Help! Impacted crop?

[Slg140]

She did not have access to food over night before I discovered the impacted crop. The poor girl must have had worms before I dewormed a couple days ago because she’s really lost a lot of weight. Will she be okay if I withhold food when she is so thin?

 

[SimsFarmFresh]

She did not have access to food over night before I discovered the impacted crop. The poor girl must have had worms before I dewormed a couple days ago because she’s really lost a lot of weight. Will she be okay if I withhold food when she is so thin?

If her crop is impacted, she should not eat anything more until whatever is lodged passes. As long as she is getting plenty of water, she should be fine until you get it massaged out. If she gets scarily lethargic, I would recommend taking her to the vet.

 

[TexasSam]

Your girl needs lots of water if she isn’t drinking much then you need to force feed her water with a medication dropper. She doesn’t need any food until it is gone. The key is lots of water and massage

 

[rebrascora]

You can give electrolytes and vitamin supplements like Nutri Drench which will help to sustain her until you can clear the impaction. The reason she is skinny will probably be because she has been partially impacted for a long time and not enough food has been getting through her system to sustain her, so she has been living off her body reserves (fat and muscle) until eventually she is skin and bone and there is nothing left and she is too weak to continue.
There is no point in giving her food when it cannot get through her crop.

 

[casportpony]

I've had a couple with feed impactions (not grass) and I treat mine by tube feeding lots of fluids. Let me know if this is something you would like to try.

 

[Slg140]

Thank you all so much! Luckily she isn’t acting lethargic yet. I will massage as her crop as often as I can and make sure she gets tons of water, I’ve syringe fed some sick chickens before and boy do they hate it! But they all lived so I guess I’m doing it right!

 

[rebrascora]

I’ve syringe fed some sick chickens before and boy do they hate it! But they all lived so I guess I’m doing it right!

It is not so much a question of you doing it right but more that you are running the odds by using a syringe. It is risky no matter how many times you have done it successfully. Using a catheter to tube feed directly into the crop is less risky.

 

[casportpony]

Not only is it less risky, it's much less stressful to the bird and the handler(s). Last time I did one I tubed 60-90 ml of water 4 times a day.

 

[Slg140]

Her crop was still full this morning, but loose rather than hard. I can still feel a lot of grain or maybe grass in there, it’s just more plyable now. Is it possible it’s going sour?

She is drinking water just fine on her own so I haven’t had to help her out with that yet.

 

[rebrascora]

If it goes sour, her breath will smell bad. I've had quite a few with an impacted crop that was hard at first and then mushy. Some took as long as 2 weeks of massage to clear and another needed surgery after about 10 days of massage, when it became obvious it wasn't going to shift. Neither turned sour, so it is not automatic that an impaction will turn sour even after a significant length of time. Keeping water going through it will help to prevent that. Mix a little soaked feed and a teaspoon of oil and some Nutri drench into the water so that she is getting some sustenance as well as fluids.

I can still feel a lot of grain or maybe grass in there

Have you been feeding them grains recently? If it is grass/vegetation that is causing the impaction it usually does just feels squishy once you break up the solid mass but it may well be that there are grains trapped amongst it. Any pellets/crumbles will break down in the water she is drinking along with your massage and pass through. It is a positive sign that it is feeling looser but you still have a way to go because that vegetation needs to get broken down too and that takes time. Keep on with the massaging until the crop is completely empty.
You may want to go out and purchase some stool softener capsules without stimulant (Dulcolax or similar generic pack containing docusate sodium). This is the next level of treatment to try if it doesn't pass with massage alone, but I would give the fluids and massage a few more days and just have them on hand for when/if you need them. Make sure she has no access to grains or fibrous material or anything "lumpy" to eat that will undo your good work.