Gizzard impaction - X-ray confirmed. How to proceed?

[wemimew]

Crop surgery is performed without any anaesthesia and for me, that would be the thing to have done in the first place. I hope she is still strong enough for it, but usually it does not take more than 10 minutes.
Your vet has to be careful not to injure the large blood vessel right across the front of the crop and she should perform two separate sutures: the crop tissue and then separately the outer skin.

Whishing you and your little Fluffy best of luck.

Hi LaFleche, thank you for replying . Her crop is doughy but good considering, it empties but incredibly slowly (days). Her gizzard is the problem unfortunately you can feel it in her lower abdomen - it fills up most of her lower body cavity (soft tissues area behind the legs). I’m guessing this is a secondary problem to something else but she is happy plotting and doing her thing just very slowly so I wanted to give her a chance. The other vets recommended euthanasia but until she is suffering it’s worth trying to treat, they only get one life and so far she is happy. If she makes it through and I can treat this I think it is going to be a very long process - there is a lot of poop in there for her to get out.

 

[wemimew]

Crop surgery is an option, but it would be too stressful since the hen is at death's door. Also there's no gizzard surgery, and that's the main issue in this instance.
If she gets constipated, applesauce acts as a mild laxative in chickens.

At the start before I knew exactly what was going on I tried applesauce and molasses flushes - they worked but mostly as a diuretic with little faecal material. I still give molasses on occasion with water but it is mostly for electrolytes if she looks like she needs a pick me up. There are a couple of avian vets around that would most likely attempt the operation but it would come at huge risk with anaesthetic and recovery she wouldn’t pull through even if I got it done on day one - she has consistently been poorly - although today she did have a long preening session for the first time so that is a good thing

 

[dawg53]

Make sure she doesnt gobble down fluff or feathers if she loses any while preening. I've seen that happen before. I admire your patience!

 

[LaFleche]

Hi LaFleche, thank you for replying . Her crop is doughy but good considering, it empties but incredibly slowly (days). Her gizzard is the problem unfortunately you can feel it in her lower abdomen - it fills up most of her lower body cavity (soft tissues area behind the legs). I’m guessing this is a secondary problem to something else but she is happy plotting and doing her thing just very slowly so I wanted to give her a chance. The other vets recommended euthanasia but until she is suffering it’s worth trying to treat, they only get one life and so far she is happy. If she makes it through and I can treat this I think it is going to be a very long process - there is a lot of poop in there for her to get out.

Well, then I would feed her lots of coconut oil, chilled to break it into little lumps easy to eat. And multi vitamins (Vitamin B complex+Vit. D3+K+E+A+ electrolytes.

 

[wemimew]

Tonight is day 9. She was slow during most of the day and poops were small and dark green as usual. When inspected there is grasses and grit in them though so it isn’t all digestive enzymes. I did another smear and found nothing remarkable and did my first gram stain on a slide but only found the probiotics - so no bacterial infections (providing I got something in the sample, I did not make a culture plate). She is still happy painting the patio with her tiny poops and hunting for anything she can find - she managed to catch a lizard today and swallowed it before I got to her, so I guess she had a nice treat from her usual liquid meals much to my upset. Foods are primarily egg yolks now - she is having 3 per day with some puréed pellets and as a treat she gets some apple sauce. She refuses to drink on her own and gets hand watered whenever her crop feels doughy - so 10cc’s 4-5 times per day at least. She was on electrolytes in the water today. She had her last digestive enzyme dose thismorning but to be honest I did not see the grasses in her poop breaking down any better - it all seemed the same. She had her anti fungals today as well. She picked right up tonight when she and her friend came in for the night which was a first. She went out of her way to try to beat up her broody pal as much as possible and followed her around the house making trouble. There was also one better looking poop tonight that had a section of brown in it - it smelt absolutely horrible and may have been cecal but it was nice to see something other than urates and bright green.
The impaction seems to be much the same although now I am wondering if it is actually her gizzard that is the problem or something else. Her poops are very thin so something is squeezing them somewhere along the lines. The space between the gizzard and the crop on the X-ray is also quite large so perhaps it is the bowel or pancreas? I’m not sure and only a necropsy will tell me unfortunately. Her crop is still the same as it was on day one although I am fairly confident it is emptying as the food she has had over the last week would be much more than what it reduces down to (although there is at least one lizard stuck in there now). Here is a pic of her poop for reference incase anyone else ever has the same problem - I did not get a picture of her good one, this is just the usual.

 

[LaFleche]

Have you tried the Moro carrot soup? It works wonders restoring the gut balance and even catches bacteria resistant to antibiotics.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/ascites-not-eating-scaly-leg-mites.1441960/post-23973664

Other than that, you could still try the rather drastic method of giving her Coca Cola, as it is known to dissolve almost everything. I use it for crop impaction treatment and it works just fine.

 

[dawg53]

Coca Cola might just do it!

 

[PurpleCArTires]

Coca Cola might just do it!

Wow. Never thought of Coke. I know people use it to unclog their toliets lol. I am putting this one in the ol memory bank!

 

[dawg53]

Wow. Never thought of Coke. I know people use it to unclog their toliets lol. I am putting this one in the ol memory bank!

I remember reading long ago that if you put a tooth in a bottle of coke, the next day it will be completely dissolved. I've never done it, but I know it does a number on my innards.

 

[PurpleCArTires]

I remember reading long ago that if you put a tooth in a bottle of coke, the next day it will be completely dissolved. I've never done it, but I know it does a number on my innards.

That is awful!! Lol
I think i lost some brain cells drinking coke zero. I had to quit because i could feel it affecting my memory!