Crop Impaction & Infection

[Wyorp Rock]

Over the past 5 days we have attempted:

• Epsom Salt mixed with water via oral syringe
• Free access to grit and water only
• About 48 hours of eating coconut oil with crop massages multiple times a day
• Last night we gave 2 capsules of docusate sodium

For dinner I gave her a mix of yogurt, apple sauce, oils (olive, sunflower, and coconut), chick grit, some grain, and some dried oregano.

For 5 days she didn't have anything to eat at all?

I would not give grains and chick grit. I would make her normal feed available, you can offer it wet/mushy or dry. Chick grit is very fine and may actually make things work for an adult/older bird. Chick grit will either clog the system or just filter right through the gizzard of an adult. If you wish, provide Poultry Grit, a small amount free choice, she would only need a couple of pieces for use in the gizzard.

Photos of the poop would be helpful, let's see what's she's eliminating.

You mention impaction and infection - I assume you mean the crop is sour? The epsom salts flush may help with yeast/fungal infection which is usually what a Sour Crop is. You can also use an Anti-Fungal/Yeast medication like Miconazole, Clotrimazole or Nystatin. Acidified Copper Sulfate can also be used to treat Sour Crop.

An antibiotic/bacterial can often make a Sour Crop worse, so unless you feel she has a bacterial infection, I would not recommend using antibiotics.

It can take days/even weeks to resolve a crop problem depending on the cause. If she has a lot of fibrous material, it may take longer to work it out or you may even need to see vet care if it's severely impacted so they can perform surgery to remove the material.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

A favorite hen is struggling with a crop impaction and infection. Over the past 5 days we have attempted:

• Epsom Salt mixed with water via oral syringe
• Free access to grit and water only
• About 48 hours of eating coconut oil with crop massages multiple times a day
• Last night we gave 2 capsules of docusate sodium

All that she has passed for the past 3-4 days is the green bile poo, which she will consistently pass. Last night she did have a tiny bit of fecal matter in the bile poo, I'm assuming as a result of the stool softener. She does roost in her hospital crate at night and moves around a bit on the floor during the day. She will eat coconut oil when I offer it and she has been drinking, just not a ton.

At this point I'm hoping someone can advise me on how to keep moving forward to treat her. I've been following the popular guide that is often referenced on here, and I'm just unsure on how long I should be trying each treatment. I'm also wondering if this is the time to try to supplement her with additional hydration due to the treatments I've been given. She does not appear to be obviously dehydrated and her crop does have plenty of fluid in it along with the mass (I think long grass). Even with that said, she has drank less than 5-8 oz of water over the past 5 days, so I think supportive hydration might now be needed.

The mass in her crop is moveable, and I can feel grit in there along with what I believe is grass. I can move the contents up to the top of the crop to try to let the fluid drain, but I don't believe the fluid is draining at all. Any specific guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Yes we've been massaging the crop for the past 5 days. Unfortunately there are no avian vets near me. What drugs would you recommend and where would I be able to access them? I'm trying to seek advice about what I can specifically do for her

Small update

She is still alive. The past few days she seemed to be getting worse. I withdrew treatment, gave her some normal feed with yogurt, and tried to let her have a normal "last day". She ended up getting strong enough that I delayed it a day, then another. Last night she passed normal manure for the first time since this whole thing started. Today she still seems distressed and has a full crop, but I'm hopeful that since she was able to pass manure, she might respond to treatments better. The plan to move forward is to continue the yogurt, and attempt to give her monistat, despite still having a full crop.

I'd still love any suggestions for helping empty her crop of the long grass! I'll attempt to make her some Spanx this evening to see if that helps. Has anyone had any luck breaking down long grass in the crop with oral treatments? I could go back to trying ACV. I know in horses they'll tube coca-cola into a horse to help clear an impaction, anyone try anything like that with a chicken?

For dinner I gave her a mix of yogurt, apple sauce, oils (olive, sunflower, and coconut), chick grit, some grain, and some dried oregano. No meds tonight in hopes I here back from someone on the best way to move forward in that area. I did remove the remaining food and water in her crate to hopefully get a better feel of her crop in the AM.

I did fashion a sports bra for her as well out of some old pantyhose. I realized after the fact that my pictures weren't the best, so I've underlined her crop in red to help show what it currently looks like.

