CROP TROUBLES

[DLS]

I am making some oat meal with egg whites & olive oil + the yogart on the side & vinegar water. how does that sound?
Dan

 

[threehorses]

Again, I'd use more dissolvable foods. Whites don't dissolve. Yolks do.

Just mix the water, yogurt, and mashed egg yolks and that is what I'd use. You can try the olive oil as well. I'd avoid oatmeal, I'd avoid whites.

 

[Glenda L Heywood]

what you need do is to use the crop flush
the baking soda makes the sour crop neutralize

FLUSHING FOR SOUR OR IMPACTED CROP IS THIS

very simple
mix the 1 pt of warm water
1/2 cup of baking soda
mix good and fill a child'sd ear syringe with the baking soda water

put the chicken on the table in front of you
if there is some one to hold the chicken it is easier to do

now take the filled syringe and put it in the back of the throat of the chicken
ex[ell all the water
now lay the syringe down
take your hand and bring it up tightly against the crop of the chicken
all the while pushing on the hand to breing up the spoiled feed etc out of the crop
the chicken will not hold it back but as chickens do not vomit you are the one bringing the spoiled feed out the beak

do not turn the chicken upside down
chickens do not throw up but you have to push it out the beak


do the flushing at least three times and let the bird rest
DO NOT FEED IT FOR 24 HRS
let it rest and then only feed it
one sliced of bread soaked in milk
into the milk cut a 1000 mg capsule of Vitamin E
feed this twice a day for a week

also have 1 tbsp of apple cider vinegar in qt of water
by now she is getting better

then you can see if she does alright on the crumble chicken feed


DO NOT FEED her ANY WHOLE OR CRACKED GRAINS ALL THIS TIME

IF IT IS A LARGE BALL OF GRASS IT WILL NEED SURGERY
the surgery is best done when you have some one to hold the chicken on a table

I had no problem doing this as I did it on young pigeons which get large grains stuck in the crop hole

remember that there are two layers of skin to cut
the outter skin and the skin over the crop

make sure the insision is large enough to take out the large size ball of grass

then use 1 pat water and 2 parts iodine wash to clean the crop be fore stiching the flesh up again
and keep the skin flushed twice daily and it will heal


***
YOU NEED TO STUDY AND DO THIS NOW
CROP SURGERY???
AT WORST SIDE you may have to do this: A
friend of BYC made this up for impacted crop surrgery
more professional than mine

Items Needed:

Betadine solution
Isopropyl Alcohol
Gauze Pads
Razor blade or Exacto-knife
Tweezers (surgical - if available, find at Vet Supply or Pet)
Hand Towel
Sutures or Heavy weight Thread
Sharpie sewing needle that will accommodate thread
Scissors
Antibiotic ointment
access to warm water, preferably a kitchen sprayer

To perform the surgery, a "surgeon" and "assistant" are needed. The assistant holds the bird, wrapped in a hand towel,from behind being sure to keep the wings secure and unflapping.

(1. Approximately 1/3 of the way down the crop, located on the right the breast; push back the feathers and have the assistant hold the feathers away from the site. Place a few drops of betadine solution on a gauze pad and clean the dermis of the crop at the site of the incision.

(2. Wipe the area with an alcohol pad. Allow to dry.

(3. Holding the skin slightly spread, cut through the outer dermis with the cutting tool. The opening needs to be only 3/4" - 1" in length. (The incision that we made was more horizontal than vertical.) The skin is fairly tough, so you may have to apply several strokes. The tool will pass through the outer dermis and you might encounter adipose (fat) and then flesh before entering the crop.

(4. Once the crop has been opened, material may start to be seen through the opening. Place the bird over the sink and massage the crop so that the contents move towards the opening. The surgeon can grab the contents and dispose in the sink. Once the material is removed, rise the site thoroughly with warm water. Additional material may come to the surface, massage the crop to feel if there are any additional contents. (Tweezers may be needed to remove blades of grass or in our case a cigarette filter.)

-Be careful not to tear the skin around the site with the massaging.

(5. Rinse the site again. Pat dry with a gauze pad. Take a minimum of a dime size dose of antibiotic ointment and "pack" the site - lightly smearing the cream or ointment into the site.

(6. Thread your needle, cutting a 12" section of doubled thread. Knot the end, leaving a 1/2" tail. Place 3-4 stitches through the dermis, catching the lining of the crop. End the stitches with a knot on the opposite end from which you started.

(7. Allow the "patient" to recuperate isolated from the flock. Use newspaper for bedding, offer water and withhold grain. Offer plain yogurt 6-8 hours after. Yogurt and mash/grain can be offered on day 2. Water at all times.

(8. Keep an eye on the incision, being sure that there is no tearing or redness. The stitches can be removed 7 days after surgery. Apply antibiotic ointment to the site.

We put our girl back with the flock on day 4, watching her closely.

I hope that this helps for future reference.


and the surgery you probably won't need but will include
keep us posted how your helping her


email me with any questions

 

[DLS]

This is the first day in a week that the crop is full of what feels like liquid, NO LUMPS or hard things. she is eating Yogart,hard boiled egg youls, & some crumbles. the water is apple cider vineagar & water . so I hope to see some improvement. the bird is lively & seems to feel OK. But the crop even though is not full of hard things & just liquid, it still is way, way,way to big.

 

[threehorses]

It really needs to be emptied, unless there's a point in the day at which it does empty. The stuff in there is just going to breed more and more bacteria and yeast the longer it sits.

Think of a stagnant pond. Now think of a stagnant pond with chicken feed in it. Nasty.

Monitor her a few times a day this weekend. Most importantly, sneak out in the morning before she's awake and feel her crop then. If it's NOT empty, she has crop stasis and leaving the contents in her crop will cause long term problems.

If you're afraid to do the full-blown crop flush, use the same method above to empty the crop without flushing. And then use the ACV and probiotics. Are you currently using those?

Just because there's not a lump doesn't mean there's not a problem. It's just that the lump has dissolved.

 

[HickChick Wannabe]

Hi,
I'm anxiously following this thread because I may have the same issue. One of my chicks that just hatched Mon. or Tues. had a very full crop this morning. The lump was so big it's fluff was sticking up like a porcupine raising its quills. I didn't notice it before, but have to think it didn't just become a problem last night, with it being so big, could it have? I'm at work, so haven't been able to monitor it, but want to know what to do if it's still like that when I get home. Do I need to try to flush it before doing anything else, or can I try vinegar and yogurt and no other food and see if that works first? What about the bread and olive oil? And how much time should I give it to work?

 

[LynneP]

Went through this in May and got the hen fixed:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=7693-sick-hen

The smaller ball is disturbing, but you are making progress. Continue massaging.
Took me 5 days and 10 for hen to be 'normal again'

 

[artsyrobin]

Quote:
i would post this on a new thread mentioning the age of the chick, my girl with this is about 10 weeks, so am not sure if a tiny one would be handled the same way- i also have heard of something called 'slow crop' and wonder if that might be my girls problem