Any success with impacted gizzard?

[bramled]

I'm fairly certain I'm dealing with a hen with an impaction or obstruction in her gizzard. Noticed she had diarrhea a week ago. Then last Friday her crop was swollen. Brought her inside and started with giving coconut oil, massage crop. The bulging crop softened and I thought we were home free. Next morning the lump in the crop was back. Continued with coconut oil and added dulcolax with the same results. Her swollen hard crop will soften upon massage and decrease in size only to come back after massaging. Finally added molasses into her water in attempt to get a molasses flush. She had diarrhea (still does) but nothing else has changed. I am suspecting from this that she has a partial blockage further down her digestive tract. Perhaps in her gizzard. Is crop surgery useful at this point? Or is all lost with an obstruction in her gizzard?

 

[nuthatched]

What's the ducolax supposed to do?

 

[coach723]

How old is your hen? Do you know when she last laid? Have you ever wormed her or had a fecal test done to check for internal parasites? Can you post a picture of her droppings?

 

[bramled]

What's the ducolax supposed to do?

Dulcolax is a laxative. It's supposed to help move things along the digestive tract.

 

[bramled]

How old is your hen? Do you know when she last laid? Have you ever wormed her or had a fecal test done to check for internal parasites? Can you post a picture of her droppings?

She's 9 months old. She just started laying around the end of October and then stopped early/mid December. My others have stopped laying as well so I assumed it was due to winter. I have not checked her for parasites or wormed her. I can try to get a picture of her droppings tomorrow. They were really watery with not much substance to them and greenish and clear.

 

[nuthatched]

Dulcolax is a laxative. It's supposed to help move things along the digestive tract.

I know what it is, I was wondering about its use in poultry, I don't think their digestive systems work like ours.

 

[castironkid]

Hey, how did this end up for you? I'm in a very similar situation

 

[bramled]

After consulting with a poultry vet I opted not to do surgery. Her opinion was that at 9 months with an impacted crop and with the enormous size of her crop (softball size), it was not likely to be successful in the long run. Meaning she most likely had pendulous crop to start (which caused the impaction) or would have it post surgery. That would lead to needing to get her a crop bra to prevent future impaction. Committing to a crop bra was more than I wanted to do. She felt that it was not cruel to take her home and let her live her remaining days with her flock, which is what i chose to do. She thought that she probably would not last long in her condition. So to fast forward almost a month later- Chipper is still hanging with her flock. I fed her oatmeal and soft foods for about a week so that she would get nutrition past the blockage. Amazingly the initial impaction did resolve. Though the vet is correct in that she definitely had pendulous crop. Her digestion is still not right. She has diarrhea and doesn’t lay eggs but I’m happy that she’s just still around and hanging with her flock. So I think ultimately what you do is a very personal decision. Some would do surgery and hope to save their pet and commit to lifelong care with a crop bra. Some will cull because the hen is not likely to be productive. I chose to straddle the line and see what happened. If she does at any point appear to be suffering I may consider euthanasia but for now she seems to be quite content. Good luck with your hen!

 

[coach723]

@bramled , glad you were able to have her seen by a vet and get professional advice.
I had a very young pullet that developed a pendulous crop that a crop bra did not help, she was slowly starving to death, growth was becoming stunted compared to hatch mates, so I euthanized her. Only possible abnormality found at necropsy was a narrowing of her esophagus at the proventriculus, kind of a kink, that I had not seen anything like before. Her gizzard and remaining digestive tract were almost completely empty. She was a purchased hatchery chick. I had another hen, much older, that developed pendulous crop and a crop bra did help her, she lived almost another 2 years in it. How much time, effort, and care is always a personal decision, and every bird is different. Causes can vary and crop problems can be some of the most frustrating since we can't really see what's going on inside them.
A couple of good articles that may be helpful:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...ntion-and-treatments-of-crop-disorders.67194/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

 

[castironkid]

@bramled , glad you were able to have her seen by a vet and get professional advice.
I had a very young pullet that developed a pendulous crop that a crop bra did not help, she was slowly starving to death, growth was becoming stunted compared to hatch mates, so I euthanized her. Only possible abnormality found at necropsy was a narrowing of her esophagus at the proventriculus, kind of a kink, that I had not seen anything like before. Her gizzard and remaining digestive tract were almost completely empty. She was a purchased hatchery chick. I had another hen, much older, that developed pendulous crop and a crop bra did help her, she lived almost another 2 years in it. How much time, effort, and care is always a personal decision, and every bird is different. Causes can vary and crop problems can be some of the most frustrating since we can't really see what's going on inside them.
A couple of good articles that may be helpful:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...ntion-and-treatments-of-crop-disorders.67194/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

After a lot of incoming advice today on a few threads, I am making the call to cull. She is not happy and not making progress, and I definitely feel more like a livestock steward than a pet owner with my flock. It's all very personal, but I think this is the best call for her and me.