Crop Surgery Performed - More pics & How To Steps posted - Pg 10

Bumping this post for someone. Thanks

Did one just this morning. I have the worst time with crop stasis when hens are in heavy molt. And it's always the hens, not the roosters, for some reason. Crop surgery before breakfast Think I'll skip that first meal of the day. The first time we did it, the hen seemed to rally, but it was too late. This time, I hope the outcome is better for Nelda, that we got to her in time. She is in very heavy molt, poor thing.

Just had to do another crop surgery so I took pics of all steps. This one was a little different. Husband came in with a hen in his arms and said "feel this". She (her crop) was huge, and hard. It was all the way up her neck and all across her chest. It was hard as a rock. She was gasping for air. To make matters worse it seems as if either the roosters had gotten to her while she was on the ground and/or our dog Scarlett, while rescuing her, had sent her into shock. Scarlett is our GSD and is great with the chickens. When she hears a hen scream she goes running. She will pull the roosters off the hen and sit with her between her legs. Sometimes she carries them back to the coop, very gently, by their head and/or neck (they are not fond of this). But most often she just sits with the hen. Husband said he found Scarlett sitting by this one and picked it up thinking she was dead. She wasn't, but she was bleeding from her nose and eyes and could not lift her head. I thought she was dying and was sure she would. I also thought there might be a possiblity that the crop was so huge and backed up that it was cutting off circulation and air flow. In any event, I opened her up immediately thinking she wouldn't make it another minute if I didn't. I felt there was no time to isolate her all night and see if it was down in the morning. Besides, I've never seen any crop as huge, hard and backed up as high as it was.

Here are the photos - after I dug all the packed in food out:

Here's what came out of her:



A huge, heavy bowl of packed feed and fermented corn. The smell of the fermented corn was awful. Then I realized she was probably drunk since that's how she acted. She actually snored through the surgery. I had to keep picking her up and washing her off because the food just kept coming out of her and I would even hold her head up during the surgery and she acted like she was asleep, she was like a rag doll. No need to wrap her up and cover her head - she was really out of it.


Here's the incision when I first made my cut through the outer layer and into the crop. You can see the food start to bulge out on its own - you'll also see there's virtually no bleeding whatsoever:



Here's the crop after I cleaned it out. I had to make an incision big enough to get my finger in so that I could feel around and dig everything out. It's also important to feel all the way down and into the tube that goes out of the crop and into gizzard. You'll feel the tube and the muscles trying to force your finger down, once you have everything cleaned out.



Here's how I sew up the crop:

First - make a stitch at one end leaving a long piece of string after you tie it off - but don't cut the thread from the needle. Use the long piece to gently pull the crop out of the incision area so that you can sew it up.



Then I make loop d'loops up one side:



And back down the other and tie it off to the piece of string I've been using to hold onto:





Now stitch up the other skin. It's easiest to make simple tie knot stitches - use as many as you need to close all gaps.





Immediately afterwards - The patient calmly sleeping in a kennel in the house afterwards. I do swear she was drunk and is still sleeping it off. I'm hoping she will be better by morning.



I don't think there's any way she ate this much today so I'm thinking at some point she gorged herself and it was impacted and she just kept eating and it kept getting bigger and bigger and then the corn started fermenting.

I hope the pictures and steps help others who have to do this - it's really easy and will save their lives.

Excellent job and fab pics! I'd love to try this....but not on one of my own.

You really open that crop up, don't you? Nelda died a few days after hers. She never would begin drinking or even trying to live. We've done it twice, but the first hen wasn't impacted, just quit working. The feed and yogurt and whatever were just a ball of mush in there. She rallied, but died the next day--she was in heavy molt and very thin already. Nelda's was badly impacted, also in full molt. We have not been successful with our crop issues here, unfortunately. The surgery is not really difficult or bloody, but you have to get them before all their reserves are just gone so they have the strength to recover.

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Hi Cyn - sorry to hear your girl didn't make it. Yes, I do believe you need to get to them before they are too far gone. And, yes, I do open the crop enough to dig everything out and to get my finger in there to feel all around and down into the tube going out of the crop to be sure it's all cleaned out - otherwise, I would have wasted my time and opened them up for nothing. I find that I need about an inch long incision.

Last night's patient is finally coming around. She's eating tomato right now. Her runny poop smells will knock you out. I do believe she was totally intoxicated.

wow- you did a really good job on that!

Thank you for the pics... many people probably think they are gruesom, but as a newbie, I have to say they are very helpful in preparing me and I'm sure many others for what can and eventually may come our way. Still hoping I never have to do this on one of my own but at least I would have somewhere to start having seen it. Thanks again!

I was reading this after doing a search for something else just wanted to let everyone know you can order sutures from Jeffers. Also, many feed stores carry them back in their cow/horse area. Another place to look is army surplus stores I have seen them there in with field surgical equipment. I also just did a search on Amazon and they are there as well.

Hey all! I just returned one of my growing chicks we got from another farm, back to the pens. The girl lost a BIG part of her flock to one nights predation, 22 birds, and is starting over. About 10 weeks, She dumped the 7 we got because of size and bully issues She is aware of. In any event on the third day of House arrest, one of the new Brahmas started to look a bit off, cowering, and droopy looking. I picked her up, and realized she was under weight compared to the others. In feeling her crop, on this small bird, to find if she was eating, there was a Nut sized lump at the bottom of her crop, about the size of a unshelled double peanut. I stuck her in a pet carrier, and she refused to eat, and I had to dunk her beak, to get her to drink. By monring the lump had not moved, and she was very dumpy and lethargic. Very still as I picked her up. I messaged the lump with my Pinched fingers and it moved up toward her mouth, and I tried to get some pushed out, but it broke apart into smaller pieces I could feel. Ok, I thought, what next? I have some small 10cc syringes, so I gave her about 4 cc of Olive oil, and waited. In a coupla hours about mid-day, she was really hang-dog looking and closed eyed, lying down, not wanting to move. I picked her up, and all the material was gone from her now empty crop, but she looked tired and was skin and bones thin. I took a shot glass, about 1.5 oz, and added the tip of a teaspoon of sugar, and mixed it in warm water. She was given this mix, about two fills at a time,(20cc), to drink throughout the day. By night fall, she began drinking on her own, and testing the crumbles. By the third day she was crouched on the Hamster crock bowl, and resting peacefully, and her crop was again mostly full. After six days she is mostly normal, and has been returned to her group, but is sporting a big black mark on her head I put there with a magic marker to Identify her from the rest. She seems a little less active, than the rest, but is wide eyed and running with the best. I think she blocked and just about ran out of reseves, so far so good. We have a habit of feeling the crop on many birds to gauge food availability, and finding the weight of the birds, knowing what feels 'right'. Some of our favorites like the handling and squat down and wait for us to come by and pet or push their backs down. They also follow, and 'advise' with their talk. On these hot days, These adult girls are rooting around the Hostas, and cooling of in the shade and cool earth there. Two yard birds, spotted Sussex.

Just thought you would like to know. No surgery, but I find this link very interesting.