Dog attack, crop impaction, and respiratory issues

[Sallyhens]

Here is my previous post about Val’s dog attack. The saga continues!

She’s been doing well after having her egg removed. Some feathers are growing back but the worst wounds are still healing and scabbed up. I’ve let her outside a few times in short visits to be a chicken, she seems good.

BUT Val is such a high maintenance bird. I noticed she had stopped eating her laying pellets, but would eat mealworms, grapes, greens, etc. Her behavior and demeanor was pretty normal for being in hospital bin. So two nights ago I added some water to her feed and made a mash. She ate! I was elated.

My mistake was letting her eat as much as she wanted because she hadn’t eaten much in 2 days. Yesterday morning, her crop was still full. She probably ate a 1/2 cup of feed around 5:30pm the night before.

I haven’t dealt with an impacted crop yet. her crop is hard but becomes malleable with massage and water/coconut oil. Then it feels pretty squishy but I imagine that’s because it’s mash. There’s no smell coming from her beak (yet). I have also NOT been giving her grit (I forgot, I’m an idiot) for about 2 weeks.

Yesterday morning I gave her about 1ml olive oil and added another 1ml to her water, and took her food away. I switched to coconut oil, I just add it to her water because she still drinks it. I gently massaged her crop at first, then throughout the day I’d palpate it a little less gently. It basically feels like a balloon filled with sand and water.

Well despite many massages this morning her crop is hard as a rock. I can tell it will soften up again with more oil and massage, but I guess I can’t get it to clear. I’m still withholding food. She is still pooping a little bit, overnight poo seemed very watery, like all she did was empty the water from her crop.

- should I offer her grit at this point? Not sure if that would be counterintuitive.

- how long can this go on before I give up and take her to the vet? (IE I know egg binding gets emergency level after a couple days).

- I’m wondering if I should try to make her vomit. I know there’s some risk for aspiration. I watched a few videos I found linked in some threads here and it seems easy enough.

- how long until this turns into sour crop? Anything I can do to reduce fermentation in the meantime until it clears?

Any other tips are very welcome!

Stay tuned for more high maintenance Val drama on her dog attack healing journey.

 

[Sallyhens]

Anyone?

 

[Sallyhens]

I have a 9 month old barred rock that is putting me through the chicken ailment wringer. A few weeks ago she was attacked by a dog. Long story short, she is healing well. She is the most stubborn bird.

She refused oral antibiotics (for the dog bite) despite many methods and helping hands. She was so hard to handle, and I know she aspirated some of her meds. She had half of her dosage and the vet recommended I stop because dosing her was impossible.

Seemed fine for a while, was eating and drinking. I did notice a little respiratory distress (open mouth breathing, congestion) but it seemed to improve.

3 days ago I noticed she was eating treats (mealworms and grapes), but not her pellets. I made a mash and made the mistake of letting her eat her fill. Next morning, her crop is full.

I start with the coconut oil and massage. She was still drinking water. I’ve been doing that every day. Her crop is a little better, but she still has a golf ball sized lump in her crop in the mornings. She did eat some scrambled egg yesterday. I tried vomiting her but nothing came out and I don’t really feel comfortable with that given her respiratory issues.

Today she doesn’t want scrambled egg or much water. Her comb is more purple than I’m comfortable with.

Another mistake I made was forgetting to give her grit in her hospital bin. I did let her outside and she ate weeds, more treats. I didn’t see her pick up any rocks but she dust bathed for 2 hours, so she may have a bit of sand in her crop.

I am at my wits end. Her temperament has been good, tail up, preening a lot (she gets coconut oil all over her lol). I am continuing oil and massage.

Not sure if I should try stool softener, giving her grit, trying to vomit her again, or anything else that I’m not currently doing. She hasn’t laid an egg since the attack which I assumed would happen and is fine.

She is pooping but it’s very little. Mostly water and urates with a little brown. Her crop feels exactly like a balloon filled with mash, hard in the AM and loosens up well with massage, oil, and water.

I’d really love some advice and help. Vet is obviously an option but financially I can’t right now, I spent about $400 on her during the dog attack saga. If the poo hits the fan (signs of lethargy or symptoms worsen), I will take her, but I’d like to exhaust all of my home-care options first.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'd treat the crop symptoms according to the article below.

The vet had to remove the egg because it was large and cracked and she was having difficulty passing it.

