Can you feed anything to a hen with an impacted crop?

[Rhyara]

We rescued a few hens a while back and have been fixing a myriad of problems. We recently realized one of the polish hens has an impacted crop. We isolated her and gave her olive oil and water yesterday and a few massages.
Her crop was hard and solid in the morning, after a massage and the oil it was like pudding in a waterballoon. She had 2 small solid poops last night and it was such a relief, but she still has a hard crop this morning so we're hoping another round will do it.

My concern is she was probably like this when we got her as her poops have been mostly watery since we got her (treated for a horrible case of leg mites, parasites, coccidiosis) we thought it was all the drama and couldn't really have the advantage of "watching for changes" in weight and behavior because they were a mess when we got them. But she was eating. Especially treats like cucumbers and scratch grains. Drinking a lot.

Anyway, I think she's pretty starved by now (she's acting more lethargic today, she's usually a fighter and has given up when being scooped) and want to give her something, anything she can digest. Scrambled eggs? Yogurt? Would anything get through to give her some strength? I'm feeling pretty desperate for her and we don't have vets that will treat chickens. Thank you.

This is her:

Eta: she also has this goofy toe, wondering if there's anything we could/should do about it, it looks painful

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I wouldn't worry with the toe.

Address the crop issue.

Yes, you can feed her. Normal feed that is made into a wet mash would be good. Scrambled egg is o.k. Cut out the grains, scratch, greens, etc. until you have the crop problem resolved.

Has she been dewormed? If so, what did you use and the dose?

Make sure she has access to fresh water. Coconut oil and massages will help break up the contents of an impacted crop. You can give 1 stool softener a day for a couple of days which may be helpful as well.
Sometimes a flush may be needed. Molasses flush or an epsom salts flush, but these should only be done after you have worked on her for a few days. Crop problems take time to treat.

Read the article and comments https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

 

[Rhyara]

I wouldn't worry with the toe.

Address the crop issue.

Yes, you can feed her. Normal feed that is made into a wet mash would be good. Scrambled egg is o.k. Cut out the grains, scratch, greens, etc. until you have the crop problem resolved.

Has she been dewormed? If so, what did you use and the dose?

Make sure she has access to fresh water. Coconut oil and massages will help break up the contents of an impacted crop. You can give 1 stool softener a day for a couple of days which may be helpful as well.
Sometimes a flush may be needed. Molasses flush or an epsom salts flush, but these should only be done after you have worked on her for a few days. Crop problems take time to treat.

Read the article and comments https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

Thank you for responding ❤

We treated them with pour on ivermectin, husband can't recall the exact dose, probably close to 1ml? Just one treatment at the base of the back of her neck.

We'll make her some egg and wet crumbles then, thank you. She's usually such a fighter and just gave in no problem today, that made me so worried.

She's been moved inside so she can be nice and warm, been drinking a lot and is just kindof just hunched over the waterer.

We'll keep at it as long as we need to, will need to pick up some molasses for our emergency kit.

 

[Rhyara]

Just noticed her wattle has shriveled up a good amount, a little purple. Is that normal after being denied food for a day? I'm worried her crop issue is a symptom of something much worse...

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Pour On dose is 0.09ml per pound of weight applied to the base of the neck along the spine. Repeat in 10 days.

Ivermectin is effective against mite infestations and may still help with roundworms. If she had lice then it's best to use a Permethrin based poultry dust or spray. Treat birds and housing in 5-7 day intervals.

For deworming, using an anthelmintic like Fenbendazole (Safegaurd) or Albendazole (Valabazen) would be more effective and treat most worms that poultry can have except for Tapeworms.

Fenbendazole dose is 0.23ml per pound of weight given orally once a day for 5 days in a row.

Albendazole dose is 0.08ml per pound of weight given orally once, then repeated in 10 days.

How old is she? If she's in lay, then I'd give her 1 Calcium Citrate with D3 daily for a few days. She may be having some issues with expelling an egg.

