- Jul 4, 2011
- 46
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Our chicken had crop problems as a young pullet from eating hay. Her crop became incredibly large, miraculously emptied one day, and has been slowly refilling since. She ended up with a crop that was about the size of a large orange. We originally thought it was a tumor. It did not seem to be causing her distress.
Today it burst. We cleaned out the crop, which was completely filled with tightly packed hay, and smelled sour (it seemed like a combination of impacted and sour crop, from what I have read, although we do not have experience with crop issues, as we are new to chickens). Her crop is now cleaned out, and we mostly flushed it out with water and hydrogen peroxide. She did not seem to be distressed by the process.
The problem now is how to proceed: what is the best way to close up her crop? Stitches? If so, how far apart should they be? Are there specific bandages or other methods to close her? This wound is larger than the average one made for crop surgery, as it burst by itself (it is about 3.5 inches). Once she is closed up, what should we do to sterilize it, what food or meds should we give her? She seems stable right now, and can still walk around, but we need to know how to proceed from here! Thank you!
Today it burst. We cleaned out the crop, which was completely filled with tightly packed hay, and smelled sour (it seemed like a combination of impacted and sour crop, from what I have read, although we do not have experience with crop issues, as we are new to chickens). Her crop is now cleaned out, and we mostly flushed it out with water and hydrogen peroxide. She did not seem to be distressed by the process.
The problem now is how to proceed: what is the best way to close up her crop? Stitches? If so, how far apart should they be? Are there specific bandages or other methods to close her? This wound is larger than the average one made for crop surgery, as it burst by itself (it is about 3.5 inches). Once she is closed up, what should we do to sterilize it, what food or meds should we give her? She seems stable right now, and can still walk around, but we need to know how to proceed from here! Thank you!