Help with crop issue please

[Matilda84]

A couple of weeks ago my 4 year old hybrid hen had a mass in her crop that didn’t go down overnight (not squishy like sour crop but not especially hard like an impaction either, more like food just hadn’t been digested). This went down after a couple of days when I took her food away, put apple cider vinegar in her water, massaged her crop, fed only yoghurt for a couple of days and made her a crop bra. However she didn’t fully seem back to herself, and she now has the same problem again and I have repeated this treatment but it doesn’t seem to be working this time. Her crop’s a bit hard sometimes, especially in the mornings, but gets softer as soon as she has any liquid. She has done very few poos in the past few days but the droppings I have seen seem normal. Yesterday her abdomen started to feel a bit swollen and squishy as well which is not a good sign, but she doesn’t seem to have any pain in the area. She was wormed about three months ago and after the first crop issue I ordered some more wormer and a probiotic to give her, however these both go in food so I am unsure if I should give them now as more food would probably just add to the blockage.

I changed their feed to a new type slightly before the first crop issue so that could be a potential cause. I have bought some of the old feed again but I don't want to give her solid food at the moment. She also stopped laying just before these issues started (not unexpected due to the time of year and her age), and is currently just starting to moult. I suspect she is less active than usual (but she is separated so hard to tell) and she has been standing slightly tilted back. I also had some anti-inflammatory left from treating another chicken so I have been giving her some of that but it doesn’t seem to have made any difference. I have tried feeding her some olive oil and massaging to help break up any blockage, and have tried putting some ginger and basil in her yoghurt (as I read they can help with digestive issues)

The crop itself doesn’t seem blocked so I’m suspecting a blockage somewhere lower down her GI tract, potentially caused by some other underlying condition. She is booked in with an avian vet for Monday but is there anything else I can be doing in the meantime? I am worried she is not getting any food as she has become quite thin, although her weight is not decreasing much (but was already lower than usual after the first crop issue). She has only had yoghurt and very small amounts of feed for the past couple of days so tonight I am going to give her some scrambled egg as well.

I originally had 4 of the same breed and she has lived longest out of all of them (she would be 5 in January), so I suspect this could be the end for her But any advice or help about anything I should be doing/not doing, would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Debbie292d]

Hi,

Sorry about your ill hen.

What was the new feed you changed them to before her crop issue the first time, and what feed is she on now? If it's just a brand name change of the same type, ie. layer, all-flock, that usually doesn't cause crop issues.

The crop itself doesn’t seem blocked so I’m suspecting a blockage somewhere lower down her GI tract

What are her symptoms causing you to believe this is her issue? Leaning back and not pooping as much are all I've picked up. Maybe a picture would help.

Her abdomen swelling could be ascites.

You said she's molting, and that can be very hard on a chicken. Mine don't seem bothered too much, but I still put vitamins in their water and up their protein a little, like feeding them some scrambled eggs every other day.

Here are two excellent articles on crop issues:

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

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...ntion-and-treatments-of-crop-disorders.67194/

 

[Matilda84]

Hi thank you for your reply

The new feed is actually the same as the old feed just with Verm-X pellets mixed in which as far as I can tell are just herbs and are designed to help the gut so I agree that this seems unlikely to be the cause!

What are her symptoms causing you to believe this is her issue? Leaning back and not pooping as much are all I've picked up. Maybe a picture would help.

I have had a good feel of her crop and nothing feels hard or stuck or blocked and massaging it seems to have very little effect. Liquid is getting down but not much food and she has had very few droppings so I assumed something was probably blocked somewhere else. Is there anything else you think it could be instead?

Her abdomen swelling could be ascites.

Yes I did wonder that. This luckily seems to be a lot less today though. It is still more squishy than usual but not really large or swollen.

Thanks for your help!