Crop surgery post OP questions. . . .

The dog harness needs a little work- she got her foot caught in it and turned everything in her cage over. I'm still not sure how she did that. Anyway, later i cut the leg off a pair of old leggings, slipped it over her head first and cut an oval hole for her wings and rolled and folded it until it was supporting her crop. Which is still enormous this morning and she is still on perch and not clamoring to be fed. I'm going to remove it and see it her demeanor improves and go from there. I
 
I've had them get a foot caught also. The bottom of the bra that goes across the lower part needs to be fairly snug so that they can't get a foot in there. It works better if the straps run accross the body rather than up and down so there is no gap there to get feet in. I tie the bottom strap behind the wings and the upper strap in front of the wings and then if there is enough strap left I tie the two together and wrap with co wrap to prevent any strings from being picked off. It can take several adjustments to get it right. Part of the reason I was hoping to see the harness in pictures, to see what kind of adjustments you could make. Be patient and make adjustments, eventually you will get it fit right.
 
Here is a picture of mine wearing hers, it did take several adjustments to make it fit so that she didn't get feet caught and it was in the correct spot. It doesn't bother her at all anymore. The lump sticking up on her back is the ties wrapped in co wrap to prevent any strings from being picked off. No one bothers that either since it's black.
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For those of you following -
Oh yes, I’m still following, just waiting for my next problem bird. And it seems like I found her this morning. I noticed my S Sussex had an unusually large crop last night at roosting time and by golly it still was this morning when the pop door opened. I quickly grabbed her up and started feeling of her crop. All I could feel was a hard ball so I went to the house and got some coconut oil that I’ve had in the fridge. As I started getting her to eat/drink it I began massaging her crop. With the help of the oil and massage, I began feeling what seemed like a butt load of grit, large pieces of grit. The chickens free range so there’s no telling what she’s picked up. Hopefully nothing that won’t go through. :fl
I got her sutured up without incident
Now, after knowing what could be in front of me (I really hope not, but...) I am wondering how you sutured her (crop and skin). Most articles that I’ve read only talk about using super glue on both places. Do you actually use a suture needle and “what” kind of thread? I’m just trying to prepare myself. Thank you for your response.
 
Now, after knowing what could be in front of me (I really hope not, but...) I am wondering how you sutured her (crop and skin). Most articles that I’ve read only talk about using super glue on both places. Do you actually use a suture needle and “what” kind of thread? I’m just trying to prepare myself. Thank you for your response.
You can buy sutures on line, amazon has them, an assorted set is about $16 depending on what you get. For the crop itself you would need absorbable sutures, you could use non-absorbable for the skin and remove once healed. You can even buy kits with practice pads to practice suturing if you are so inclined.
 
Do you actually use a suture needle and “what” kind of thread? I’m just trying to prepare myself. Thank you for your response.

I used actual suture. 5-0 vicryl. I was a vet tech for many years before my twins came along so have thrown many sutures. It was the smallest suture I happened to have on hand and it worked very well. However, I wouldn't recommend using it unless you are 100% comfortable doing it. I was worried at first that I had sutured her skin to her crop because I am a little Rusty. I discovered that was not the case several days later and it had been healing just fine. More on that later though
 
Thanks for all the advice and encouraging words all have provided. I regret to report that Flower is no longer with us. Her crop continued to remain extremely full in spite of my effort to help her. I believe it just stopped working. When she aspirated crop contents in spite of me trying to keep her crop emptied I made the decision to cull her. She was no longer enjoying high quality of life.

I did perform a cursory necropsy and discovered nothing glaring except her gizzard was completely empty. Her body condition was consistent with what a laying hen's should be. Regarding the comment I made about suturing her crop - I checked her crop thoroughly to be sure I hadn't obviously made things worse. What I found was it wasn't leaking anywhere that I could see and it was almost healed completely. There was a tiny rough area on the outside of her crop where I started to close with surgical glue but didn't like how it was closing and decided to suture. It was difficult to tell besides that where the suture line had been. And where I thought I had possibly sutured her skin to the crop it was scarring that easily broke free when i examined it.
 

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