crop bound and crop bound capsules

[Katmando]

I have a black Australorp hen that was acting off - not ranging or moving with the others and then went off her feed. I brought her in and found that she was crop bound. I read the forums here, ordered the crop bound capsules, waited two days while massaging the mass and giving olive oil. It wouldn't budge. Finally, when I could wait no more, I surgically removed the mass of what turned out to be impacted grass. I'm a vet tech, so I wasn't intimidated by the procedure. I figured it was do or die. (Me do or she dies)
The capsules finally arrived today, and much to my surprise... It's only colace! Docusate sodium, 100 mg (Generic Colace).

I could have gone to Wal-Mart and picked them up that day for $4.00! Sheesh! Mystery solved.[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif] [/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]That said, I have some more questions.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]1. The wound seems to be healing nicely and there's no sign of the internal incision opening. When I had it open, I could insert my finger well past the crop, and felt no sign of blockage. However, two days post-surgery, she still looks uncomfortable (ya think?!), is gassy, burpy, gurgling after eating a little yogurt, layer mash and egg yolk. I'm concerned that food can't move. Is it possible that the peristaltic action of the esophagus and crop can be paralyzed or slowed down or maybe she's just too uncomfortable after the surgery>[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]2. I read somewhere that crop bound can be a secondary symptom of other more severe conditions. I'm at a loss to think what it might be. She's pooping and I got to this before she lost condition, but she's reluctant to eat or drink - or takes a few bites and then looks miserable. I can give her fluids if I have to.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]Maybe I'm in too big of a hurry for a dramatic recovery?[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]Kat[/FONT]

 

[Katmando]

Guess I'm replying to my self here. Stranger things have happened.

Well, much to my dismay, my hen's crop is full again. The mash, egg yolk and yogurt of the last 2 days has not progressed past her crop. So, I gave her two crop bound capsules and some water and waited. She was still miserable after 2 hours and kept regurgitating water and bits of goo that smelled like pus. I started massaging the crop and then suddenly everything started coming up. I quickly flipped her upside down because I thought she would choke and it was ghastly. Foul, rotten food and water splattered everywhere and sure enough, she was choking on it. I swung her hard, trying to clear her airway. She turned blue, passed out, I reached in and manually cleared her throat. She started going through the death throes and I just kept shaking her, hoping for... what? There's clearly a blockage - she can't move food through her system and I'm trying to save her because...?

Long story short, she came to. It took her most of the afternoon to recover and I'm not sure what that's worth. She likely aspirated that awful crap, food doesn't seem to want to go down. Argh. Poor thing. I feel like I'm torturing her but I want to do all I can. She's still gurgling and rolling her crop around like a belly-dancer. She is drinking.

I guess I'll see what tomorrow brings.

Kat

 

[hannahgiselle]

Ugh poor baby that sounds awful. Maybe she has an anatomical abnormality? I know you're a vet tech, but maybe taking her to an avian specialist might give you more answers. I hope she'll get well soon.

 

[Katmando]

Turns out that the internal super glue sutures didn't hold. I've named this hen "Lucky" because she has an amazing will to survive! When she was still alive after all that crap coming out of her, I noticed that the water she drank was coming out of her chest. Maybe the trauma of the previous day caused the crop incision to open so once again, between a rock and a hard place, I went back in. Surprisingly, the hole in her crop was almost closed. THIS time, I had suture material so I sewed her up, inside and out, after repeatedly flushing her crop. There was no sign of infection and she really only objected when I was suturing her skin.

Long story short - after a slow and careful reintroduction to solid foods (and to the rest of the flock), yesterday, she went back to her proper home in the coop and seems to be doing well. If she impacts again... well... I'll cross that bridge if come to it.

Kat