crop problems. chicken near death

[bastiaan99]

I have a 3 year old rhode island red hen. A week or so ago i noticed she was acting very lethargic and looked pale. At first i thought it was just the heat getting to her, but my other chicken is acting fine and is full of piss and vinegar. About 4 days ago i picked her up to see if i could figure out what was wrong, and i found a squishy lump in her breast. I figured out that she has an impacted crop, about the size of a tennis ball. so i started to massage it and try to get it worked down a little. I noticed that when i massage her her guts start making noise and in about 20 minutes after she has a bowel movement. I have been massaging her every day and making sure she stays hydrated, however, the crop stays swollen. I tried to give her bread with olive oil but she doesn't like bread, so i made her a scrambled egg with the olive oil in it and she ate it like shes been starved. She is very bony and her feet are freezing. I checked her beak to see if she had a sour smell, but there was none. I believe she is going severely anemic and i think she will die soon if i dont figure out how to fix it. Im planning on putting her down if she doesnt get better soon because i dont want her to suffer anymore. Ive read a lot of things about this online and tried to do what i can with what materials i do have, but im not sure what to do anymore.

 

[KurtG]

How many poops are you getting from her and has it gone down at all?

You likely need to be prepared to do home surgery on the impaction. It really is not that complicated nor difficult. We had no pain response, struggle, bleeding, etc. Ours recovered quickly thereafter. Look at youtube for a few examples. You really only need an exacto knife and some sutures and wound dressing, There are two layers to cut and stich and little to no bleeding (none for us).

Other than being a little more stunted than the others, there is no way to tell our operated one from the others and it has only been a month or so. Wound is healed and feathers grown back.

 

[bastiaan99]

I know that could work but i dont want her to be in pain or traumatized by getting cut open. And at this point i dont know if shes strong enough to even survive that.

 

[KurtG]

The outcome of doing nothing is obvious. I don't think the pain is anymore than being put down. It is not a long drawn out procedure.