Can a vet clean out the crop of a 10 week old bantam?

[susanah]

He's awfully small...he's an OEGB, and I don't want to hurt him trying to do anything
myself. Do you think he's too small for the vet to flush it? Or that he could be hurt
during the process?

 

[GoldenSparrow]

wait, whats wrong with him??

does he have an impacked crop?

 

[susanah]

Maybe partially impacted...we did something stupid...we didn't know any better and pulled some grass for them
to get them to go to the coop. Then the next morning we were feeding our full grown standards some leftover
spaghetti and threw them some too. Crop got really swollen. We have been able to massage it and get it to
go back down, but it does continue to swell up off and on. And my daughter says he smells like rotten milk. We have
put vinegar in the water and given him so yogurt, but I don't want it to go on too long. And sometimes he looks like
he is trying to cough up a hair ball.
So pretty sure sour crop, but maybe still something caught in there. And we feel really guilty cause we caused it.

And just want the poor little guy to feel better.

 

[Squishypuff]

If they have grit, you wouldn't think eating grass and spaghetti would cause issues. I give those things to mine all the time. I wonder if offering grit now (if you weren't before) might help.

 

[tellynpeep]

Quote:
Grit won't help the crop. Grit is used in the gizzard to grind up food. The crop is more of a "storage tank" for the food before it moves to the gizzard.

 

[purpletree23]

If you have a vet who is willing to try I would say to bring him to the vet. Someone on her months ago did crop surgery on a CHICK and everything went just fine. This person did have medical experience though.

 

[heatherindeskies]

free ranging chickens eat grass all the time.... I think the difference may have been loose grass is harder for them to break or snap off into digestable sized bits.....
good luck with the bird.

 

[ginbart]

How long ago did this happen?

 

[susanah]

About 4 days ago. We thought the grass was OK since we see them eat it all the time.
We didn't think about the fact that they bite off little pieces and he ate long strands. Then after
his crop started swelling I read that we shouldn't give them such big strands. And that a lot of pasta
wasn't good for the crop either. Lesson learned.
I may give him another day or two of applesauce and yogurt before doing anything. I wonder if the
vets office would answer any questions over the phone. Our 2+ year olds have never had any problems
so I have never used a vet before.

 

[ginbart]

How is it doing now? I was thinking it's crop may have just been full. Hope it's oK, please let us know.