Crop Surgery Performed - More pics & How To Steps posted - Pg 10

[chickensioux]

Incredible!!!! Truly well done!!!! Hope all continues to go well and she heals up nice. Very inspiring.

 

[ruth]

Here's a recent photo of Patience - doing GREAT. She's gained weight; her feathers are growing back all nice and black and shiny; her face scaley mites are gone; her comb and wattles are red again.

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

 

[EweSheep]

 

[jessejames]

hey ruth
it seems i have the same problem with one of my new hens "blue" too so i think that i am going to have to go your route of surgery i am just wondering if there are some tips you like to pass on things you would have done differently etc.
thanls for your time
as a;ways

 

[ruth]

Quote:
I'm sorry to hear you have a hen with a crop issue also. I can't think of anything I would have done differently - it all went exceptionally well. I did try everything else first though and only did the surgery as a last resort. God knows, I did NOT want to open up that chicken's crop but I knew that she wouldn't make it much longer if I didn't.

Note that I did drain the fluid out of her first by holding her upside down being careful to keep her head down so that she didn't lift it while vomiting out the putrid black foul-smelling liquid and aspirate on it. That probably got a cup or more of liquid out of her. I think that was important because when I first laid her down to look at her, the liquid started draining out of her mouth and she would have choked on it so I think that may be an important step to try first. You may also be able to get out enough gunk so that you wouldn't have to operate. In my case, it was clear there was still a huge ball of stuff in her that there was no way it was coming out of her mouth. You can see in the pics how large she was and that was after the liquid had been expelled.

In her case, she had gotten really weak so if I had it to do over again I think I would have done it sooner. I first noticed something wrong with her about three weeks prior. She was really "old" looking, all gray around the face and her comb and wattles were colorless. On examination I found she was emaciated and skin and bones and had scaley face mites. I treated her for those and noticed her crop felt hard but it was night so I had no way of knowing how long it had been that way but I knew she was too skinny. I kept an eye on her for the next couple of weeks and finally pulled her from the flock to bring inside and withhold food to watch the crop. When she wasn't pooing and the crop didn't go down after withholding food and it was practically dragging the ground I knew it was impacted. I then began a week of trying the olive oil and massaging but it didn't work either.

So, to answer your question, if you've tried olive oil/massage, and tried the holding upside down, and there is still a large impacted crop after withholding food then I would suggest the surgery. You can get a set of sutures from your vet. I made the incision high on the crop so that it could heal without food weighing on it. I used a new single-edge razor. I stitched crop, skin on outside of crop, and outer skin all separately.

Best of luck. Keep us posted on how it goes.

 

[fldiver97]

Great job, happy to hear that Patience recovered so well!

You wrote you did not use any sedation, I guess you did not use Lidocaine for the incission either?? I guess in her condition drugs would have not ben ideal anyway....And yes, suturing something like that is easier with a curved needle (at least for me but I find it easier to use hemostat to handle the needle). But whatever works for you best is the way to go and whatever supplies you have....Hope the vet can supply you with some more suturing material!!!

 

[NotTheMomma]

Ebay has several sellers of the sutures if anyone is interested in having them on hand. Some have expired dates (would still be sterile, but by law they can't be used on people), and others are still within the date. Mixed sizes, absorable as well as nonabsorable. Just thought I'd pass on the info in case your vet won't sell you any. ( Mine wouldn't!)

 

[ruth]

Quote:
No I didn't use sedation but she didn't even flinch. The incision was quick and seemingly painless for her. I did use Betadine on the area before making the incision - betadine my vet provided (really thick syrupy stuff). I'll have to ask the vet for some curved needles - they probably would be easier to work with.

If I had been 100% certain what numbing agent I could have used without it having side effects, I would have used it. There have been many posts on BYC warning that any product containing "caine" is potentially lethal for chickens. Speckledhen had a rooster drop dead shortly after applying a "caine" product to his comb that had gotten torn in a roo fight. Now, it could have been coincidence, but I didn't want to take the chance of using something on an open wound that could kill her. I have learned from sewing up many other chickens that they seem to have a very high tolerance for pain or they don't feel it - not sure which. But I've sewn up hens who would be drinking and eating from my counter top while I sewed on them.

 

[ruth]

Quote:
That's good information to know because I know most vets will not provide any sort of medical needs without treating the animal themselves. My vet is really great in that she will give me or sell me whatever I ask for including medications even if it means having to order them. She admits I know a lot more about chickens than she does and says she would probably kill one just trying to put it under anesthetic.

In my case, the box of needles were expired and that's why she gave me the whole box. Of course they still work great - what's to expire with a needle and sutures? I've used them on chickens, ducks and peacocks.