NEED ADVICE: Hen w/Impacted Crop and Soft Eggshell Hanging Out of Vent

[Gresh]

A few days ago, one of my hens began to act lethargic. I checked her out the day before yesterday, and discovered she had an impacted crop. It has not improved in two days and I don't think she's eaten much of anything or drank much of anything.

Additionally, she appears to have a sizeable amount of soft eggshell hanging out of her vent. Should I gently pull it out? Leave it alone? I have scheduled an appointment for her at the chicken vet but the nearest opening is this Friday. Not sure if she can make it that long without professional help...

Need advice with how to handle the impacted crop, and how to take care of this shell. She does not appear to have any eggs in her abdomen (I gently felt around there and felt nothing), but her poop (what little there is) is very liquid-like and clings to her vent feathers and the soft shell.

Thanks!
~Gresh~

 

[Gresh]

After doing a bit of research, I really do think she is eggbound. I read that an impacted crop can actually be the result of being eggbound.

Any suggestions as to how I can help her while I'm waiting to take her to the vet?

 

[Eggcessive]

Pull the egg membrane out of her vent. Put on a disposable glove and insert a finger an jnch or so into the vent where you should feel something hard if there is an egg. The crop can slow down during an illness, but it should feel empty by early morning. If not, give her water or tube feed it, and masage several times a day. Long grasses or large chunks of food can become lodged in the crop, and can rot and cause infection or sour crop. Probiotics are good for crop and digestive problems.

 

[Gresh]

@Eggcessive

Thank you for your advice! I will do that this afternoon.

Would yogurt be considered a good probiotic? Also, if she does get sour crop or some other negative result of rotting food, would an antibiotic from the vet do any good?

 

[Gresh]

Update:

This afternoon, I removed the softened shell hanging from her vent (it came out with some difficulty, and I'm hoping it all came out), massaged the area, and probed with my gloved index finger an inch or so inside her vent to see if there was an egg. Didn't feel anything that felt quite like an egg. Didn't feel any broken shell either. I gave her a warm bath and continued massaging gently. (She enjoyed this very much and was upset when bath time was over).

To help her crop, I massaged it for a few to several minutes, and afterwards gave her some yogurt mixed with a very small amount of food. There appears to be something like hard pebbles in her crop. I am wondering if perhaps she gorged herself on oyster shell and is unable to get it down. I will continue with the massaging of her crop and the yogurt until I take her to the vet. She has a decent appetite, which is good. Still not sure how much she drinks.

Was able to get the vet to move the appointment to this Thursday. Praying she lasts til then.

By the by, she smells terrible around the vent and mouth. I'm assuming that, for the mouth, this is because her crop contents are souring. As for her vent, I can only attribute this to the wet feathers and obvious eggshell.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

 

[Eggcessive]

I haven't much experience with crop problems until this past week with a case of crop impaction and one case of sour crop. Sour crop can be a fungal or a bacterial infection, and can involve the whole GI tract. Some vets with treat with both an antibiotic plus an antifungal drug such as Nystatin or Fluconazole. Plain cultured yogurt has good probiotics, and some use Probios dispersible powder on the water. ACV is sometimes used as well, but some use it while others say not to. Tube feeding fluids after emptying the crop by making the hen vomit if there is brown nasty smelling crop contents. My hen with sour crop finally emptied the nasty stuff, but she is pale and thin, so I don't expect her to make it. I hope your hen holds on until you see the vet.