Hey, friends. I've got a 1 1/2 yr. old EE hen that I think "may" have impacted crop but I'm not sure. Reason I'm not sure is that it's not that large. I spent hours last night and this morning reading over many threads on BYC, and found some info. online, including this:
Give the bird a drink of warm water and then rub the crop gently. Hold the birds head upside down and squeeze the crop so that the liquid and obstruction can run out. If successful let the bird drink water freely and restrict feed for 24 hours.
Give the bird warm water containing epsom salts or bicarbonate of soda (1 teaspoon to a pint of water). Hold the birds head upside down and squeeze the crop gently. The salt/soda should make the bird sick and therefore dislodge the obstruction. This procedure should only be done once a day. If successful let the bird drink water freely.
Give the bird some caster oil or mineral oil in warm water or using an eye dropper and then rub the crop. Hold the birds head upside down and squeeze the crop gently so that the obstruction can run out with the liquid. If successful let the bird drink water freely and restrict feed for 24 hours.
If the obstruction is making it difficult for the bird to swallow and it cannot be dislodged, then veterinary advice could be sought.
The details of my girl: I had noticed she hasn't been laying eggs, not for probably 10 days, and I thought she was lightly molting as several are now. Then Tuesday evening, I noticed she was a bit slower than the others and just didn't look as lively. Wednesday morning, I grabbed her out of the coop before I opened it up for the day, and right away found that her crop was full. But, again, it's not large. Like maybe the size of about 1/2 a golf ball. It's squishable, but pretty hard, and feels gritty. I feed pelleted feed, and their crops typically DO feel gritty, so I don't think it's that she's eaten too much grit or small stones. I massaged her crop and put her in a crate with water and some ACV (with mother) in it, but no food. I thought surely by the time I got home from work, her crop would have emptied, but it had not. It did feel a tiny bit smaller, and she had drank some water (maybe 1/8 cup), and I did see two very small poops in her crate. I gave her probably 5ccs of olive oil via syringe, she took it all, and I massaged her crop quite a bit more. The crop felt much less squishy. By 10 p.m. (4 hrs. later) when I checked on her, it seems like the oil had passed through, but not the food (assuming it's food). So I gave more olive oil and massaged more, and left her with no food, just water.
This morning, same thing. Crop was VERY firm, but squishable. It MAY have been a tiny bit smaller. I gave her about 6ccs of olive oil before work and massaged quite a bit longer and more firmly than I did yesterday, and I offered her about 1/4 cup of yogurt, which she happily ate right up. She's quite peppy and, in fact, almost escaped when I removed her this morning from the crate. Also, I do not smell any foul odor from her mouth (and I put my nose right down practically into her beak).
In all my researching, I cannot find the answers to these questions:
1) could this be impacted crop, even though it's fairly small?
2) if so, what does the size mean, if anything?
3) MUST I try to induce vomitting, as indicated in the one website that I quoted above?
4) if she IS, in fact, impacted and since it's small, should this easily resolve? How long should it take?
5) how much olive oil can I give at one time? I was leery to give more than 4-6ccs at once, but could easily give more as she's a willing patient.
6) should I continue as I'm doing, add more olive oil, try to induce her to vomit, feed yogurt....and regarding the yogurt, can I give free choice, or should I be only giving her small amounts?
7) is there anything else I should be feeding her?
8) should I be giving poly vi sol or anything else?
THANKS so much for the feedback.
Give the bird a drink of warm water and then rub the crop gently. Hold the birds head upside down and squeeze the crop so that the liquid and obstruction can run out. If successful let the bird drink water freely and restrict feed for 24 hours.
Give the bird warm water containing epsom salts or bicarbonate of soda (1 teaspoon to a pint of water). Hold the birds head upside down and squeeze the crop gently. The salt/soda should make the bird sick and therefore dislodge the obstruction. This procedure should only be done once a day. If successful let the bird drink water freely.
Give the bird some caster oil or mineral oil in warm water or using an eye dropper and then rub the crop. Hold the birds head upside down and squeeze the crop gently so that the obstruction can run out with the liquid. If successful let the bird drink water freely and restrict feed for 24 hours.
If the obstruction is making it difficult for the bird to swallow and it cannot be dislodged, then veterinary advice could be sought.
The details of my girl: I had noticed she hasn't been laying eggs, not for probably 10 days, and I thought she was lightly molting as several are now. Then Tuesday evening, I noticed she was a bit slower than the others and just didn't look as lively. Wednesday morning, I grabbed her out of the coop before I opened it up for the day, and right away found that her crop was full. But, again, it's not large. Like maybe the size of about 1/2 a golf ball. It's squishable, but pretty hard, and feels gritty. I feed pelleted feed, and their crops typically DO feel gritty, so I don't think it's that she's eaten too much grit or small stones. I massaged her crop and put her in a crate with water and some ACV (with mother) in it, but no food. I thought surely by the time I got home from work, her crop would have emptied, but it had not. It did feel a tiny bit smaller, and she had drank some water (maybe 1/8 cup), and I did see two very small poops in her crate. I gave her probably 5ccs of olive oil via syringe, she took it all, and I massaged her crop quite a bit more. The crop felt much less squishy. By 10 p.m. (4 hrs. later) when I checked on her, it seems like the oil had passed through, but not the food (assuming it's food). So I gave more olive oil and massaged more, and left her with no food, just water.
This morning, same thing. Crop was VERY firm, but squishable. It MAY have been a tiny bit smaller. I gave her about 6ccs of olive oil before work and massaged quite a bit longer and more firmly than I did yesterday, and I offered her about 1/4 cup of yogurt, which she happily ate right up. She's quite peppy and, in fact, almost escaped when I removed her this morning from the crate. Also, I do not smell any foul odor from her mouth (and I put my nose right down practically into her beak).
In all my researching, I cannot find the answers to these questions:
1) could this be impacted crop, even though it's fairly small?
2) if so, what does the size mean, if anything?
3) MUST I try to induce vomitting, as indicated in the one website that I quoted above?
4) if she IS, in fact, impacted and since it's small, should this easily resolve? How long should it take?
5) how much olive oil can I give at one time? I was leery to give more than 4-6ccs at once, but could easily give more as she's a willing patient.
6) should I continue as I'm doing, add more olive oil, try to induce her to vomit, feed yogurt....and regarding the yogurt, can I give free choice, or should I be only giving her small amounts?
7) is there anything else I should be feeding her?
8) should I be giving poly vi sol or anything else?
THANKS so much for the feedback.
