Just performed impacted crop surgery - update post #54: caution!!

[technodoll]

OK Angel seems to be doing well this morning, hard to say as she's broody so just standing in the corner of her wire-bottomed crate, a bit puffed up and still.

The wound is clean, stitches holding, no redness and no signs of infection, her eyes are clear and I don't think she has a fever.

She's not drinking anything though and has no food until later tonight.

But... bad news... I didn't get the problem out of the crop and will have to operate again

The swelling has gone down by half but her crop is still enlarged, rock hard and filled with pebbles. And now, I can feel a mass of tangled grasses at the bottom of the crop which is probably the cause of the obstruction. The incision I had made was too high up and I could not reach that part, I had no idea what I was doing either. However we did get a LOT of stuff out of the crop, which had to be done anyways - my poor sweet girl, she's such a trooper in all of this!

I will let her recuperate from this surgery, once she's back to her normal life (minus hard grains, grit and free-ranging, that's over now) and her would has healed completely, we will operate again to get the rest of the mass out but the incision will be lower to get proper access to the problem.

Sigh :-(

 

[klf73]

Just another question...honestly trying to learn from this...
If you wait too long won't it be bad as she won't be able to eat? or is she able to pass food/drink now?

 

[technodoll]

Quote:
I don't know yet as it's too soon after the surgery and she's not allowed to eat for another 10 hours... she's not interested in drinking any water, either... I don't want to force any liquids down so it's a wait and see situation. She's broody (and silkies are hard to break!!) so in a couple of days we'll be able to assess her health better.

I'm also afraid to stress her system too much with two back-to-back surgeries... her incisions need to heal first, as the 2nd ones won't be in the same place.

Am praying she will eat some soft foods in the next few days and that we'll see some nice poops

Please send your prayers, my little one needs them!

 

[feathersnuggles]

Quote:
The clorhexidrine is a staple at the drugstore, you can find it in the first-aid section or ask the pharmacist. It's a pink liquid in a plastic bottle here, sold under different names depending on the brand.

I used rubbing alcohol to sterilize everything, even the sewing thread which was the plain cotton kind you use for sewing clothes... and the needle was a very small fine one for darning.

The razor blade is the kind you would use for arts and crafts, found at the drugstore and looks like this: http://www.homedepot.ca/wcsstore/HomeDepotCanada/images/catalog/11-515A_rgb_4.jpg

I wish I had a scalpel though, i didn't find the razor blade to be all that sharp

Thanks for the info, Technodoll. I'm bookmarking this for future reference if needed.

ETA: I read your update your Angel. Am sending my best thoughts for her recovery.

 

[technodoll]

feathersnuggles, i posted an update earlier today... she's ok but will need another surgery

i had to share my experience as i got the courage to do it by reading what other people went through, you know?

 

[feathersnuggles]

Yes, I know what you mean and thank you for posting! All my fingers are crossed for Angel, too.

By the way, I've read you shouldn't cut too low on the crop or it will leak after surgery. Here's a link I found about another crop surgery:
http://www.the-coop.org/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=88741

 

[technodoll]

Quote:
yeah, that's why I made the 1/2" cut high on top... but the real obstruction is at the bottom and with such a small incision, I cannot get the debris out from there.

does anyone have any advice on what i should do?

please?

Angel is drinking now, thank goodness... and she made a really nice poop too, even if she hasn't eaten in two days. strange!

 

[ScaredOfShadows]

possibly the removal and the movement of the other junk you removed already helped loosen whats in lower area? And thus some of that got passed and she was able to digest and poop? I would think that makes sense.

Honestly the date of your next attempt at removing the blockage is going to come tonight/tomorrow, and if she is able to pass any new food down her crop...if she can't then your going to have to go in ASAP. also my other worry is with food matter in there, the sour crop is going to get worse and possibly just host bacteria that will leach into the original incision or into her stomach and you'll lose her before you realize anything is up.

If I were you, i'd see how the next 18 hours go and if she isn't passing food or not interested in trying to eat and the blockage is still thick...I would go ahead and just do the second surgery, I would think that was the lesser and better risk honestly...

 

[technodoll]

OK thank you for your reply!

would you suggest re-opening the existing incisions to lessen the trauma?

she's been living with the impaction for months now but it only got super, super bad recently.... if she eats, poops normally and lays eggs with the current impaction should I just leave it alone, or open her up again to remove the blockage in order to prevent another massive impaction down the line?

I will not allow her to free-range on rocky or grassy terrain anymore, only in a small 4 x 8 pen on the short lawn IF she does well with soft foods in a week or so...

 

[klf73]

Quote:
that is kind of what I was getting at, I am just horrible at it. I know nothing of chicken anatomy and have luckily not had this problem but would it help to give an oil of some sort and massage? Like I said, I don't know chicken anatomy but just thinking out loud. I would think you would want the same incision since I doubt is has closed much at all and would be less traumatic than cutting a new opening. Hopefully someone that has a bit of experience will chime in. I would ask for help/suggestions in your title so anyone that might be able to help would see you still need help instead of thinking you resolved it, JMO... Good luck, I hope she recovers