crop backing up 9 days after surgery for impaction

[crittercaretech]

hello,
about 9 days ago I had to perform a crop impaction surgery on my naked neck silkie roo. I have been feeding him 4 small meals daily and increased the amount of food slightly at each feeding and reduced him to three feedings. he has been on antibiotic since surgery. despite pulling his sutures out almost immediately he has healed and his crop had been emptying between meals but there was always a little pouch remaining. he has been very alert and ready to eat each meal. this morning his crop still felt rather large so I did not feed him. this afternoon it was still the same and he was siting in his pen when he is usually pacing to get out. when I picked him up about 30 ml of fluid came out. I have not had a very good sense of smell since I had a head injury so I'm not sure if there is any odor. prior to surgery you could feel abnormal contents in his crop which ended up being foam padding he got hold of on a windy day after the dogs tore their bed apart and the wind blew foam into chicken area and small pencil erasers. no clue where those came from. I felt I had cleared the blockage. I don't feel any irregularities in his crop causing a blockage but its possible I did not get it all. He has been on puppy pads since surgery no shavings or bedding. this was my first experience with sour crop or an impaction and am not sure if a relapse this far out from surgery is normal? is this something we will deal with from time to time after an impaction. any thoughts on how to proceed would be greatly appreciated.
thank you

 

[Raeganmh02]

I’ve never had a chicken that ended up with a relapse. Are you only giving him antibiotics to clear the crop up? Apple cider vinegar has always done my birds well when they had an impacted crop. I don’t know why he ended up with a relapse, but it seems possible if he has it pretty serious. I’d try to give him yogurt or some egg instead of just regular feed if he’s having trouble again. Also, a little cinnamon works great as an antibiotic and immune boost!

 

[crittercaretech]

yes I gave him antibiotics after the surgery for impaction to prevent infection. yesterday was his last day on them but thinking a little they could be causing some issues with his digestion too so I will pick up some yogurt. I withheld food and offered water with nutridrench can the ACV be added with the nutridrench in it. How much ACV should I add to a gallon of water. thank you for the suggestions. so much to learn

 

[HappyClucker7]

Could it be that his crop was stretched and can't empty properly anymore?

 

[crittercaretech]

Could it be that his crop was stretched and can't empty properly anymore?

when he first had trouble with his crop it was quite large. this is my first bird with a crop problem so I'm not sure how big is too big. The last day or so I had increased the size of his meals but reduced him to 3 feedings instead of 4 so maybe even though it is a small amount it was more than his crop could support at one time. Before I read your message I was trying to figure out how to make him a crop bra, sounds like it wouldn't hurt anything.

 

[HollyWoozle]

Well done on your successful surgery and sorry to hear about your chook. My understanding is that antibiotics can disrupt the natural balance of the crop by killing off good bacteria. They won’t do anything to kill off yeast which causes sour crop, they will likely make it worse. If he has been on antibiotics for 9 days and he shows no signs of infection to the wound then I would be inclined to stop with those and to try and improve the status of his crop. Does it feel hard? Or squishy? What are his poops like?

 

[crittercaretech]

his crop is not hard it is squishy and seems to be the same size as last night. I was just going to go through some previous posts as I cannot remember if I should withhold food now or feed him. I made him a little crop bra out of a sock as described in other posts that he wore overnight. He wont move but was left sitting in front of the water and he drank quite a bit overnight. his poop is normal looking green/ brownish color with the white on top. not hard and dry but slightly smaller and firmer than usual. in the short time I have been typing this his crop now seems bout half the size. he is sitting here on my lap. seems more alert and interested in his surroundings this morning

 

[HollyWoozle]

I don’t think I would withhold food in this situation, but others may disagree. It sounds like the crop is not fully impacted and food is obviously getting through if he is pooping, but maybe it’s a bit slow after the surgery and antibiotics. I think I’d be feeding things which are soft and easy for him to digest, ideally his proper feed or some scrambled eggs if needed. You could also try adding a little of some poultry probiotics to help the good bacteria in his crop perhaps? Does he also have some grit to help with digestion?

 

[crittercaretech]

I don’t think I would withhold food in this situation, but others may disagree. It sounds like the crop is not fully impacted and food is obviously getting through if he is pooping, but maybe it’s a bit slow after the surgery and antibiotics. I think I’d be feeding things which are soft and easy for him to digest, ideally his proper feed or some scrambled eggs if needed. You could also try adding a little of some poultry probiotics to help the good bacteria in his crop perhaps? Does he also have some grit to help with digestion?

he does not have grit but he will momentarily I don't know why I spaced grit, thank you and probiotics are on board already.