EMERGENCY Impacted crop, starving, can’t go to vet

[Chicken❤️er]

Hi,
While we were on vacation for two weeks, one of our hens, Snowpea, started acting sick. She turned out to have an impacted crop that’s gone sour. I tried doing the oil and the massages and it’s been building up for so long (3 weeks now) that it’s not moving through. We were gonna see a vet today to get surgery done but we got a surprise snowstorm and everything’s closed, can’t even go out on the road to get supplies from the store. No 24/7 emergency animal hospitals will take chickens, plus we can’t drive anywhere anyway. She’s emaciated and starving and I don’t know what to give her that will pass through the crop to give her nutrients. I made homemade electrolyte solution (gave her 10ml so far) but not sure if that will suffice. Does anyone have any suggestions? I need to keep her alive until we can access a doctor. Also, she’s outside in the coop and it’s cold, so I’m putting her in a warmer area on the side of our house.

Any help is welcome. Thank you so much.

 

[MysteryChicken]

What doesn't the crop contents feel like?

 

[MysteryChicken]

How often did you do the oil, & massage? Were you massaging in a circular motion at a downward angle?

Have you cut out feeding? Do you have her on water?

 

[Chicken❤️er]

Crop was initially fairly hard but has gotten somewhat squishy but feels really full and it’s gurgling like sour crop. She’s not eating, and I sat her in a plastic box filled with pine shavings, paper towels, and a bowl of water in a room on the side of the house. I administered 10ml of olive oil twice a day for two days (yesterday and the day before), and massaged as thoroughly as I could for five to ten minutes. I was told to do it circularly in an upward motion- someone said the “crop drain” was more upward in relativity to the rest of the crop. I felt no progress in breaking anything up or things going and moving through.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

She turned out to have an impacted crop that’s gone sour. I tried doing the oil and the massages and it’s been building up for so long (3 weeks now) that it’s not moving through. We were gonna see a vet today to get surgery

What does her crop feel like - is it hard, doughy, can you feel fibrous material in there, fluid filled...can you please describe it?

She needs fluids if she's not drinking. Can you tube fluids into her? Once you get fluids into her, then you can try wet soupy feed.

Oil can help a little if the crop is slow or boggy, but if there's a blockage, then stool softener, a flush or last resort surgery may be needed. Sometimes a blockage is in the intestines or gizzard which causes the crop to back up.

Hopefully you can sustain her until she gets to the vet, if she's emaciated, then she may not make it. Consider having your vet run a fecal float to see if worms are part of the problem as well.


https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...dications-to-all-poultry-and-waterfowl.73335/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/crop-feeding.75454/

 

[MysteryChicken]

Crop was initially fairly hard but has gotten somewhat squishy but feels really full and it’s gurgling like sour crop. She’s not eating, and I sat her in a plastic box filled with pine shavings, paper towels, and a bowl of water in a room on the side of the house. I administered 10ml of olive oil twice a day for two days (yesterday and the day before), and massaged as thoroughly as I could for five to ten minutes. I was told to do it circularly in an upward motion- someone said the “crop drain” was more upward in relativity to the rest of the crop. I felt no progress in breaking anything up or things going and moving through.

The crop tube leads at a downward angle. Straightish, not completely upwards. Hard to describe.

I'd recommend coconut oil, it's more slippery than Olive oil, & it would be easier to give as chunks.

It's good it has softened up, that's progress.

Impacted crops will gurgle too.

 

[Chicken❤️er]

What does her crop feel like - is it hard, doughy, can you feel fibrous material in there, fluid filled...can you please describe it?

She needs fluids if she's not drinking. Can you tube fluids into her? Once you get fluids into her, then you can try wet soupy feed.

Oil can help a little if the crop is slow or boggy, but if there's a blockage, then stool softener, a flush or last resort surgery may be needed. Sometimes a blockage is in the intestines or gizzard which causes the crop to back up.

Hopefully you can sustain her until she gets to the vet, if she's emaciated, then she may not make it. Consider having your vet run a fecal float to see if worms are part of the problem as well.


https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...dications-to-all-poultry-and-waterfowl.73335/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/crop-feeding.75454/

The crop feels doughy, with lots of pieces of grain. It’s really hard for me to tell if there are any large fibrous pieces- most of the area around the crop is bald, but the side of the crop still has feathers and I can’t tell if that’s what’s creating the lumpy texture or if it’s coming from inside.

I’ve been syringing some water into her, as well as an electrolyte mixture- will that pass through the crop, since it’s liquid? If not, I’m not sure how to tube and not sure if we have the material to do so, although my mom, who’s a pediatrician, might, but she’s gone at work today, can’t go on the road right now to get anything.

 

[HollyBerrie]

I have dealt with a severly impacted crop 11 years ago. Here's my experience that may help:

I did not give the chicken anything to soften it. I massaged (squeezed) every few hours, around the clock. Squeezed the crop. Gentle massaging is not going to move anything through a severely impacted hard crop.

This was a hard lump. I held him on my lap and squeezed the lump (crop) between my thumb and fingers, moving around on the entire crop. Every time after squeezing it was softer, and eventually with diligence, all of the impaction worked through. He always had water available, but when he drank he just spit it back up. Anyway, I knew the only nourishment he was going to get was me getting the impaction and crop contents through his system.

I also had put an elastic bandage around his crop to hold it up and keep it squished against his body. I kept the bandage on even after the impaction was all the way through, because his crop had stretched. Eventually his crop shrank back to normal, and he was fine.

 

[Chicken❤️er]

The crop tube leads at a downward angle. Straightish, not completely upwards. Hard to describe.

I'd recommend coconut oil, it's more slippery than Olive oil, & it would be easier to give as chunks.

It's good it has softened up, that's progress.

Impacted crops will gurgle too.

We do have coconut oil. How much should I give her (mL)? I can continue massaging as well. That’s good to know.

 

[Chicken❤️er]

I have dealt with a severly impacted crop 11 years ago. Here's my experience that may help:

I did not give the chicken anything to soften it. I massaged every few hours, around the clock.

This was a hard lump. I held him on my lap and squeezed the lump between my thumb and fingers, moving around on the entire lump. Every time after squeezing it was softer, and eventually all of the impaction worked through. He always had water available, but when he drank he just spit it back up. Anyway, I knew the only nourishment he was going to get was me getting the impaction and crop contents through his system.

I also had put an elastic bandage around his crop to hold it up and keep it squished against his body. I kept the bandage on even after the impaction was all the way through, because his crop had stretched. Eventually his crop shrank back to normal, and he was fine.

Ok, thank you, this is encouraging me to keep up with the massages. I will give her some coconut oil too, to see if that helps at all. For how long did you massage at a time?