Hen ate a dime and many rocks, need advice.

[amungo]

Thank you, yes those are eggs, vet said she was still producing, but she hasn't laid for a few days. We have been trying to give her mashed up food, vet said she can eat, she lost a lot of weight but she really likes fruit, cantaloupe and grapes thus far.

 

[Sue Gremlin]

I dunno, the coin isn't ideal because of the possibility of zinc or copper toxicity, but I wouldn't worry at all about the rocks. Chickens are supposed to eat gravel, albeit a little bit finer than that, but still. I'd give something high-fiber like the vet said to help her pass the coin, which appears to be in the gizzard. You may need to x ray her again in a couple of days to see if it's moved. If not, it's probably stuck there. The gravel can be seen in the cloaca and it looks like it's been moving along just fine.
As well as giving her metamucil/fiber/oil until she passes the coin, you should probably prevent her from eating more rocks, you can see she's just recently eaten a bunch in that image.

 

[Sue Gremlin]

She likely has been eating the "grit" trying to process the coin.

This is a great point.

 

[WindingRoad]

I don't know about Pepsi but mashed potatoes are fine for them

No green potatoes though.

 

[Eggcessive]

That is an interesting xray. I have never seen that much grit in the gizzard and intestines before. There is nothing that I can add, but I would try to mix the mineral oil in some feed with water. Hopefully she will pass the coin and a lot of the grit. Egg would be good to feed as well as the wet feed.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

She hasn't laid an egg either. She seems to be loosing weight, as she is much thinner

yes those are eggs, vet said she was still producing, but she hasn't laid for a few days

Thank you for clarifying what we are seeing.
Hopefully she will pass the rocks/material on out soon. I do worry about seeing the eggs in there and she has not laid for a few days.
All you can do is continue as instructed and keep her hydrated. Wet food is always good, but if she likes the cantaloupe and grapes, I would let her have some of that too. Maybe some watermelon

Please keep us posted.

 

[staceyj]

Oh wow.
Are there staples or 1/2 inch finishing nails down there by the dime too?

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

First off, if it were my chicken, I’d try my best to empty that crop even if I had to empty it partially by vomiting it out. Why add that much more to have to process all the way through her system?

As far as trying to move what’s in there along, she cannot process anything solid simply because there’s no room for it but she needs calories and something to help this blockage move.

Thinking about lubricants such as one you’d give a cat with a hairball.

Sometimes with a dog, Vaseline sandwiches help push/pad/slide things along.

In this case I think I’d mix ducolax (gel caps broken open) with Metamucil and LOTS of canned pumpkin, thinned a little with pedialyte or similar electrolytes and maybe a nutritional supliment for energy like nutrical. I’m not a tube feeding expert so I’ll pose a question here:
IF if would be possible to create some space in the crop could you pass a tube and try to give her some quantity of the above mentioned slurry?

You can clearly see her eggs backing up but they can’t pass due to the obstructive weight of the rocks in her intestinal track, so that will become the next challenge.

I’ll keep my thinking cap on for a little while.

Tagging @pitbullmomma to come see this X-ray.

 

[WindingRoad]

Oh wow.
Are there staples or 1/2 inch finishing nails down there by the dime too?

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

First off, if it were my chicken, I’d try my best to empty that crop even if I had to empty it partially by vomiting it out. Why add that much more to have to process all the way through her system?

As far as trying to move what’s in there along, she cannot process anything solid simply because there’s no room for it but she needs calories and something to help this blockage move.

Thinking about lubricants such as one you’d give a cat with a hairball.

Sometimes with a dog, Vaseline sandwiches help push/slide things along.

In this case I think I’d mix ducolax (gel caps broken open) with Metamucil and LOTS of canned pumpkin, thinned a little with pedialyte or similar electrolytes and maybe a nutritional supliment for energy like nutrical. I’m not a tube feeding expert so I’ll pose a question here:
IF if would be possible to create some space in the crop could you pass a tube and try to give her some quantity of the above mentioned slurry?

You can clearly see her eggs backing up but they can’t pass due to the obstructive weight of the rocks in her intestinal track, so that will become the next challenge.

I’ll keep my thinking cap on for a little while.

Tagging @pitbullmomma to come see this X-ray.

And those eggs bound up might start a reproductive issue. That's no good. Under my thinking cap I wonder about a small enema. IDK about that.

 

[Eggcessive]

Mic, I hadn’t noticed the possible staples or nails, good eye!

Edited to say, whoops, I meant Stacyj!

 

[Suzi18]

Hoping for a good outcome