Let her drink, she's trying to clear the crop, just take care handling her, sometimes if the crop is full of liquid and pressed the contents can spill back up and they can choke.

Photos of the wattles and her poop?

 

[Rhyara]

Pour On dose is 0.09ml per pound of weight applied to the base of the neck along the spine. Repeat in 10 days.

Ivermectin is effective against mite infestations and may still help with roundworms. If she had lice then it's best to use a Permethrin based poultry dust or spray. Treat birds and housing in 5-7 day intervals.

For deworming, using an anthelmintic like Fenbendazole (Safegaurd) or Albendazole (Valabazen) would be more effective and treat most worms that poultry can have except for Tapeworms.

Fenbendazole dose is 0.23ml per pound of weight given orally once a day for 5 days in a row.

Albendazole dose is 0.08ml per pound of weight given orally once, then repeated in 10 days.

How old is she? If she's in lay, then I'd give her 1 Calcium Citrate with D3 daily for a few days. She may be having some issues with expelling an egg.

Let her drink, she's trying to clear the crop, just take care handling her, sometimes if the crop is full of liquid and pressed the contents can spill back up and they can choke.

Photos of the wattles and her poop?

Okay, thank you, we'll hive her better worm treatments once this clears up

Couldn't find any lice or body mites, just the leg ones but we figured we'd treat them just in case. The other polish has some watery poop, but not as bad as this one. The silkies seem to be completely better now.

Previous owners weren't completely sure of her age, at least 1yr they thought, none of the new girls have laid an egg since we rescued them. She was the only one to try, I wasn't there but it my husband caught the other polish trying to eat what looked like just a yolk that she had laid, he took it out. What I saw looked like just yolk in some woodchips. Nothing since then as far as we know.

She ate some scrambled egg and has free access to water. She had one massage today 10 minutes after having olive oil. I felt her crop and it's pretty full of water so I didn't try to massage it anymore.

Her wattles today:

And her poops from last night (she did some of just the white poop today, had her in my lap on a blanket for a bit, that's when it happened)

 

[Wyorp Rock]

She's been eating greens right?

I'd see how the poop looks from overnight in the morning.

Not sure what's going on with her wattle. Sometimes when a hen goes out of lay, their wattles and comb will turn paler and shrink.

 

[Rhyara]

She's been eating greens right?

I'd see how the poop looks from overnight in the morning.

Not sure what's going on with her wattle. Sometimes when a hen goes out of lay, their wattles and comb will turn paler and shrink.

They've all been having skinless cucumbers (they don't like the skin), a little pumpkin, peppers and tomatoes as treats. Otherwise just their crumbles and some scratch grains. I'd give them some grass cut up, but not really since it's gotten cold. I assumed the green was the backed up digestive enzymes getting out, but it could be just her old food.

Sounds good. Hanging out with her in the livingroom so keeping an eye on her movements (physical and bowel) I'll keep you updated with anything solid/not just the white stuff. Thank you for all your help.

 

[Rhyara]

She ended up passing overnight....
She absolutely hated and feared us, so why does it hurt this much?
I should've stayed by her side so she didn't have to go alone.
I was tossing and turning all night thinking about her, its not like I was getting any sleep anyway.
I just wanted her to get some rest. But I could've sat with her in the darkness.
This was our mistake, and we won't make it again.
I'll check in on each of them no matter how long I have to chase them, how much they struggle and scratch me... they will be properly cared for.

We probably shouldn't have gone for such desperate cases... but at least she had better conditions in her final days. And the others are doing well, albeit scared of some of the original birds.
They all slept on the top roost last night. That's what I'll cling to. The start of them all getting along.

I got the safeguard dewormer last night, we'll make sure the rest of the new ones get treated properly.

Her name was Doodle. Because she would run in squiggly patterns to get away from us. She was truly sweet though.

Goodbye, Doodle... Thank you for everything you gave us and taught us.

 

[WIchickMama]

So sorry for your loss, RIP Doodle