Corrected impacted crop chicken still not laying

[Skibum]

I have an Easter Egger hen who had an impacted crop for somewhere between a few days to up to a week. It took about 3 days to correct once I discovered it but it might have been a few days before I noticed.

She’s still thinner than my other Americana but not super thin. I don’t believe she has been laying since the crop impaction. It’s been maybe 2 months since we corrected the issue. Should I be worried that there is something else going on?

She was hatched March 29 of this year. She does not seem to be molting. Only my older rooster seems to be molting now none of this years hens. I get about 4-6 eggs a day out of 8 hen. One may still be waiting to lay, adding this to say my other hens haven’t gone off lay bc of lack of daylight.

 

[sourland]

I would guess that she is taking a break in her laying cycle initiated by the impacted crop and now the shortening daylight period.

 

[Skibum]

Thanks for the reply. She has layed a few eggs this week! I didn’t mind that she went off lay but since everyone else was laying I was worried for her health.

 

[Skibum]

Ugh back at it with Fae. She was acting off again. Upon inspection she is underweight and crop is not draining overnight. Back to coconut oil and massaging her crop. I am not feeling very optimistic. She has something large in her crop. It almost feels like a chunk of plastic. I plan to keep up with massages but am now wondering if whatever is lodged in there is the ongoing problem. I remember feeling something similar the last time we had this going on. It must have been corrected for a while because she was behaving normally and Returned to lay briefly. I guess she will need more diligent supervision continually. Such a pretty hen. I tried so hard not to have favorites with this batch of chicks and yet here we are.

 

[K0k0shka]

I'm sorry about your pullet. I got a bunch of Wyandottes this past spring for meat and tried not to get attached, but of course one of them attached herself anyway and I decided to keep her. So now she's the one with an impacted crop and probably not going to make it either When they start losing weight, they will stop laying because laying is so very calorically demanding of their bodies. She just doesn't have enough calories to spare and put into eggs, if she can't keep her weight on. So even if the crop issue is resolved, she may not resume laying until she reaches a healthy body weight (and even then, she may wait until spring if the days are too short). It's like how human women will stop getting their period if they get too underweight. The body's priorities shift into self-preservation mode.

 

[Skibum]

I'm sorry about your pullet. I got a bunch of Wyandottes this past spring for meat and tried not to get attached, but of course one of them attached herself anyway and I decided to keep her. So now she's the one with an impacted crop and probably not going to make it either When they start losing weight, they will stop laying because laying is so very calorically demanding of their bodies. She just doesn't have enough calories to spare and put into eggs, if she can't keep her weight on. So even if the crop issue is resolved, she may not resume laying until she reaches a healthy body weight (and even then, she may wait until spring if the days are too short). It's like how human women will stop getting their period if they get too underweight. The body's priorities shift into self-preservation mode.

Yes I understand that. She wasn’t underweight when I originally asked and she did resume laying when the crop issue was under control.

I’m sorry you’re also dealing with this. I went out to check her crop this AM and there was still food in there. When I put her down after her massage she had a big healthy poo so I felt some relief that at least something got through her system.

 

[K0k0shka]

Yes I understand that. She wasn’t underweight when I originally asked and she did resume laying when the crop issue was under control.

I’m sorry you’re also dealing with this. I went out to check her crop this AM and there was still food in there. When I put her down after her massage she had a big healthy poo so I felt some relief that at least something got through her system.

Big poop is a good sign, I hope yours recovers! Mine has been impacted for over a month now. She's had several vet appointments, x-rays, crop flush, antibiotics, antifungal, motility drugs, massages, crop bra, oil, everything, and nothing has helped so far. She's pooping, too, so something is getting through, but not enough to be sustainable and it looks like at this point she'll die from a slow and progressive loss of weight, which breaks my heart. The vet says it looks like the crop is a secondary problem, a symptom of something else going on rather than the primary cause, and we can't find the primary cause, so any treatment is just symptom management at this point. But if yours has an actual obstruction in her crop, that can be removed with surgery. Surgery is like the one thing left that we haven't done yet, but it's too expensive, so I'll probably need to say goodbye to my girl at some point... (especially because in my case the crop is not the main problem, so even surgery would only be temporary relief, not a solution). But if you can afford it, and if the root cause in your case is in the actual crop, then that could save your pullet.

 

[Skibum]

Big poop is a good sign, I hope yours recovers! Mine has been impacted for over a month now. She's had several vet appointments, x-rays, crop flush, antibiotics, antifungal, motility drugs, massages, crop bra, oil, everything, and nothing has helped so far. She's pooping, too, so something is getting through, but not enough to be sustainable and it looks like at this point she'll die from a slow and progressive loss of weight, which breaks my heart. The vet says it looks like the crop is a secondary problem, a symptom of something else going on rather than the primary cause, and we can't find the primary cause, so any treatment is just symptom management at this point. But if yours has an actual obstruction in her crop, that can be removed with surgery. Surgery is like the one thing left that we haven't done yet, but it's too expensive, so I'll probably need to say goodbye to my girl at some point... (especially because in my case the crop is not the main problem, so even surgery would only be temporary relief, not a solution). But if you can afford it, and if the root cause in your case is in the actual crop, then that could save your pullet.

Mine is moving around well and spending time with the flock, grooming etc. my current plan of action is to be more diligent in checking her and I’m considering some “Hen Boost” a product with enzymes and probiotics.

I’m sorry about your hen. Reproductive issues often lead to crop problems. It’s so hard to fix reproductive problems. I dealt with one last winter. The hen fought hard and I gave her antibiotics. She did get better but eventually passed. It’s so hard to lose them.

 

[Skibum]

Update: After a few days of massaging the crop after providing coconut oil and giving lots of grit her crop has been empty in the morning and she is more active. Just a reminder to always do a full exam if anything doesn’t seem right with your chickens. Hopefully she starts to put weight back on.

 

[Skibum]

Hopefully final update: a few weeks ago she resumed laying and is back to a normal weight.