Hen with impacted "colon" advice! X-ray attached

[WilliamC]

Our Coachin had a very impacted crop. From the start we have given her coconut than olive oil and messaged crop and we got it to move but its set up sour crop. Used probiotics, vinegar water and Monistat 7 for that.
She was getting listless and only seems to be passing dark liquid. Took her to the vet.
Xray showed some in the crop but a mass in her lower GI. No egg present and she laid only once last year. She is around 6 years old.

Doc tube fed her large watery mix of chick food and gave her an injection of mobility meds. Also, gave us some liquid for sour crop.
This morning she passed what looked like the baby food, but no solid matter as shown in the Xray.
Should we try a stool softener like Colase (dont know the dose for hen her size) or go right for Epsom salts? Colas first to soften it, wait a while than Epsom? We thought lubricating her vent might help as well.
This is the x-ray. I could only get this shot and could not figure out how to make the computer switch to side view. The mass is on the lower left by the hip and doc said it was in her large intestine
She is now on day 5 of this.

 

[coach723]

Molasses flush:
1 cup molasses
2 1/2 gallons of water
5-6 grams of vitamin & electrolite powder (optional)
Put in the waterer and let her drink it. It's sweet, they usually like it and drink readily.
Do not exceed 8 hours maximum, replace with vitamin/electrolite (prefered) water or plain fresh water. Watch for dehydration, you may not need to leave it as much as 8 hours.

 

[aart]

@Wyorp Rock or @Eggcessive might be able to help.

 

[coach723]

Honestly it depends on what that mass is. I'm not great at x-rays, but certainly can see it. Did the vet have any opinion on what the mass might be? Two thoughts are a tumor or infectious matter (salpingitis). Sometimes with salpingitis they are able to expel some of the matter, but sometimes it just builds up inside and won't budge. I think I would try the molasses also, more likely to see results. Just make sure she's taking in enough fluids, any kind of flush can dehydrate them, which won't help.

 

[Eggcessive]

Could the lower opaque granular spot just be the gizzard with grit, and the crop is very full of something granular as well? Sorry , I am probably not that proficient with an xray. But in another thread there was a picture of a gizzard low and to the left.

 

[coach723]

It looks pretty low to me, so I didn't really consider the gizzard. But I've seen things not exactly where they should be before, and x-rays don't always give the best perspective since everything is transparent. It may be. I wish we had some kind of opinion from the vet that did the imaging...

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Could the lower opaque granular spot just be the gizzard with grit, and the crop is very full of something granular as well? Sorry , I am probably not that proficient with an xray. But in another thread there was a picture of a gizzard low and to the left.

This was what I was thinking or at least the material looks like grit and/or oyster shell.

Hopefully the flush will help stimulate and get things moving.

 

[aart]

Could the lower opaque granular spot just be the gizzard with grit, and the crop is very full of something granular as well? Sorry , I am probably not that proficient with an xray. But in another thread there was a picture of a gizzard low and to the left.

My first thought too.

 

[Shadrach]

I would consider trying Molasses. It should help the crop problem and tends to go through them like a dose of salts.

 

[coach723]

I don't think there is really a "dose". If you are going to syringe it, then I would just do that until you can feel the crop full of liquid, and then give some time to let it go down. Go slow, you don't want her to aspirate any.