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She's back to roosting in her med crate for the night. I do have an alternative med crate set up (clean and unoccupied) that has a foot wide platform for roosting instead of a bar. Would switching her to that set up help flatten her crop, or is true roosting still preferred? I'll provide an update in the AM.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

A favorite hen is struggling with a crop impaction and infection. Over the past 5 days we have attempted:

• Epsom Salt mixed with water via oral syringe
• Free access to grit and water only
• About 48 hours of eating coconut oil with crop massages multiple times a day
• Last night we gave 2 capsules of docusate sodium

All that she has passed for the past 3-4 days is the green bile poo, which she will consistently pass. Last night she did have a tiny bit of fecal matter in the bile poo, I'm assuming as a result of the stool softener. She does roost in her hospital crate at night and moves around a bit on the floor during the day. She will eat coconut oil when I offer it and she has been drinking, just not a ton.

At this point I'm hoping someone can advise me on how to keep moving forward to treat her. I've been following the popular guide that is often referenced on here, and I'm just unsure on how long I should be trying each treatment. I'm also wondering if this is the time to try to supplement her with additional hydration due to the treatments I've been given. She does not appear to be obviously dehydrated and her crop does have plenty of fluid in it along with the mass (I think long grass). Even with that said, she has drank less than 5-8 oz of water over the past 5 days, so I think supportive hydration might now be needed.

The mass in her crop is moveable, and I can feel grit in there along with what I believe is grass. I can move the contents up to the top of the crop to try to let the fluid drain, but I don't believe the fluid is draining at all. Any specific guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Yes we've been massaging the crop for the past 5 days. Unfortunately there are no avian vets near me. What drugs would you recommend and where would I be able to access them? I'm trying to seek advice about what I can specifically do for her

Small update

She is still alive. The past few days she seemed to be getting worse. I withdrew treatment, gave her some normal feed with yogurt, and tried to let her have a normal "last day". She ended up getting strong enough that I delayed it a day, then another. Last night she passed normal manure for the first time since this whole thing started. Today she still seems distressed and has a full crop, but I'm hopeful that since she was able to pass manure, she might respond to treatments better. The plan to move forward is to continue the yogurt, and attempt to give her monistat, despite still having a full crop.

I'd still love any suggestions for helping empty her crop of the long grass! I'll attempt to make her some Spanx this evening to see if that helps. Has anyone had any luck breaking down long grass in the crop with oral treatments? I could go back to trying ACV. I know in horses they'll tube coca-cola into a horse to help clear an impaction, anyone try anything like that with a chicken?

For dinner I gave her a mix of yogurt, apple sauce, oils (olive, sunflower, and coconut), chick grit, some grain, and some dried oregano. No meds tonight in hopes I here back from someone on the best way to move forward in that area. I did remove the remaining food and water in her crate to hopefully get a better feel of her crop in the AM.

I did fashion a sports bra for her as well out of some old pantyhose. I realized after the fact that my pictures weren't the best, so I've underlined her crop in red to help show what it currently looks like.
She's back to roosting in her med crate for the night. I do have an alternative med crate set up (clean and unoccupied) that has a foot wide platform for roosting instead of a bar. Would switching her to that set up help flatten her crop, or is true roosting still preferred? I'll provide an update in the AM.

 

[ItsChicky]

For 5 days she didn't have anything to eat at all?

I would not give grains and chick grit. I would make her normal feed available, you can offer it wet/mushy or dry. Chick grit is very fine and may actually make things work for an adult/older bird. Chick grit will either clog the system or just filter right through the gizzard of an adult. If you wish, provide Poultry Grit, a small amount free choice, she would only need a couple of pieces for use in the gizzard.

Photos of the poop would be helpful, let's see what's she's eliminating.

You mention impaction and infection - I assume you mean the crop is sour? The epsom salts flush may help with yeast/fungal infection which is usually what a Sour Crop is. You can also use an Anti-Fungal/Yeast medication like Miconazole, Clotrimazole or Nystatin. Acidified Copper Sulfate can also be used to treat Sour Crop.

An antibiotic/bacterial can often make a Sour Crop worse, so unless you feel she has a bacterial infection, I would not recommend using antibiotics.

