it to the individual in a short period of time, this ensures they actually drink it or if needed you tube/syringe the solution into them.

1 teaspoon to 1/4 cup warm water is what you want to give as a flush.

 

[Elsie-Belle]

Well, a flush might work that way if she drinks enough of the solution.

Usually you just give it to the individual in a short period of time, this ensures they actually drink it or if needed you tube/syringe the solution into them.

1 teaspoon to 1/4 cup warm water is what you want to give as a flush.

I followed the instructions found here: bitchinchickens.com/2021/07/22/internal-flushes-for-chickens/ and I decided to offer it to all 4 birds as it seemed like not a bad idea to do once a year or so just to keep everyone “cleaned out” so to speak.

I know my crop hen got a fair amount as she drinks a ton these days. Do you think it’s safe to dose her again with the ratio you are recommending?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

A crop that is doughy, generally will be turning sour, so I agree, treating as such is always a good idea.

See how she does after the flush and if the crop begins to empty.

I never withhold food/water from any bird that I'm treating for a crop problem. Some people do, but I don't.