Crop not clearing out...feels like a bean bag-no hard spots

[Desertridingal]

Hi,

I have a young chicken...not yet laying....bought 7 chicks and now they are about two months old, maybe three. One of them appeared to have a full crop, more so than the others. Then she got her foot broken when a horse ran over her. We brought her in the house to heal...her foot is fine, but that crop will not empty. She is now recognizably smaller than her sisters. It feels like little tiny peices of styrofoam that she may have swallowed. I found a pecked styrofoam block in the garage that they must have had fun with...it was pecked at alot. And that is exactly what it feels like. Her crop is huge. She is eating and drinking, and after she drinks she spits up slimey-watery substance. I saw the crop operation, but cant do it. I am a nurse...but have not practiced for years. I have gone 24 hours without feeding to see if it would get smaller, and it did, but not all the way. I gave her tomatoes one day...someone suggested her eating nothing but tomatoes...she ate them, but nothing really changed.

Help? I cannot afford an operation but want to save her if I can. Are there any other suggestions besides the operation?

 

[ole-crone]

I once read in a vet book about using spinach to help an animal safely pass a swallowed needle. It winds itself around the foreign object and passes on. I wonder if it would grab onto the styrofoam pieces and help them pass?

 

[chickenzoo]

I believe vegetable oil is given to help soften and pass food in a compacted crop. I would try that to see if it helps. I've done an crop op once, it's not as bad as I thought and I use to be scared of needles,

 

[M@M@2four]

Hello...you are going to want to separate her, use a syringe, tilt her head back and open her beak. Squirt some vegetable oil down her throat and sit and just massage her crop--it will feel mushy and weird-just massage it in a downward stroke on her chest. Do this for about 10-15 minutes and then place her in a sperate cage with water only! You don't want to feed her any food right now as this will only impact it more. Let her get lots to drink and poop and pass everything through her system. I give my chicken olive oil every 2-3 hours(about a half a dropper full) and then massage and repeat. Again, no food until she her crop is empty! Good luck and keep us posted!

~T

 

[Desertridingal]

thank you for the advice. She is separated and living in our house. I have my office floor covered with plastic. She spends all her time sitting in my lap when I am working on the computer. She is so sweet!

I made a mash earlier, reading that milk would help her increase her water intake...also...she was much weaker this morning than ever before so I was afraid she was starving to death. She doesnt do much...just sits around...doesnt seem very happy. I am worried. From now until tomorrow I will not give her any food. Just water. I'll let you guys know how it goes.

THanks for the help!

 

[mrs.67]

you can try soaking small pieces of bread in olive oil and letting her eat that.
Then massage her crop, just make sure that you do not push it up, you want to rub downwards.

 

[ozark hen]

I periodically sprinkle olive oil or canola oil over bread and give to all my chickens, about once every other month of so...more so in winter months when I feed more cracked corn.

 

[2chickenrich]

we are having the same problem with our white roo his crop is really big . This morning I gave all the chickens bread soaked in olive oil, sure hope it dosen't hurt the well chicks, he seems to be getting smaller even though he eats and seems to be part pig. I'm not sure what he ate that got stuck in there.

 

[Desertridingal]

Crop still isnt getting smaller...she is so skinny. I dont know what to do...any other suggestions? I tried not feeding her for 24 hours...just offering water...and gave her olive oil this morning....nothing happened except now her poop is almost all water. Im afraid she is starving to death. Should I give her milk or some other liquid nutrient?

 

[ozark hen]

Your chicken may be beyond the point of the oil helping and if you can do this....if your only option is losing this bird...you should consider:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=21291