Impacted crop?

[Cluckapalooza]

This is Frankie. Frankie has a relatively hard ball, little bigger than large marble, stuck in her crop. Her poop is green and runny (runny prob because I’ve got her on a liquid diet). She wants to eat and is active but the lump hasn’t cleared out in two days. I could feel pellets stuck in there too but those cleared out after I gave her olive oil yesterday. Been syringe feeding her to keep nutrients going in. The liquids are able to clear the crop but the lump won’t. She does seem to want to sleep more (I would too I suppose, if I wasn’t getting nutrients) Am I looking at surgery?

 

[coach723]

Give her some coconut oil (freeze til firm and give her small bits to swallow, at least a tsp at a time, as much as she'll take) and massage the lump to see if you can break it up. If it will break up then doing this repeatedly until it's all passed may take care of it. This may take some time. If it will not break up and it's a solid mass, then surgery may be the only way to remove it.

 

[Cluckapalooza]

Ok. Did coconut oil and massaged it well. Lump was smaller today and softer. She is eating but it doesn’t seem to be digested. I took her outside and let her forage a bit and she ate some grass. When she pooped, I could see bits of grass in the poop. Should everything work itself out as I clear the lump or is there something else?

 

[coach723]

I would continue to try to break the lump up and see if it will all pass.
Does she have access to grit? How old is she and do you know when she last laid? Have you ever wormed her or had a fecal test done to check for parasites?

 

[Cluckapalooza]

Lump has cleared. Yaayyyy. She is 6 months old. She laid her first egg 4 days ago. The vet tested her poo and said no parasites. Yes, grit and oyster shells available. Her poop was better today. Still a little on the runny side. She is eating but doesn’t fill her crop.

 

[coach723]

It's good that it's cleared, and that parasites were ruled out. Some birds eat a lot and have really full crops, some don't and eat smaller amounts more often. It's also good that she laid, often if there is something going on healthwise, or they are very stressed, they will stop laying. As a brand new layer, sometimes glitches happen until their bodies figure it all out, so that could have contributed as well, maybe the egg was slow moving or she was having a bit of trouble passing it. That can make them feel pretty awful sometimes. I would keep an eye on her, make sure she continues to digest well. Checking crops first thing in the morning before food or water is the best time, it should be empty then. If it's not empty then that can indicate a problem. During the day it will fill and empty as they eat and digest. Hopefully droppings will return to normal. Maybe she ate something that upset the apple cart and it will pass now. Sometimes they find a plant that's in season and they gorge on it, that can sometimes cause problems, or changes in droppings.

 

[Cluckapalooza]

It's good that it's cleared, and that parasites were ruled out. Some birds eat a lot and have really full crops, some don't and eat smaller amounts more often. It's also good that she laid, often if there is something going on healthwise, or they are very stressed, they will stop laying. As a brand new layer, sometimes glitches happen until their bodies figure it all out, so that could have contributed as well, maybe the egg was slow moving or she was having a bit of trouble passing it. That can make them feel pretty awful sometimes. I would keep an eye on her, make sure she continues to digest well. Checking crops first thing in the morning before food or water is the best time, it should be empty then. If it's not empty then that can indicate a problem. During the day it will fill and empty as they eat and digest. Hopefully droppings will return to normal. Maybe she ate something that upset the apple cart and it will pass now. Sometimes they find a plant that's in season and they gorge on it, that can sometimes cause problems, or changes in droppings.

Thanks a bunch. Everything seems to be back on track.