Any advice on treating a possible bowel obstruction?

[MrsBrooke]

I hate to hear it didn't work... I had really high hopes.

If it doesn't go away, surgery sounds like the only other option. Super odd that it "holds its shape" like you mentioned earlier. I wonder what on earth she got into?

Small mercy that the liquids are passing through her.

You could try tubing her KayTee baby bird food mixed with water and some Pedialyte to keep her with us while whatever it is passes.

And you are NOT the worst. *I* am the worst.

I have exchanged delicate yet terse words with my MrB over my slow but steady application method.

If you're curious about the surgery, check this out:

It'll give you an idea.

MrsB

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry about your chick's crop. Valbazen can be more difficult to find, but is easier to use. Rural King and Southern States carry it as well as online shops. SafeGuard Liquid Goat wormer won't be in the chicken aisle, but with goat and cattle wormers. I have seen it at TSC, and the 2 other stores above.

 

[AC77]

If I were to check her for an egg again, how far into the vent should/can I go? I went up to the first knuckle of my index finger before and swept my finger all around the first time I checked her. I tried to go further but my finger wouldn't really go in any farther. How far in can I go?

I guess it could be possible she has en egg way further back along her tract somewhere? Just read on someone else's post whose hen died from being eggbound that it was way back there.

As you can see, I think I'm grasping around at this point. I think she is obviously not going to make it because nothing is changing and this obstruction, whether gizzard, intestinal, or egg, is too far inside her for me to get to with all the methods I have tried. I wonder how long she can last like this - it has been about three weeks and she is very light. I do not want her to go through bad suffering. I am spending a lot of time with her so she knows she is loved. I could syringe her some liquid Kaytee but that is prolonging the situation without resolving the underlying problem.

I'm still massaging her crop morning and night like a maniac

Eggcessive, did your two chickens you just lost to crop problems suffer very much at the end? How long did they last without eating?

 

[Eggcessive]

You only have to insert the finger 1-2 inches. My chickens basically looked sleepy, and stood around, and didn't eat much for about 3 weeks.They still wanted to be out with the others, though. The one with impacted crop went faster. The hen with sour crop had seemed to improve after I emptied her crop and tube fed her fluids, but then never recovered. I was amazed when I necropsied them, that there was no meat on them at all. If I every see that again, I may just put them down. I guess we hope that they will get better. It helps to do a necropsy just to see what was going on in there. It can give clues to other possible illnesses by looking at the liver, and other organs. Kidney disease or gout will cause a white coating on organs. It helps to take pictures and post them. I'm not very good at what I am seeing, but others who have done many, or normally butcher chickens can tell a lot about pictures.

 

[DWok]

What ended up happening with this? Did your hen heal?

 

[BigBlueHen53]

What ended up happening with this? Did your hen heal?

This thread is from 2016.