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

[LadyMuscovy]

Do the chickens not need any type of pain medication while surgery is going on?

Is it too late after a week to see if there is any skin to stretch? I just assumed it had been eaten.

I am using pink eye spray twice a day generously to included in between skin and undbody gap and it's not actively bleeding - at least not on outside of body., not stinking, doesn't appear to be infected - She is eating drinking and pooping and have her in a cage for now.

Missing skin are is rather large a little over 3" oval shape.

I can try to get a photo if needed.

Thanks everyone.

 

[ChickieKat]

We also attempted crop surgery last night on our favorite rooster. He was the most beautiful, sweet, gentle soul. I was devastated when I realized he had an impacted crop. We gave olive oil and massaged regularly for 24 hours but he was deteriorating fast and was no longer passing anything other than clear liquid.

We opened him up and all seemed to be going well until I noticed some bleeding that didn't want to stop. We finished up, closed his crop up with super glue and closed the outer incision about half way to allow us to monitor the bleeding. We held pressure for a half hour and it had seemed to stop so we put him in our spare bathroom on a towel under a laundry basket to keep him quiet.

He seemed to be doing very well for a couple of hours with no bleeding until we checked on him one last time before bed and found that he had completely bled out. I looked at his incision and the blood hadn't come from there, it had seemed to all come straight from his mouth. There was absolutely no blood in the crop, and it was sealed completely when we closed him up, so I am completely baffled and crushed.

I feel like he was dying anyway, so it was worth a try, but at the same time I feel like I slaughtered my dearest pet. This is also on top of losing my favorite hen to egg yolk peritonitis last week. Feeling extremely discouraged right now.

 

[KurtG]

We did the crop surgery recently as well and had absolutely no bleeding. I tried to cut where there were no veins in the skin, but we were shocked that there was not some minimal bleeding. Don't be discouraged you tried to save him versus putting him down. We did suture both layers, but in your situation it sounds as if something else was going on. Perhaps something else ruptured from the impaction.

So as not to discourage you or others from attempting this in the future, our Clara Barton (avatar right after surgery) is doing very well ~ a month post surgery. fwiw, the oil and massaging also did absolutely nothing in our case and am confident you made the right call to step in and try to help.

 

[Dottiee]

Have you ever tried superglue? I used it on a bone-deep finger cut, and it healed cleanly, quickly and painlessly.

 

[MontanaGal]

THANK YOU for posting your information.

I noticed my 2-month old chicken didn't look normal in the breast area and by looking on Google, and finding this page, I was able to perform surgery on her and feel good about it.

My chicken didn't have straw impaction though - the crop was non-functioning due to a piece of plastic she had ingested, along with a lot of pieces of rock (small) and gravel/grit.

Anyway, by reading your post about the actual surgery and realizing that "YES, we could do that!", our chick is still alive after surgery. If she does not make it, at least we tried to save her.

No anesthesia was used, just a towel wrapped over her body and over her head. She laid very quietly until my husband thought he could take his hand off her body. WRONG - then she dipped her wing in the betadine solution in a bowl and then flopped it all around and splattered everything, but that is a small thing in my book.

We watched several videos, got the feel for it (literally), and plunged in. We used super glue to seal her up, worked like a charm.

I was wondering about "after" antibiotics, but it seems they are not necessary.

She is up and eating a scrambled egg, watermelon rind, and soft foods, and drinking water. We couldn't ask for a better outcome at this point.

Time will tell.

Thanks again for the info and giving us the courage to do it ourselves.

 

[earthly88]

I just performed my first crop surgery on one of my poor welsummers'. She is incredibly thin and weak. I've taken some warm water and mixed it with a little rice milk and vegan protein powder. Every hour I try to give her a tablespoon or so. The crap inside looked nothing like the pictures and videos I saw online. It was sort of muddy, grainy mess and I had to scoop it out. I repeatedly flushed with distilled water before I stitched it up but I am still worried about secondary infection. Before I did the surgery I called more than 10 veterinarians in my area to see if they could do the surgery and not a single one would. No one would even give me advice. Now that I have done it myself, I am unsure about the aftercare. I've tried calling vets for advice and they say it's illegal for them to give me advice. I am looking for advice on what her diet should be like and if there are any antibiotics I should be giving to fend off any infection.

 

[kathiej4455]

Hello, I have a Buff Brahma hen who apparently flew/fell into something that put a 1/2 tear in her crop, and liquid is leaking out. I think I need to sew it up, but am not sure what to use.

What did you clean it with, and what type of needle/suturing thread?

 

[MontanaGal]

We used superglue, not sutures.

Blot the area dry and apply superglue and pinch the skin together until it is holding the skin closed.

I kept my chicken in all night and actually had to add more superglue the next morning.

After that, the chicken did well. Lived on to lay eggs and is a part of my flock.

 

[speckledhen]

I noticed someone reacted to this thread. After years of more experience, I have to say that we do not do crop surgeries any longer. There may come a time when we make an exception, but have not had to in many years, We have other methods of dealing with impacted crops, but rarely experience those nowadays. The Orps and the Brahmas were much more prone to crop issues than any other breeds, maybe because they're fairly big eaters, who knows? Crop malfunction is generally a symptom of something wrong internally, however, including heart issues and just about anything you can think of, it seems. It's rarely ever the actual issue at hand.
Only two roosters ever had impacted crops here, both bantam breeds. One had a heart issue from early on and the other was over 4 years old and simply on his way out of the world anyway so his crop ceased to function as his body was shutting down.