Crop bra not working. Anything else to do for extremely pendulous crop?

[Fluster Cluck Acres]

My chocolate Orp, Molé, had an impacted crop that I believe then soured and became pendulous. We did coconut oil & Colase for the impaction, then Miconozole for the sour. I can’t get her crop to empty, and it’s been at least 3 weeks now.

I’ve tried 3 different crop bras, and none seem to provide the amount of lift she requires. She is good at taking them off, too. I have one bra that is really tight, but it wraps around her neck and the weight of the crop pulls her head/neck down.

Her crop is HUGE- full of liquid and gravel. She’s a solid C cup right now.

She kicks it when she walks. She’s lost feathers underneath from kicking it, laying on it, or being mated, I don’t know.

She eats and poops. The crop gets larger/smaller throughout the day & night so it is functioning to some degree. And by that I mean it goes from extremely engorged to still pretty full- it never empties. When it’s at its fullest she does the crop adjustment neck gyration maneuver regularly.

Is there anything else I can try for her besides keep buying / making more bras? I have a bra I purchased on Etsy (goes around the neck), a bra I made using the design recommended here at BYC (fastens/ties on her back, straps in front of and behind her wings) and the 3rd one is a face mask.

I initially wrote about her crop issues here

 

[LaFleche]

Crop surgery could help, for one to clear all the contents and secondly to reduce the size by removing excess skin.

 

[Fluster Cluck Acres]

Crop surgery could help, for one to clear all the contents and secondly to reduce the size by removing excess skin.

I’ve never done this before but have considered it. Most of the info I’ve seen about crop surgery has been for impactions, usually removing solid or hard masses. Do you think it’s still safe to do it if her crop is liquidy?

How would I go about removing excess skin?

 

[Shadrach]

My chocolate Orp, Molé, had an impacted crop that I believe then soured and became pendulous. We did coconut oil & Colase for the impaction, then Miconozole for the sour. I can’t get her crop to empty, and it’s been at least 3 weeks now.

I’ve tried 3 different crop bras, and none seem to provide the amount of lift she requires. She is good at taking them off, too. I have one bra that is really tight, but it wraps around her neck and the weight of the crop pulls her head/neck down.

Her crop is HUGE- full of liquid and gravel. She’s a solid C cup right now.

She kicks it when she walks. She’s lost feathers underneath from kicking it, laying on it, or being mated, I don’t know.

She eats and poops. The crop gets larger/smaller throughout the day & night so it is functioning to some degree. And by that I mean it goes from extremely engorged to still pretty full- it never empties. When it’s at its fullest she does the crop adjustment neck gyration maneuver regularly.

Is there anything else I can try for her besides keep buying / making more bras? I have a bra I purchased on Etsy (goes around the neck), a bra I made using the design recommended here at BYC (fastens/ties on her back, straps in front of and behind her wings) and the 3rd one is a face mask.

I initially wrote about her crop issues here

That doesn't look like an impaction; more like sour crop.
Read this,
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/
and this,
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...ntion-and-treatments-of-crop-disorders.67194/

 

[GirlsHuntToo]

@Eggcessive @Wyorp Rock @azygous, might know more than me, but here's what I always do for sour crop.
First, I give them some apple cider vinegar, and see if they will eat anything. Then, try to get them to throw up by rubbing there crop. Also, rubbing the crop might also help if there is a blockage, to help it move along.
Normally I can get it to clear and move the blockage along, but I have had a few throw up.

 

[Eggcessive]

I am no expert on crop issues. Many crop problems are a result of chronic overeating, getting long strands of grass stuck, and conditions inside the abdomen that put pressure on the digestive organs. Those include reproductive disorders, inflammation or infection, and water belly from liver problems.

I would try to work on getting the crop to empty as much as possible, limiting the diet to easy to digest very water chicken feed, and a little egg or plain yogurt. Make sure that you are applying the crop bra properly in the right place. Azygous and Coach 723 have some posts about that. If crop surgery can be done by your vet without anesthesia, that might be a consideration.

 

[azygous]

She's a bosomy gal all right. To clarify, crop surgery is to empty out the contents, not take tucks in the crop sac to alter the size.

Since the crop is moving in a fashion, I would suggest the Epsom salts crop flush. If there are yeast spores still in residence, the Magnesium sulfate will kill those. It requires tube feeding, which is very easy with the instructions I will give you. Ask your vet to sell you a feeding kit for a small animal, about $5. Then I will instruct you on the procedure once you have it.

The flush takes three days and will scour her from beak to butt. After she's cleaned out, her crop should shrink down to normal size in a couple weeks. But a crop bra at night would be a good idea until it shrinks.

 

[LaFleche]

To clarify, crop surgery is to empty out the contents, not take tucks in the crop sac to alter the size.

Usually, but sometimes vets do it both at the same time when the condition has been going on for quite some time already and the skin of the crop is too worn- out and streched.

 

[azygous]

Trained vets we are not. So the crop surgery we do here at BYC doesn't involve altering the size of the crop, only making a small incision to remove the crop contents. Any chicken keeper would be able to do this simple surgery.

Since this crop issue has been only going on for a few weeks, the tissue should be able to retract to normal once the issue resolves. I wouldn't recommend surgery at this point when there are other measures to try first.

 

[Eggcessive]

If you cannot get a feeding tube and syringe from your vet, and have Amazon Prime, here is a good one that you can use for food and liquids:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B095J7PFV...529f&s=hpc&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9kZXRhaWw