It can take days/even weeks to resolve a crop problem depending on the cause. If she has a lot of fibrous material, it may take longer to work it out or you may even need to see vet care if it's severely impacted so they can perform surgery to remove the material.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

For 3 days she consumed no food while I tried to reduce her crop size.

Day 4 was when I began feeding her frozen pieces of coconut oil.

I believe it was day 5 (or just after) that I started offering her yogurt with coconut oil sprinkled on top to start to get more nutrients into her.

Day 7 or so she stopped eating yogurt when offered, so that was when I began to prepare to let her have a good "last day". She is in an area where she can see me make up grain. I noticed she'd perk up at the bag rustling so I gave her some "granola" for her yogurt by sprinkling it on top. She consumed a cup of yogurt each day that way for 3ish days while I prepared to help her pass. Since she kept showing interest in the yogurt grain mix, I kept delaying her "last day". I was also working 2 12+ hour days during this time, so I didn't get to handle her or watch her as closely during that time.

Monday (day 10ish?) I had the talk with my boyfriend that his favorite chicken probably wouldn't be here when he got home tomorrow. That night I noticed she had normal droppings under her roosting bar. The next morning she had another pile of manure that showed up overnight. At that point on Tuesday I switched gears back to trying to help her fight through it.

I have not helped her regurgitate anything, given oral syringes of fluids, or provided medication since before day 7 so, I can definitely begin doing any of that again if it's warranted.

The chick grit was purely because I threw my last handful of normal grit to one of my flocks earlier in the day and I've had chick grit on hand that I never use. I'll toss out what I mixed up for her yesterday.

I'll go grab some pictures of her poo. I've been cleaning her crate, and I don't believe I ever got a picture of the green liquid poo, but it looked exactly what I've seen described on here as the green bile type poo.

 

[ItsChicky]

For 5 days she didn't have anything to eat at all?

I would not give grains and chick grit. I would make her normal feed available, you can offer it wet/mushy or dry. Chick grit is very fine and may actually make things work for an adult/older bird. Chick grit will either clog the system or just filter right through the gizzard of an adult. If you wish, provide Poultry Grit, a small amount free choice, she would only need a couple of pieces for use in the gizzard.

Photos of the poop would be helpful, let's see what's she's eliminating.

You mention impaction and infection - I assume you mean the crop is sour? The epsom salts flush may help with yeast/fungal infection which is usually what a Sour Crop is. You can also use an Anti-Fungal/Yeast medication like Miconazole, Clotrimazole or Nystatin. Acidified Copper Sulfate can also be used to treat Sour Crop.

An antibiotic/bacterial can often make a Sour Crop worse, so unless you feel she has a bacterial infection, I would not recommend using antibiotics.

It can take days/even weeks to resolve a crop problem depending on the cause. If she has a lot of fibrous material, it may take longer to work it out or you may even need to see vet care if it's severely impacted so they can perform surgery to remove the material.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

I'm hoping to pick up Miconazole today (so she'll get first dose tonight after I get out of work). I'm kicking myself because I thought about ordering the Acidified Copper Sulfate a few weeks ago to have on hand for emergencies, but didn't end up doing it. I'll be putting in an order with that company soon so I'll add it to my order as well. The "know which one you're dealing with" article has been my primary reference. A few threads just got shared that I'm going to read through as well!

The material in her crop is definitely fibrous, so I'm assuming we'll be on the longer end of a recovery time.

 

[ItsChicky]

Poo Pics as requested:

For simplicity, picture 1 is an example of what she passed overnight Sunday and Monday night. She mixed her bedding up for the first time so I don't have quantity examples, but she had semi normal volume under her roosting spot the following mornings. Only other observation was that the piles seemed to be on the drier side. (The light brown spot in the middle is neither wet or blood, just funky lighting in the photo)

Second photo is what she passed last night in it's entirety. It looks like she passed one normal moist poo, and then transitioned back to the green (so kind of her to provide me with a fresh example ). Her crate has been clear of this type of green manure since this weekend, so this is a potential backslide in progress.

She kept her "sports bra" on and in place overnight. I didn't both taking pictures since it still looks big, but it feels smaller and I believe the excess fluid in there has finally started to resolve itself. She did spit up maybe a half a teaspoon or so of cloudy smelly liquid onto me while I was checking her out. There is still plenty of stuff in there, but it feels more doughy than before (when I could feel the likely grass ball). I do feel grit in there as well still.

