Chicken with torn crop

[Susandodge]

Today we had a hawk attack. The pullet got away somehow but in the process got torn up on her leg, wing and crop. My question is about the crop. It is torn and food comes out. Now I know their crop is like a doggie bag so I assume some food goes straight down her belly and some gets stored? Perhaps if she gets fed just enough to go straight to her belly, without needing to store any, the crop can heal on its own? Has anyone had experience with this?

Thanks much!

 

[MrsBachbach]

If the tear was near the top of the crop it would have a better chance of closing and healing on it's own. With it at the bottom and food leaking, it doesn't sound good. Even the water she drinks will leak out. Food leaking out will prevent it from healing.
I don't even know if stitching with absorable sutures would help. I know in crop surgeries, the cut is always made at the top of the crop so as to allow food and drink to be consumed in very small amounts without risk of it leaking out while healing. You may have to consult a vet on this one.

 

[bobbi-j]

Actually, the crop is where the food is mostly digested. If it were my chicken, I'd put her down. Sometimes the kindest thing for our animals is the hardest thing for us to do.

 

[LedgeWoods]

Let me give you some hope...
Had the same thing happen to one of my pullets in July. Came home just as the hawk had started the attack. Her crop was severed, lost feathers on her right side, but was alert. DD and I separated her from the flock, offered her food and water and waited til morning to see how she was. Well, next morning she was "talking" to us, eating and drinking....BUT the food and water was seemingly coming right out her open crop. The hole was about the size of my pinky fingertip. We covered the wound with bacitracin or triple antibiotic ointment 2-3x daily, bandaged it during the day, kept bandage off at night. SHE IS FULLY HEALED UP NOW. It took about 4-5 weeks for it to heal. We knew she was getting food and water in her system because she continued to poo. I also bought some antibiotics to add to her water to help her along.
I hope this helps! Good luck!

 

[Susandodge]

Thanks to both of you for your replies. I have kept her inside since this occurred feeding her minimal food and water (with aspirin) many times a day. My hope is to give her just enough to sustain but not overfill the crop and have it pour out. (She does continue to poo) The one drooping wing is now back in place and she is as lively as ever. I even took her outside yesterday for some sun and air and she ran to be with her coop mate! Little bugger ditched me. I had to wait until dusk to catch her again and bring her back in, crop totally overloaded and leaking food out. Seems I can't do that again. I have a hard time inspecting her by myself. She's a feisty little pullet. I actually have hope that she will recover. Hardest part is keeping her cooped up separately from the rest when she acts so normal. I will get help from the hubby on next inspection and attempt to get some neosporin on her wounds. Thanks again and thank God for such a resilient animal!!

 

[Susandodge]

Oops! I just noticed I had gotten 3 replies! I didn't mean to leave anyone out. Thanks for all the replies. Putting her down was initially my thought but just knowing how resilient they are made me want to wait. We still aren't in the clear but I certainly won't let her suffer if she doesn't recover.

 

[MrsBachbach]

Thanks to both of you for your replies. I have kept her inside since this occurred feeding her minimal food and water (with aspirin) many times a day. My hope is to give her just enough to sustain but not overfill the crop and have it pour out. (She does continue to poo) The one drooping wing is now back in place and she is as lively as ever. I even took her outside yesterday for some sun and air and she ran to be with her coop mate! Little bugger ditched me. I had to wait until dusk to catch her again and bring her back in, crop totally overloaded and leaking food out. Seems I can't do that again. I have a hard time inspecting her by myself. She's a feisty little pullet. I actually have hope that she will recover. Hardest part is keeping her cooped up separately from the rest when she acts so normal. I will get help from the hubby on next inspection and attempt to get some neosporin on her wounds. Thanks again and thank God for such a resilient animal!!

You are doing the right thing. Don't let her overload her crop. Just a little bit of food several times a day. The crop is very elastic and it is important that it not be stretched out if it is to have any chance of healing or closing up. This is going to take a little time. If you had access to some absorbable stitches, I would recomment stitching the hole closed to help speed up the process. It will still leak until fully healed, but it would speed it up in my opinion. I would lay off the asprin for now as that will thin the blood and prevent clotting. Chickens seem to be able to tolerate a bit of pain. I would keep her on antibiotics though to prevent infection while healing. Good luck to you and her.

 

[Hugteri]

Today we had a hawk attack. The pullet got away somehow but in the process got torn up on her leg, wing and crop. My question is about the crop. It is torn and food comes out. Now I know their crop is like a doggie bag so I assume some food goes straight down her belly and some gets stored? Perhaps if she gets fed just enough to go straight to her belly, without needing to store any, the crop can heal on its own? Has anyone had experience with this?

Thanks much!

Just had my 6 month puppy grab a 5 year old hen and punctured her crop.