I would have to wonder if she's doesn't have another egg on the way, has laid internally or she's having a hard time expelling another egg.
I'm not sure why she wouldn't resume laying eggs. She would still be ovulating.
Do you feel any bloat or fluid in her abdomen?

I'd give the coconut oil and if she were mine, I'd begin treating as sour and doughy as well. Give a 1 time stool softener and begin treating with an anti-fungal. Continue with the coconut oil. I always use coconut oil regardless. See that she's staying hydrated and eating.

See if this helps.

She can walk around right?

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

 

[Sallyhens]

I'd treat the crop symptoms according to the article below.

The vet had to remove the egg because it was large and cracked and she was having difficulty passing it.

I would have to wonder if she's doesn't have another egg on the way, has laid internally or she's having a hard time expelling another egg.
I'm not sure why she wouldn't resume laying eggs. She would still be ovulating.
Do you feel any bloat or fluid in her abdomen?

I'd give the coconut oil and if she were mine, I'd begin treating as sour and doughy as well. Give a 1 time stool softener and begin treating with an anti-fungal. Continue with the coconut oil. I always use coconut oil regardless. See that she's staying hydrated and eating.

See if this helps.

She can walk around right?

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

She doesn’t have any egg bound symptoms at all.

Her wounds were pretty bad and very close to her vent. She’s healing really well but still favoring her one leg.

No sour crop yet but I’m going to put ACV in her water, hopefully along with the yogurt it will delay/prevent that.

She’s very alert, she does walk around if I take her outside, but she stays in her bin or on the roost.

I’m going to try the stool softener today. This is so frustrating.

 

[kjorgey]

I had a hen who survived a fox attack last year. It was a very long road to recovery, but she recovered. I would say 5 weeks until she was strong enough to reintroduce to her flock, with much difficulty. She had a broken clavicle bone, several puncture wounds and of course shock. I kept her confined in the garage away from stimuli, the outside and noises. It was winter, so I used a heater to ensure she was warm. Her only meal she received was her crumble feed mashed in electrolyte solution, which is what I used for her water as per vet's recommendation. You don't need grit if you are feeding a balanced commercial feed (like Purina Layena). I cared for my hen's wounds twice daily with Vetericyn. She stopped laying because of the stress, which is what her body is supposed to do, just as hens stop laying when molting so she can divert energy into healing. My hen was prescribed antibiotics for the wounds and pain medicine to make her calm and comfortable. The only treats she received were things that could be easily digested (without grit), scrambled egg for protein and wound healing and yogurt for probiotics (very little-1 small tsp a day). I'd lay off the dust baths and going outside so as to not reinfect her wounds. A quiet place to recover is what she needed. It took my hen several weeks ( 4 weeks) until she resumed laying again. Where are you keeping her for recovery? I used an old feed trough. I lined it with puppy training pads and made a place for her to rest at night, as she was not well enough to get up to a roost. I changed the pads frequently to ensure a clean environment. You may want to include a homemade nesting box in your chicken hospital area where you keep her so she does have somewhere to go if she feels the urge to lay. As for the crop issues. Take her food away at night. If her crop is empty in the morning then its working. My vet informed me its not unusual for hens to drink a lot during illness and injury resulting in watery stools. If she has normal stools in the morning, then the plumbing is working. Personally, I'd lay off the suppositories and coconut oil. Perhaps all these unnatural oils your putting in her are upsetting her digestive tract. I know this web site promotes that a lot. In the wild, chickens didn't have access to olive oil, coconut oil or commercial suppositories. My vet told me, if a human can't take it orally, neither should a chicken. I had a hen with what seemed an impacted crop recently due to fibrous material and she swallowed a string. I massaged her crop several times a day. NEVER force her to vomit. That can cause aspiration and my vet scolded me for that. I never used anything other than electrolyte fluids the first 24 hours, massage and a quiet recovery area. I introduced mash feed 24 hours later. After about 72 hours, she passed grit and some leafy green debris in her stool to indicate her crop was working. You need to keep your hen confined so you can monitor her stool and crop and gizzard function. Don't give anything but her normal feed. The oils your putting into her may be upsetting her system. Hopefully she didn't sustain any internal damage to her digestive tract. Black, tarry stools may indicate that. Keep it simple, My vet told me the fewer changes to the chickens routine the better. Of course, there is a time for medicine and emergency measures, but I'm not sure that is the case for you. Let her body do her thing. Good luck.