Hard Crop Not Clearing

[Wyorp Rock]

 

[azygous]

This is more suspenseful than a TV drama. Just saying. I don't have TV.

 

[Mimi13]

Team, this is the final inning! Let's do this!

Yee Haw! And the score right now is 0-1, chicken! We both have run a marathon of tube feeding and palpating. I am exhausted and I know she is too. I have been given the “middle finger” stink eye so many times today I cannot count. Gabby wanted me to share her stink eye with y’all. She knows I’m being persuaded by others.

I am paranoid now because she just got through eating a huge amount of Dumor Chick Grit and Oyster Shell (I feed Flock Raiser and she’s still laying.)

She still has not pooped since her last treatment of coconut oil and stool softener (oh yum!) about 9:30, but here is the poop from right before. I don’t know if this is a good sign or bad sign.

begin yeast treatment or it's not going to empty completely.

And for the love of Pete I cannot, I repeat cannot, find the tube of miconozole I bought a few weeks back when I thought I might need it for my RIR. Dear lord, I’ve lost my ever loving mind. Since the Gabster has already crawled back in her pen and nodded off (while I was looking for it) I will look again in the morning. Bless this baby bird’s heart...she IS exhausted. But, she is a definite trooper!

She’s growling at me now so I will turn the light off and let her sleep. I hope and pray the broken up stuff will begin making its way out tonight. I just hate I don’t have a roost for her. Right now though she doesn’t seem bothered.

Once again, thank you, thank you. Gabby thanks you too! Really she does!

 

[Mimi13]

This is more suspenseful than a TV drama. Just saying. I don't have TV.

Ha! That is funny.

 

[Mimi13]

Ooo, Ooo! I found a new poop. She must have done it on her way to the back of the pen. Pretty good and firm, I must say. It’s about the size of a quarter. I’m happy!

 

[Mimi13]

Believe it or not I found the miconozole. I put it in her beak and the poor thing licked and licked like a dog with peanut butter stuck in the roof of its mouth. Yeah, don’t ask me how I know that.

Dose #1 - check! Thirteen more to go.

 

[azygous]

Poop! Yay!

We're rooting for one the size of an egg next!

 

[Mimi13]

Gabby’s crop is still big and hard and I’m about to start massaging it, but can we say a BIG Amen? Look what she produced right after she stretched. (Teaspoon is just for size comparison. It’s not being used to measure baking soda right now.)

She’s also gonna get her first dose today of miconozole in just a bit. Now I would like to know what the miconozole does to help her empty that crop. Does she have a yeast infection?

 

[azygous]

Give the little gal a bit of praise from me for that poop.

Yes, the impacted crop is very likely growing yeast by this time and contributing to the fullness. Especially possible from your description of a strong odor. So treating for that should help.

The hardness of the crop is a concern, though. But keep up with the oil and massage, too. Does her crop droop down low? If so, cup it with one hand to raise it up as you massage with the other hand, aiming for that "drain".

You might want to read my article on crop disorders, focusing on the pendulous crop part. She might benefit from a crop bra. But don't rule out surgery. It still may come down to that.

Meanwhile, how is her appetite? Will she eat soft foods such as boiled egg?

 

[Mimi13]

Does her crop droop down low?

To answer this, I am going to say yes it does. When I hold her crop in my hand my fingers can go up and underneath it. To be honest and completely TMI, it resembles an older woman’s upper anatomy. Don’t ask me how I know this either. It also feels as though the crop goes out to her right side more than usual. I have many times held her crop in my hand like where a crop bra would be placed. I do believe she would benefit from one. I had already been thinking about that.

how is her appetite?

It seems like her appetite is almost back up to speed. Of course, I already mentioned last night that she gobbled up the grit, and then the oyster shell, like she was starving to death. But she was eating her crumbles too. I will give her some scrambled egg a little bit later. I’m sure she will pig out on that too.

This morning when I woke her, she stood up, stretched both legs and wings, pooped and then came on out to see me. She immediately got a few sups of water and a few beakfuls of grit/feed.

Weirdo me wasn’t bothered by the broody poop smell and started digging through it with a toothpick to check the contents. There was quite a bit of short pieces of cellulose and then several pieces of small, smooth, white sand that her gizzard was dumping. (I use construction sand in the coop.) Overall, I was pleased with what I saw, I guess. I made a picture just in case it might be beneficial for others to see. I do believe there are more people like me than not like me, who like to see the details. I think anyway! ETA: she also produced a cecal poop not long after her big ol poop.

If you zoom in you can see the sand/grit pieces (circled in red) and then I tagged several of the cellulose pieces in blue. They are very short and are all throughout the poop. Nothing big and long, so far anyway.

I gave her the dose of miconozole this morning, but did not give her a dose of oil yet, but I did gently massage her crop some. Of course it was hard, BUT definitely not as big as it’s been being. She absolutely abhors having her head held for the tubing, so I hope I can get the oil in her with a few small pieces of bread soaked in oil. In the very beginning of this treatment I put scrambled eggs in a little red cup (I borrowed from Chili’s ) and she ate the egg and then drank the rest of the oil. Win/Win!

I so hope she is turning the corner with this, but I’m not getting my hopes up yet. I know that I must be diligent about giving her the miconozole for the full 7 days and continue with the crop massages.
I have moved her to the bathroom in the back of the house where we don’t keep the temperature as cool as the main part of the house. I believe the A/C is set on 76 or 77. That’s quite a bit cooler than what the outside temps have been being, but not the 72 we have set up front. I don’t want her to suffer from the heat when she finally returns to the flock.

I am going to look now for crop bra patterns. I think that will help. I see my own saddles so hopefully I can find some details on bra measurements.

I cannot wait for the new and improved Gabby to emerge!

Oh, and I did give her an extra hug and kiss this morning from all the BYCers! And if I could hug you I would. Thank you so much for guiding me through this.