Help! Sour crop / possible crop stasis in 6/7 week chick

[Nicky S]

My 6wk old chick had surgery Wednesday am (now Friday eve) to caponize. It was quite traumatic and lasted a long time - though he had sedation. Took him to avian specialist Thursday because he wasn’t eating / drinking well until right before I took him in when he drank. Vet said he was stable, gave subq fluids and fed via tube, plus analgesia. He said there was egg in his crop but it wasn’t sour. Egg was from Weds eve which was the only time he had eaten properly. He was drinking last night. Today he has been active but also sleeping a lot and very, very cuddly with me (not usual for him). Tonight his crop is a bit squishy and low, and possibly a little bubbly. He has had small mostly liquid yellow/white poops. He shows interest in food but seems to only be able to eat really really small bits. He’s subdued, but you wouldn’t think he’d not really eaten or drunk all day and occasionally hops onto the table etc. I’ll take him back in to the hospital tomorrow, but any suggestions for tonight? Does it sound like his crop isn’t emptying? Anything I can do or do I just let him go to bed? Really rooting for him, it just feels like he’s not progressing like he should.

 

[Nicky S]

Just got back from the vet but as it’s Saturday did not get to see the avian specialist unfortunately. My chick had surgery 3 days ago to caponize but was not recovering well. A visit with specialist 2 days ago left me feeling optimistic - he was given subq fluids, a feeding via tube and pain meds. They checked for sour crop but the contents of his crop were ok. When he came home he was drinking but can’t seem to eat except minuscule amounts that he drops half the time. He’s moving around, even doing the odd jump, but yesterday he did not eat or drink that I saw, and his crop was saggy and squishy. Today they said he has sour crop. Maybe crop stasis. They think bacterial overgrowth due to stress, but have taken a sample in case yeast. They said it might also be something systemic and could be a losing battle . He had been given an antibiotic injection, and sent home with reglan to get his system moving. They said I can give baby food via syringe. I feel a lot less hopeful today. He also has air trapped after the surgery but they weren’t concerned about that. Anything else I can do to help him? What kind of baby food would be best? I’m so worried he’ll go downhill tomorrow when the hospital is closed. I’ll feel so terrible if he doesn’t recover, I agonized for weeks over whether to caponize or not and my worst fears are coming true.

 

[Nicky S]

Just wanted to add that in general his behavior looks like he’s getting better despite all this - a little running and wing flapping, preening etc. Day 1 he was panting and just standing, but now he’s not panting and somewhat active. Less wobbly.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Just wanted to add that in general his behavior looks like he’s getting better despite all this - a little running and wing flapping, preening etc. Day 1 he was panting and just standing, but now he’s not panting and somewhat active. Less wobbly.

Sounds like the pain meds are working more than it sounds like actual recovery. Feeling better though even by artificial means can help allow us to actually rest and gives our moral a boost.. and that boosts the immune system/healing

Is he pooping?

I'd try scrambled egg (watered down if needed) before baby food. It's usually very palatable and easy to digest in addition to being very nutritious. I might even offer JUST the yolk cooked or raw (if from my own flock), since we are talking about a very small appetite.

Do you have any Poultry Nutri Drench to administer? It HELPS.

I agonized for weeks over whether to caponize or not and my worst fears are coming true.

Sorry you both are facing this. Thank you for sharing! Hopefully it will help others when they face the same thought or decision.

I wonder if this article about crop issues will help you at all..

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

I also wonder if @azygous or @Wyorp Rock or @Eggcessive have any solid words of wisdom to offer? TIA!

 

[Nicky S]

Sounds like the pain meds are working more than it sounds like actual recovery. Feeling better though even by artificial means can help allow us to actually rest and gives our moral a boost.. and that boosts the immune system/healing

Is he pooping?

I'd try scrambled egg (watered down if needed) before baby food. It's usually very palatable and easy to digest in addition to being very nutritious. I might even offer JUST the yolk cooked or raw (if from my own flock), since we are talking about a very small appetite.

Do you have any Poultry Nutri Drench to administer? It HELPS.


Sorry you both are facing this. Thank you for sharing! Hopefully it will help others when they face the same thought or decision.

I wonder if this article about crop issues will help you at all..

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

I also wonder if @azygous or @Wyorp Rock or @Eggcessive have any solid words of wisdom to offer? TIA!

Oh dear, I hadn’t thought about it being just down to the pain meds - though he did start drinking just before I took him in the first time so that’s a little bit of hope.

He is pooping - small amounts, runny - mostly white/yellowy though we did have one yesterday that was dark and kept some shape to it.

Egg was the first thing I gave him after surgery - and he ate almost a whole scrambled one, but that was the last thing he really properly ate. I worry that I should have waited to feed him until he started drinking by himself. I will definitely try just the yolk today from a freshly laid egg - that’s a great idea, thank you.

I do have nutridrench as well as another electrolyte mix…the nutridrench has been there a while, it doesn’t go bad does it?
And I will go check out the article now, thank you.

As for the caponization, I will definitely share our story once we have gone through this as I feel it may definitely be useful to others. For now I’ll just say that I will not ever do that again - for me personally it was a very, very bad decision, which is not to say it isn’t the right one for others.

Many thanks again - I sincerely hope I can come back with a happy update!

 

[Eggcessive]

When humans have abdominal surgery, it can be common for the digestive tract to temporarily be slowed. Also if the vet gave anesthetic, that would slow it down more. Hopefully the reglan will help. I don’t have any experience with surgery or caponizing in chickens, but anesthesia can be dangerous in chickens and birds.

 

[Nicky S]

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When humans have abdominal surgery, it can be common for the digestive tract to temporarily be slowed. Also if the vet gave anesthetic, that would slow it down more. Hopefully the reglan will help. I don’t have any experience with surgery or caponizing in chickens, but anesthesia can be dangerous in chickens and birds.

I think this may be what has happened, plus he wasn’t drinking so may have been dehydrated which I believe doesn’t help. He wasn’t under full anesthesia, just a sedation cocktail because we were worried about the risks, but I think that as he wasn’t fully out that increased the traumatic aspect. He doesn’t smell at all fermented sounds I’m hoping everything has just slowed down. Managed to get some egg yolk into him, hoping that and the reglan help enough!

 

[Nicky S]

Here’s Pudding (spot the odd one out )this afternoon having a little free time inside (horrible weather out today) - he’s doing surprisingly well considering everything.

 

[Nicky S]

Update tonight: when we tried to syringe feed tonight his crop was pretty full, and when I opened his beak he regurgitated a creamy colored liquid. We didn’t give him anything after that. Is that just yeast overgrowth? I’m confused as the vet said he has sour crop but gave him antibiotic, and sent a sample to see if there is yeast. Isn’t sour crop always yeast? He’s gone to bed now and I’ll see how the crop is in the morning - if it’s still full should we drain using a tube? My husband is a non-chicken vet so could do that (I think) but I want to make sure it’s the right course of action because he doesn’t usually treat chickens. Also no massage? And should I have been feeding? Poor little guy, I feel so awful.