She is spending part of the time breathing with her mouth open and making a raspy gurgling noise when she does so. This escalated when she started refusing the yogurt, got better Monday and Tuesday, and now she seems to be slightly worse again. She's a little more down this morning so I provided water, but no food yet. I'll see how she is again before I leave for work.

 

[ItsChicky]

You are a good chicken mama.

One question: how did you serve the stool softener? Did you squeeze out the content and discard the gel capsule?

For my chicken, she suffered impacted crop for a month so do not give up on your hen.

Have you read this article? https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...ntion-and-treatments-of-crop-disorders.67194/

I may try to buy acidified copper sulfate online and start treat her with that.

If you are comfortable with tube feeding, you may tube feed her some baby bird food mix. It can help things moving.

Thank you!

Both of those threads are new to me so that was super helpful! The first one you shared helped fill in a lot of blanks, thank you!

Small side update. I picked up the 2% Miconazole so I'm going to begin that treatment tonight. I'm going to review all the info again and come up with a more appropriate plan to move forward. I'll do a true update later this evening or tomorrow AM. Thank you again!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I would follow this article for treatment, read it thoroughly along with the comments.
Treat for Sour Crop.
Provide her with easy to digest food - a.k.a. Poultry Feed (soaked and mushy), not grains which have to be processed/ground in the gizzard.

Provide plenty of fresh water to drink. Poultry Grit as small amount free choice.
Looks like she may be eating shavings, so it would be a good idea to have wet feed available for her.

Consider getting a fecal float to see if she needs to be dewormed.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...ntion-and-treatments-of-crop-disorders.67194/

 

[ItsChicky]

I would follow this article for treatment, read it thoroughly along with the comments.
Treat for Sour Crop.
Provide her with easy to digest food - a.k.a. Poultry Feed (soaked and mushy), not grains which have to be processed/ground in the gizzard.

Provide plenty of fresh water to drink. Poultry Grit as small amount free choice.
Looks like she may be eating shavings, so it would be a good idea to have wet feed available for her.

Consider getting a fecal float to see if she needs to be dewormed.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...ntion-and-treatments-of-crop-disorders.67194/

I just finished following the sour crop instructions and gave her a dose of docusate an hour before the Miconazole as well. I'm going to let her rest overnight and continue treatment in the morning.

Normal soaked food is in there and I found some normal poultry grit, so she has a small amount of that free choice in a dish as well. The probiotics I have are the kind you mix into their water. Would it be better to provide her with a more direct probiotic? I'll dive back into the reading tomorrow, so that may help answer my question.

 

[ItsChicky]

Morning Update:

I'll snag a poo picture before I leave for work, but she only had 1-2 small BMs last night, so not a ton of manure. On the small plus side, it was "normal" droppings and no green!

I attempted tube feeding for the first time this morning after vomiting her and it is soooo much easier! I give Docusate first thing in the morning and an hour later I give the Miconazole. I pushed a little bit of baby food followed by 3ccs of water each time to help clear the tube and add some hydration and nutrients as well. I have a few hours before I leave for work, so I may try tubing 10cc of water with massages 1-2 more times before I leave. The stuff in her crop is about the size of a lime and doughy so I'm really hoping I can help break it up and empty it a bit today for some relief for her.

I did give her a tablespoon of scrambled eggs to get get her appetite up and she has free access to her soaked feed, grit, and electrolyte water as well.

I'm making plans to deworm all my flocks next week just to be on the safe side. I haven't had any problems with anyone else and I do feed red pepper flakes from time to time as a natural preventative, but I've never done a true deworming treatment so I figured it's time. I was going to try to look it up later today, but if anyone knows any mail-in labs to do fecals for chickens, please let me know! I currently use BirdIQ for blood testing, but I don't believe they offer fecals (I could be wrong though!) I'm not sure if chicken worms are like equine worms, but I'd like to know what I'm deworming against if possible!

I'll probably check back in later this evening once I take care of her and get caught up with my reading after work. Thank you everyone for replying and sharing info so far, it's helping!!

 

[ItsChicky]

Final Update

She opted to sleep on the floor of her med crate last night. She passed peacefully in her sleep at some point overnight.