How to Cure Crop Bound Chooks!

[CashmereSussex]

1 method for curing crop bound chickens is cutting the crop open and removing the stuck food (this requires professional vet help) and sewing up.

another method is feeding 2 table spoons of Vege Oil, Canola Oil or another house hold cooking oil. you then squeeze the crop hoping that the chicken will regurgitate the feed.

 

[dlhunicorn]

I have found the most effective preventiive measures are extremely effective... no straw or hay and remove grass clippings after mowing the lawn... of course there are other causes of "sour crop" the end result of crop stasis (inability to empty the crop)... here is the link for the info I have collected on this condition and some treatment measures. Personally I woud not attempt to open the crop...the few people I know who have done this have ended up with a dead bird.
http://dlhunicorn.conforums.com/ind...ion=display&num=1161893898&start=0#1161893898

 

[Pringle_Sussex]

wow.. cashmere.. i never knew you could cut open the poor chooks crop when they're crop bound...
then again i've never taken my chickens to the vet when they're sick... (parents say its too expensive)
I've had a crop bound chicken before and yeah i remember i did the holding her beek and letting a small amount of oil drizzle down her throat and massaged her crop.... thats prob the best home remedy for that problem!

 

[OneOldTruck]

I just had this...I know I'm a few months behind everyone else.

She got the grass clippings, and bound up. What I really want to know is how long after I force vomiting, removing the stasis ball of foul smelling ickiness, would I consider her "out of the woods". She's eating and drinking (I would think a very good sign), but not as much as the others, and she won't leave the coop. Sleeps a bunch and sits sort of hunched most days (it's been 1 week since I discovered the boundedness -if that's a word).

OOT

 

[Anianna]

I will warn you that the surgery should not be your first course of action. Also, you massage the crop rather than trying to squeeze it out. The olive oil works to soften and lubricate the mass and massage will help break it up. Also, provide grit so that as it starts to break up, the chicken can take in grit to further break up the mass. Adding apple cider vinegar (ACV) to the chickens' drinking water will help by reducing any mucous that may be contributing to the problem. Repeat the olive oil and massage several times throughout the day.

One treatment for sour crop is to make the chicken regurgitate, but this can be dangerous because the chicken can aspirate (breathe in) the vomit.

Here is more comprehensive information from the first link in my signature:


Impacted and Sour Crop

Chickens need grit to digest food in the crop. When food gets blocked in the crop and cannot be digested, the result is an impacted crop. It presents as a hard lump in the chest. Check for this in the morning as it can be confused for a full crop, which is normal. The crop will naturally empty overnight if it is simply a full crop, but an impacted crop will not. Sometimes and impaction will rot in the crop and become squishy and foul smelling. This is a sour crop. Both impacted crop and sour crop keep the bird from digesting food properly.

Impacted Crop

Olive oil and massage - olive oil can help loosen an impaction. Simply put a two or three drops of olive oil at the back of the chicken's throat so that she swallows it and gently massage the crop. This may need to be repeated. Make grit available to the chicken, as well.

Sour Crop

Powdered copper sulfate - has anti-fungal properties. Dosage is 1/4 teaspoon per gallon of water, changed daily for several days. This will also inhibit the growth of certain types of bacteria, an added benefit. Can be used with apple cider vinegar.

Apple cider vinegar (ACV) - aids in the removal of mucus build up in the digestive tract that may contribute to sour crop. Can be used with the powdered copper sulfate.

** Recipe for sour crop (found offsite) **
Coper Sulfate measurements.. be exact
Use 1 gm (0.035 oz) of Copper Sulfate (bluestone) to 2 litres (3.52 pints) of water – be very careful about the measurements of the Copper Sulfate too much will kill your bird
Add 2 teaspoons of Apple Cider Vinegar
Mix in some Cranberry Juice to make it more palatable for the birds to drink and disguise the taste of the copper sulfate and vinegar
Give this medicated water as the sole source of drinking water for 4 to 7 days, in some cases you may need to extend this time until you feel that the condition is over
Do not use metal containers only plastic ones
Put the mixture out fresh each day

Suction - in severe cases of sour crop, connect a soft catheder tube to a needless syringe. The catheter must be inserted down the throat and into the crop. This is uncomfortable for the chicken and you may give her a drop or two of Bach's Rescue Remedy to help calm her for this process. Once the catheter is in the crop, carefully pull the plunger of the syringe to suck liquid from the crop.

 

[vamenagerie]

I have a very young chick - 6 - 8 wks, who just started going out in the back yard... and she appears to have impacted crop. Kept her in house last night to see if would go down overnight... but it did not. So this morning gave about a cc of olive oil and started massaging. Doesn't feel so hard now... she drank a bit of water and made a small poo... My question - how long til they start to get better? How often to give the oil and do massage. My 7 y.o. son is worried sick over his little "Eglentine". She is a white leghorn pullet.

Denise and the Menagerie in Virginia