Help! Impacted crop?

[Slg140]

Has anyone solved an impacted crop without surgery? It seems like that happens a lot and I’m a little worried.

 

[casportpony]

Has anyone solved an impacted crop without surgery? It seems like that happens a lot and I’m a little worried.

Yes, I have treated several crops that were impacted with feed (not grass) by filling their crops with water several times a day. I think too many people try surgery before trying something less invasive, like tubing fluids, and I am not sure why they do that.

 

[chickenMamee]

I have a one year old golden comet who I noticed had gotten very thin and had a pale comb. I treated her and the rest of the flock for worms last night, when I went to let them out this morning her comb looked better but I realized her crop was full and hard.

I’ve seperated her and tried to massage her crop after giving her bread soaked in olive oil. Her crop will move/spread out when I massage it, but not empty. I’ve taken her off food and am only giving her water for now. Is there anything else I can do?

I've been through this a few times and my advice is what the others say about olive oil and massaging. Also, I added apple cider vinegar to the water. It took my last hen several days to return to eating regular food. Good luck to you.

 

[casportpony]

Warning about oil, and I have used that too, but if a bird accidently inhales any they can get lipoid pneumonia, so be very careful if you decide to do that.

 

[rebrascora]

I have had positive results with extended periods of massaging and oil.... as long as 2 weeks for one hen with a grass impaction, but I have also had to resort to surgery with one that was eating straw and hay which was harder to break down and she was so emaciated surgery I felt it was "do or die" time with the surgery. I had already been massaging her for 10 days prior to surgery and she had probably been partially impacted for several weeks prior to that. When I removed the mass of vegetation from her crop it was very clear that it would not have broken down for a significantly longer time and she would have died of malnourishment before that. She was a bantam cochin and the mass was the size of a soft ball and heavier than she was, so the weight of it kept tipping her forward unless she hunkered down and rested it on the ground. After the surgery and gluing her back together (super glue is wonderful stuff!) she was on her feet and running around immediately and wolfing down scrambled egg within 10 minutes of finishing. The recovery was truly remarkable (she was back up to weight and laying eggs exactly 2 weeks later) and whilst I do see it as a last resort, it turned things around immediately. Even though she aspirated some reflux from her crop during surgery, she wheezed and gasped for a few days and then came good with no use of antibiotics or any other medicine, so I personally feel that surgery has it's place but it is at the bottom of the list when all other options have failed.
Stick with the fluid feeds and massage for a good few more days yet or try the Dulcolax. If she is still showing interest in eating/drinking the sloppy fluid feed then you are OK to keep going. If she loses interest in eating/drinking it, you need to take things to the next level, be that tube feeding, Dulcolax or finally surgery. That is my take on t from my experience, but you are still very much in the early stages of treating it at the moment.

 

[Slg140]

Her crop was still hard this morning, but smaller. I gave her a couple syringes of water and massaged for a few minutes. It loosened up really well, it kind of felt bubbly though? I don’t feel any grass, basically just what feel like grit

 

[casportpony]

Her crop was still hard this morning, but smaller. I gave her a couple syringes of water and massaged for a few minutes. It loosened up really well, it kind of felt bubbly though? I don’t feel any grass, basically just what feel like grit

That's how I do mine. Add water, massage a little and wait, then repeat and each day they get a little smaller.

 

[Sofia Salazar]

I am now of the opinion that giving grit for an impacted crop is not a good idea. Firstly because the crop does not have a thick strong lining like the gizzard which is designed to massage grit and food together to break it down, so there is a risk of the lining of the crop becoming scratched and aggravated and inflamed if you are massaging with grit in there. Secondly, if you have an impaction, putting grit in there will just add to it.
Most crop impactions are due to ravelled masses of vegetation (grass, straw etc) that act like a sieve. Fine particulate matter and fluids can usually pass through, especially with a bit of massage but aggregates like grains and grit get clogged up in it.

I have lost birds to dangerous advices. Absolutely NO GRITS to an impacted crop. The grit will grind food only when inside the gizzard. NOT IN THE CROP. The problem is that when the crop is impacted nothing is passing through so the grit add problem.

 

[casportpony]

I have lost birds to dangerous advices. Absolutely NO GRITS to an impacted crop. The grit will grind food only when inside the gizzard. NOT IN THE CROP. The problem is that when the crop is impacted nothing is passing through so the grit add problem.

I agree, no grit.

 

[Slg140]

Again, her crop was smaller this morning. We’re about at the size of a large marble now so that something! The poor thing was already thin though and I know she’s hungry. Could I try giving her yogurt or something?