Alright one of my hens has a hard mass not very big probably around an inch long and 1/4" wide in her throat/ crop her crop is not sticking out like some of the pics on here she has not been eating for a few days and has isolated herself away from the others pretty much staying in the coop. other than surgery (last option) what are some things I could try? please help!
I just got through a impacted crop with one of my roosters. I'm confused about your mention of crop or throat. If it is in the crop, you will need to withhold feed for a day or even two. Keep the bird in an area without shavings or grass to eat. Make sure the bird is drinking on its own. If the bird is, get some Colace stool softener tabs from the drug store. If the bird is not a Bantam, gently massage the crop side to side and give 2 50mg caps 2x a day for one day. If the bird isn't drinking you'll need to give 10cc of water orally by syringe each time you give the capsules.
See how the bird's crop feels the next morning. If the hardness has softened it may take a day or two to pass through the gizzard to the intestines. Sometimes a problem exists in the gizzard or the intestines with something like enteritis and that's the reason for the crop emptying slowly.
I've found that 1/4 oz of Molasses in a quart waterer for no more than 4 hours gets the bird to empty its intestines. Again, you will have to dose orally by syringe if the bird isn't drinking on its own. You can do it by offering bits at a time in the mouth, being careful not to aspirate (getting liquid in the lungs of the bird). Tube feeding is a pain in the *** if you don't have the proper size tube and syringe. Hopefully the bird will drink on its own to make this easier. If the crop feels normal after the 4 hours, you could offer a tablespoon of crumbles mixed with buttermilk, or a small piece of bread soaked in buttermilk, nice and softened. The buttermilk will soothe the intestinal tract.
The bird may have diarrhea for a day or two. Feed small moistened Tablespoon portions a couple times a day, checking the crop 2x a day between meals. I followed up with Tetracycline in the water since I suspected something intestinal (1/4 teaspoon per quart), and will do so for 5 days. After that the bird will get Avian Super Pack vitamins in the water with a pinch of Probios for a couple days.
