Distended, pendulous, impacted crop - been fighting this for 7 days

[John Sutter123]

I don't want to give up on this girl; please let me know what you guys think.


1) What type of bird, age and weight (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.)

- Golden Laced Wyandotte, 10 months old, approx. 7 lbs. A bit underweight right now since she can't eat much.

2) What is the behavior, exactly?

-Full crop that does not empty overnight. A bit of a bad smell from the beak so also treated with Miconazole in case of yeast/candida overgrowth.

3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?

-Approx. 1 week.

4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?

- No but the other Wyandotte is having constant diarrhea, and one Marans just got over vent gleet.


5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.

-No

6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.

-I believe she keeps eating long grass. The crop feels like there is a ball of yarn in there.

7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.

-She is eating and drinking some but the food and water sometimes overflow & run down her neck. “New Country Organics”, F50 layer feed, 17% crude protein. Extra protein from tuna over past 4 days.

8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.

-Poop is very small but consistent. I should have the results of the Fecal Float ova/parasite (AT-T805) tomorrow.

9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?

-Coconut oil, Miconazole suppositories and massage for first 2 days but no good results. Added Docusate Sodium 100mg on Day 3, plus massage but no good results. Day 4 took to a vet who diagnosed as distended, pendulous, firm crop and gave me meds and tubing & syringes, & meds to administer (please see photos).

-I've been doing the "tubing procedure" the Vet showed me but very little progress. The crop does get softer sometimes but something in there is still very hard and bound up.


10 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet?

-This is what I'm thinking of trying next (please let me know if you agree);

1) Add in Docusate Sodium 100mg with the other meds (Nystatin 100 IU/ml & Trimethoprim-Sulfa48 mg/ml) - Should I break open the Docusate Sodium soft gel and only use half (50mg) of it?

2) Start massaging the crop a little harder to try to break things up - How do I make sure I don't rupture the crop with too much force?

3) Anything else I should try? Maybe add in the coconut oil again?


11) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help.

-Please see attached photos for Vet diagnosis, hardware, etc.

12) Describe the housing/bedding in use

-Coop bedding – pine shavings. Run bedding – Double ground log mulch & sand.

Lastly, I'd like to know if I can still eat the eggs. The Vet said the Trimethoprim-Sulfa48mg/ml makes the eggs bad to eat? Is this really the case; if so, how long do I have to wait to eat her eggs again?

 

[nuthatched]

Have you considered a crop bra? If she us indeed eating grass, ir may need surgically removed.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I would follow the vet's instructions and wait until you get the fecal float to see if deworming is needed.

Often it takes time and patience to resolve crop problems, most cannot to fixed or corrected in just a few short days. Treatment - whatever treatment you decided to use needs to be administered consistently and for the duration stated.

If it's only been a week, then you have more to do.

 

[John Sutter123]

Have you considered a crop bra? If she us indeed eating grass, ir may need surgically removed.

Hi Nuthatched,

Thanks for the ideas. Yes I would consider a crop braw. I've been following the instructions: "Crop Treatment by Azygous" and now am following the vet's instructions. I'm going to keep trying to clear the crop for another 7 days. If that doesn't work, then I'll probably try the bra. I do not plan on doing surgery.

 

[John Sutter123]

I would follow the vet's instructions and wait until you get the fecal float to see if deworming is needed.

Often it takes time and patience to resolve crop problems, most cannot to fixed or corrected in just a few short days. Treatment - whatever treatment you decided to use needs to be administered consistently and for the duration stated.

If it's only been a week, then you have more to do.

Thank you Wyorp Rock.

I sincerely appreciate your advice and encouragement. I won't give up, and will keep doing the tubing/crop feeding of meds, and massage.

 

[John Sutter123]

I want to offer my sincere thanks to all you guys. It took about 3 weeks of crop feeding, massage, meds, etc. but her crop seems to be completely fine now; empty in morning and not sagging. I did buy a crop bra but don't think I'll need to use it at this time. Just wanting to let you all know that I almost gave up on her after one week but because of all your encouragement, I didn't give up and she's better now. I so very much appreciate you guys!!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I want to offer my sincere thanks to all you guys. It took about 3 weeks of crop feeding, massage, meds, etc. but her crop seems to be completely fine now; empty in morning and not sagging. I did buy a crop bra but don't think I'll need to use it at this time. Just wanting to let you all know that I almost gave up on her after one week but because of all your encouragement, I didn't give up and she's better now. I so very much appreciate you guys!!

I'm glad to hear she's doing better!

It's good that the crop is finally empty and not sagging. It can take a good while to treat some of these issues that arise.
You didn't give up and that's what counts! Thank you for the update.