Crop large again after surgery

[mkchickie]

My 2 week old chick had crop surgery today after trying for several days to get it to empty with no success. She is doing well I think. She has had watery poops, drinking electrolyte water, and eating small amounts of plain yogurt. Is it normal for the crop to get large again with just water and yogurt? I'm sure there is some swelling from surgery, but I'm just worried things aren't moving again.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

 

[Alaskan]

How did a 2 week old chick manage to get an impacted crop? Just never heard of such a thing.

The crop does get super big and full during the day while they are eating. By night time it can be pretty solid and almost rock like. By morning it should be mostly empty (unless the chick is eating food at night...maybe because of the light from a heat lamp).

And yes, if the chick gorges on water, that can cause the crop to swell up.

 

[mkchickie]

I'm not sure how it happened, but they pulled tons of chick feed out and some feathers.

She has been drinking quite a bit. It was still enlarged this morning, but nothing like it was before surgery. She seems like she's feeling much better. Fingers crossed that it continues!

 

[rebrascora]

As Alaskan says, I would be hugely surprised if a two week old chick was impacted. They normally get very full crops and you would of course expect the crop to be full of chick food...what else??? and maybe a few feathers and some bits of bedding. Who told you it was impacted??
Chicks naturally gorge themselves on food, some more than others and it is common for them to have a solid prominent crop most of the time, especially if they have a heat lamp and can eat day and night. I really, really think you may have acted impetuously in having surgery done..... and a vet may not have had much idea about dealing with chickens to have suggested it. I have done crop surgery myself, so I have a bit of an idea what I am talking about. There is very little swelling after surgery in my experience although that was on an adult bird, so any swelling would be less obvious, but the chick is extremely likely to fill its crop back up with food again.... it's what the crop is for, so that is likely what you are seeing. I would feed the chicks a wet mash made with their crumb or better still ferment it, rather than dry crumb, to ensure that they are getting enough fluids with it and their crop remains pliable. Really feel this may have been unnecessary surgery!
Is there a post on BYC about the impaction with photos and more information. There are many posts each year on BYC from newbies who worry about the large bulge on their chick;s chest and think it is a tumour or something is wrong and it is always just a full crop.

Regards

Barbara

PS. Can you post a photo of the chick in it's current state, so that hopefully we can reassure you.

 

[mkchickie]

Thanks for your reply. I'm sorry I wasn't able to get on here earlier to respond.
I've had many chicks, but never had one that looked like this one. The chick's crop was HUGE for days, not gaining weight and she had started to regurgitate. The crop was much, much larger than the other chicks and didn't go down at all. She wasn't gaining weight and was half the size of the other chicks. She wasn't going to make it if the vet didn't do something as she was getting weaker and weaker. It was basically a last ditch effort to save her.
Since the surgery she has made quite the recovery and has tripled in size and is catching up to her siblings. She's eating and drinking normally and the crop is doing what it's supposed to do.

Thanks!

 

[Alaskan]

Crazy...thanks for the update.