CROP SURGERY COMPLETE! Sad update. :( RIP Yogurt

[sheeshshe]

My chicken had a purple comb and appeared to be egg bound. got an egg out of her she continued to decline, she was pooping something yolk colored, thought maybe she had an egg break inside. put her on some antibiotics and she is a lot better but still kind of lethargic and doesn't really eat much at all. she barely eats and barely drinks but her crop is always big and squishy. and when she poops a wheezing sound comes out of her nose! what does this sound like to you? anything I can do to fix her? she is on day 2 of penicillin.


UPDATE: now that her crop is going down a bit, I'm feeling what seems like a marble. I think she may have swallowed a moth ball that I had outside to keep the skunks away. please tell me what to do. I'm sure this is why she's been so reluctant to eat and feels like crap

how do I get it out?

 

[chickenzoo]

Is the crop a firm squishy or a soft squishy? If it is like a firm bean bag then it could be impacted, but if it is soft, it sounds more like her crop may be failing to function because of her weakened state. Keep dribbling vitamins into her beak, or inject a water/vitamin mix under the loose skin of the neck/back. Do you know how to tube feed? When was she last wormed?

 

[sheeshshe]

it feels like when you fill a balloon with sand and you can squish the sand around in the balloon... ever done that before? LOL!

 

[sheeshshe]

never been wormed. she's almost 1, she'll be 1 in a month. I dont have vitamins. and... no clue on the tube feeding.


I just am not sure here... its weird that her crop would be that full sicne she's not eating all that much at ALL. she barely eats... which makes me feel like something is off..

 

[chickenzoo]

That sounds like an impacted crop, or one that stopped working. If you are brave enough you can do a crop surgery, very little blood if any. The contents in the crop will not absorb on it's own, they must be cleaned from the crop. If you can take her to a vet, then I'd do it soon. If not, look under crop surgery. I have just done one to a roo and he is fine now, but you need a few tools. If you can do neither then I would put her down. So sorry.

 

[sheeshshe]

oh dear!!! I wonder if any of the BYC chicken lovers in my area would be willing to help me do that!? I couldn't even watch when we gave her the penicillin shot.

yeah, I think it is impacted. it has to be. I just checked the other chickens and hers is like 3 times the size...

 

[chickenzoo]

My roo didn't struggle. I folded him up in a towel and only exposed the crop. I snipped off the feathers so I could keep it clean and have a good view. Cleaned it with alcohol. Using a scalpel from TSC, I made a small incision, about an inch through the skin, in a downward line. Hardly any blood (I pass out from too much blood, mostly my own, LOL)

Underneath you see the croup, which is a big muscle. I made another incision the same way and size. Then I used big Q-Tips to scoop out all the sawdust my roo decided to eat.

I took him to the sink and using a big syringe I flushed out a lot of stuff. Then I took him back and used the Q-Tips again and removed more stuff. When I got it all, I stitched the crop with soul able stitches. then stitched the skin. I put him on a vitamin water and wet mushy food diet for the week. I also gave him some Amoxicillian. He is doing great now. Best Wishes

 

[jerseygirl1]

I'm saving this post, that was the BEST description of crop surgery I've seen

 

[sheeshshe]

its morning and for sure she's impacted

I can't believe this. all I've done for her so far to keep her alive and now THIS!

 

[jerseygirl1]

I'm sorry, wish I could run over and help you do it!!! Where are you??