One of our RIR hens ended up with a horribly impacted crop, worse than it had to be because I didn't check her through a cold spell we went through. I thought I'd give a run-down on how it happened and what we did so hopefully someone else can avoid the same situation.
I had been picking grass for my hens to give them greens because they do not free-range in our little yard, but I did not cut them bite size as I thought the birds could digest whatever they took in. They were eating and pooping OK, so things were getting past any of that grass at that point. Then for several cold mornings I made them oatmeal and also gave a little scrambled egg occasionally with their feed. I was changing the water but not taking time to pick up each bird and check their crop, so by the time I noticed that one bird was bulging it was about the size of a baseball. I used water with olive oil administered by syringe every couple of hours to massage into the mass, trying to break it up, but the contents wouldn't pass. The best it got was feeling like a squishy stress ball filled with sand. By the third day, her comb was flopping over and turning purple at the back, so I asked my husband to either end it mercifully for her or get ready for surgery.
He decide we'd try to save her and set up OR and proceeded to remove the contents of her crop in what ended up being much longer than the 7-10 minute surgery it normally seems to take, referencing other crop surgery info and photos online. I had to turn over my spot as helper to my older son after about 20 minutes because I was starting to get light-headed (yes, we figured out I would NOT make a good surgical nurse). My husband and son were careful to rinse out both the crop and the incision areas with saline throughout the procedure and before closing her up with superglue, and she seems be holding together well. I have to say I NEVER want to witness that again there wasn't much blood, but there was a ton of oozy oatmeal and sand mixed and packed with a bunch of long grass blades and other material that had blocked her up. There was some sour odor but not as much as I would have expected.
The hen was back up on her feet and eating soft food by the next day, but she apparently ate the butterfly stitches off her own chest and a little newsprint before I got to her early the next morning, so in the future (I hope we don't even have to do this) I wouldn't bandage a hen again after surgery OR put her on newspaper. The superglue seams held well, and there is no sign of infection. 3 weeks later, she is eating and pooping but not laying but she seems normal otherwise. I hope the butterfly stitches and newspaper don't bring us back to the same problem later.
I never feel my hens' crops really full, which makes me wonder if they're eating enough, but I'm planning on changing to a feed that a local breeder says his birds can't resist. I chop whatever greens my birds get now to prevent them from getting a blockage going, and I'm alternating days putting ACV in the water. I used to throw out more BOSS but I'm keeping that to half a handful for 2 birds, and a little scratch after they've eaten some feed for breakfast. I should have been keeping a better eye on them and handling them more; I think this whole problem could have been averted, and we're all lucky (the hen especially) for the favorable outcome. I know there are people with too many birds to be able to look at each one that frequently, but I think being careful about what they eat is a good idea to avoid this scenario.
And thanks to my hubby for doing a gross job and saving my bird, and doing it carefully and well when all I could do was park it on a chair and put my head down
I'll try to be a better chicken mom.
I had been picking grass for my hens to give them greens because they do not free-range in our little yard, but I did not cut them bite size as I thought the birds could digest whatever they took in. They were eating and pooping OK, so things were getting past any of that grass at that point. Then for several cold mornings I made them oatmeal and also gave a little scrambled egg occasionally with their feed. I was changing the water but not taking time to pick up each bird and check their crop, so by the time I noticed that one bird was bulging it was about the size of a baseball. I used water with olive oil administered by syringe every couple of hours to massage into the mass, trying to break it up, but the contents wouldn't pass. The best it got was feeling like a squishy stress ball filled with sand. By the third day, her comb was flopping over and turning purple at the back, so I asked my husband to either end it mercifully for her or get ready for surgery.
He decide we'd try to save her and set up OR and proceeded to remove the contents of her crop in what ended up being much longer than the 7-10 minute surgery it normally seems to take, referencing other crop surgery info and photos online. I had to turn over my spot as helper to my older son after about 20 minutes because I was starting to get light-headed (yes, we figured out I would NOT make a good surgical nurse). My husband and son were careful to rinse out both the crop and the incision areas with saline throughout the procedure and before closing her up with superglue, and she seems be holding together well. I have to say I NEVER want to witness that again there wasn't much blood, but there was a ton of oozy oatmeal and sand mixed and packed with a bunch of long grass blades and other material that had blocked her up. There was some sour odor but not as much as I would have expected.
The hen was back up on her feet and eating soft food by the next day, but she apparently ate the butterfly stitches off her own chest and a little newsprint before I got to her early the next morning, so in the future (I hope we don't even have to do this) I wouldn't bandage a hen again after surgery OR put her on newspaper. The superglue seams held well, and there is no sign of infection. 3 weeks later, she is eating and pooping but not laying but she seems normal otherwise. I hope the butterfly stitches and newspaper don't bring us back to the same problem later.
I never feel my hens' crops really full, which makes me wonder if they're eating enough, but I'm planning on changing to a feed that a local breeder says his birds can't resist. I chop whatever greens my birds get now to prevent them from getting a blockage going, and I'm alternating days putting ACV in the water. I used to throw out more BOSS but I'm keeping that to half a handful for 2 birds, and a little scratch after they've eaten some feed for breakfast. I should have been keeping a better eye on them and handling them more; I think this whole problem could have been averted, and we're all lucky (the hen especially) for the favorable outcome. I know there are people with too many birds to be able to look at each one that frequently, but I think being careful about what they eat is a good idea to avoid this scenario.
And thanks to my hubby for doing a gross job and saving my bird, and doing it carefully and well when all I could do was park it on a chair and put my head down
I'll try to be a better chicken mom.
