Advice Needed - Treat for Impacted Crop?

[casportpony]

Everyone should keep in mind that you have 3-5 days if they aren't drinking enough. What's enough? For a hen that's laying eggs I think it's about 70 ml per pound.

-Kathy

 

[tarahharlin]

I would be concerned that she's not drinking enough water. Call your vet and ask him about tubing fluids.

-Kathy

I will call him and ask. If I do need to tube feed, do you know where I can get the tubing? I probably won't be able to get it from the vet I took her to, since it's a bit of a drive. I ended up taking the day off to take her there. I could try and call another vet closer to us, but not sure how willing they'd be to sell me tubing without taking her in to see them. How do I know whether, or not she's getting enough water?

 

[tarahharlin]

FWIW, I treat these types of impactions with water. Here, watch these videos:

Crop feeding videos

These are using a crop needle, not a plastic tube.




This one uses a tube like I use
​

-Kathy

Thanks! I will watch them when I get home from work. They are blocked here at work. lol

 

[casportpony]

If you can't get a tube from a vet. just get 16" of aquarium airline from a pet store and a 60 ml syringe. The edges if it will be sharp, so you will have to modify it with a lighter before you use it.

-Kathy

 

[tarahharlin]

If you can't get a tube from a vet. just get 16" of aquarium airline from a pet store and a 60 ml syringe. The edges if it will be sharp, so you will have to modify it with a lighter before you use it.

-Kathy

If I can get the tubing, what size would I need? I apologize if it mentions it in the videos, but I can't watch them here at work and would like to call around to see if I can get my hands on some and pick up on my way home.

 

[casportpony]

Quote: Tube from vet would be a size 14 to 22 french.

-Kathy

 

[tarahharlin]

Okay, here's an update:

I gave her one plain/stimulant-free dulcolax when I got home from work, along with some watermelon. Today, when I checked on her, her crop feels basically normal and she had a fair amount of poop under the roost this morning. That is the most normal poop and normal amount that I've seen since Sunday evening, so that is good. I was so happy to see that. Her energy seems great and she is back to picking on the girl below her. She is eating her layer food and drinking fine. I gave her one this morning also. If her crops feels fine this evening, should I give another, or just call it good with the two pills?

While giving her the dulcolax last night, we had a scare and I think some went down the wrong tube. I'm embarrassed to even say that. We have fed them orally before. Not sure what happened. She was very feisty and thrashing around a lot and as my husband squirted some into her mouth, she fought and started to jerk her head, so I think the syringe moved a bit, or something. It was the scariest thing. She just stood still for a moment and had this look in her eyes of not being able to breath. It was the look like when you are choking. I can't get that out of my head. Luckily, she seemed fine afterwards, so of course all night, I'm worried whether, or not she'll be there in the morning. Well, she is and seems completely just fine, so hopefully that continues. I have read that if some gets in there, that they can get an infection. Is that correct? She currently is taking that antibiotic, so I'm hoping that if that did happen, her medicine would take care of it. I did leave a message for the vet to call me yesterday in regards to tubing water to her, but he didn't get back to me, so hopefully today he will and I will let him know what happened.

I'm going to look for some actual catheter tubing online and get that ordered to have on hand in case of any other future emergencies. I hate that feeling of not having what I need when I need it.

@casportpony Thanks for the videos. I have watched them and saved them and hope that I could do this when needed. I have to admit that I'm scared of messing up, especially after what just happened.

Thank you both so much for your help and advice!! I hope this it and she's better.

 

[tarahharlin]

Can you post a picture of her poop?

-Kathy

Sorry, this might not be the greatest picture, but here is her poop this morning that was under the roost. This is the most she has gone in the past few days and the most normal it has looked.

 

[TwoCrows]

It may take a day or two for her poop to get back to normal. Any time food lingers in the tract from the crop to the vent, bacteria do build up and can cause loose stools. If you have any probiotics, even human is fine, put some in your flocks water for a couple of days. This is always a good practice anyway on a regular basis to keep the tract and immune system pumped up. Even some plain yogurt on a spoon will help.

But that is GREAT! I would keep her from any hard foods for a couple of days too to allow things to stabilize and return to it's normal state and for her to again ingest some gizzard stones.

Check her crop for a few days each morning too to keep tabs on it as well.

I am so happy for you and her!!

 

[tarahharlin]

It may take a day or two for her poop to get back to normal. Any time food lingers in the tract from the crop to the vent, bacteria do build up and can cause loose stools. If you have any probiotics, even human is fine, put some in your flocks water for a couple of days. This is always a good practice anyway on a regular basis to keep the tract and immune system pumped up. Even some plain yogurt on a spoon will help.

But that is GREAT! I would keep her from any hard foods for a couple of days too to allow things to stabilize and return to it's normal state and for her to again ingest some gizzard stones.

Check her crop for a few days each morning too to keep tabs on it as well.

I am so happy for you and her!!

Thank you! I was so happy when I felt her crop this morning! Do you think I should give her one more dulcolax tonight?

I do have probiotics for them and put it in their water once a week, so I will get some out there today and also keep her off hard foods for a few more days.

Thanks!