How to feed chicken after crop surgery?

[henny_pennyxk]

Hi everyone,
One of my girls, Dumpling had crop surgery yesterday and the vet gave us some emeraid and the exact amount to give her however, dumpling is a particularly difficult chicken to syringe her medicines to anyway, let alone 5ml-20ml of liquid food. She also doesn’t like the taste of it so letting her to drink it is not really an option so I managed to give her ab out 1ml out of the 5ml she was supposed to have today as most of it went on the floor; I just squeezed the rest of it into her water and hoped for the best so does anyone have any tips on how to help her take her food? I’m also really worried about her eating because we were instructed to give her nothing solid until day four but today she was feeling much better so we took her out to the coop and removed their food but they have a straw bale that sheds a-lot in there and she’s obviously feeling really hungry so she’s started eating bits of straw as well as any scrap treats on the floor and I’m worried this might overwhelm her crop but she’s feeling so much more energetic I can’t just leave her in her crate. This is really stressing me out so any help would be greatly appreciated

 

[Debbie292d]

I would try mixing that into a very small amount of scrambled eggs.

This is reply from a member about how to perform the crop surgery, but she includes the post-op treatment at the bottom.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/emergency-crop-surgery-question.1607576/post-27944019

The below is about post crop surgery care is from an article by Green Willow Homestead, which is very long, but this was the part you'd maybe be interested in:

Once that 36 hour hump is done, you can feed her extremely soft and wet foods. Start with 1 tsp of chick starter mixed into 1 tbsp of warm water so it becomes a mash. The crop empties continually throughout the day with a healthy bird, but after an impaction things can get interesting. Gently feel the crop after this first feeding and see how its performing. After 6 hours I find it’s safe to give the hen another round of chick feed in warm water. Chick feed and water is just fine for the first 3 days.​

​

From there, you can add scrambled eggs. Hens LOVE scrambled eggs - remember no shells! Switch between 1 scrambled egg and the 1tsp of chick starter feed in warm water every 6 hours. Again, be sure to monitor the crop and its performance.​

​

After two weeks, I find the hen is ready for her normal feed again. Once she lays an egg - she is ready to rejoin the flock.​

 

[henny_pennyxk]

Thank you I will try this

I would try mixing that into a very small amount of scrambled eggs.

This is reply from a member about how to perform the crop surgery, but she includes the post-op treatment at the bottom.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/emergency-crop-surgery-question.1607576/post-27944019

The below is about post crop surgery care is from an article by Green Willow Homestead, which is very long, but this was the part you'd maybe be interested in:

Once that 36 hour hump is done, you can feed her extremely soft and wet foods. Start with 1 tsp of chick starter mixed into 1 tbsp of warm water so it becomes a mash. The crop empties continually throughout the day with a healthy bird, but after an impaction things can get interesting. Gently feel the crop after this first feeding and see how its performing. After 6 hours I find it’s safe to give the hen another round of chick feed in warm water. Chick feed and water is just fine for the first 3 days.​

​

From there, you can add scrambled eggs. Hens LOVE scrambled eggs - remember no shells! Switch between 1 scrambled egg and the 1tsp of chick starter feed in warm water every 6 hours. Again, be sure to monitor the crop and its performance.​

​

After two weeks, I find the hen is ready for her normal feed again. Once she lays an egg - she is ready to rejoin the flock.​

Thank you I will try this

 

[Ccort]

I would try mixing that into a very small amount of scrambled eggs.

This is reply from a member about how to perform the crop surgery, but she includes the post-op treatment at the bottom.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/emergency-crop-surgery-question.1607576/post-27944019

The below is about post crop surgery care is from an article by Green Willow Homestead, which is very long, but this was the part you'd maybe be interested in:

Once that 36 hour hump is done, you can feed her extremely soft and wet foods. Start with 1 tsp of chick starter mixed into 1 tbsp of warm water so it becomes a mash. The crop empties continually throughout the day with a healthy bird, but after an impaction things can get interesting. Gently feel the crop after this first feeding and see how its performing. After 6 hours I find it’s safe to give the hen another round of chick feed in warm water. Chick feed and water is just fine for the first 3 days.​

​

From there, you can add scrambled eggs. Hens LOVE scrambled eggs - remember no shells! Switch between 1 scrambled egg and the 1tsp of chick starter feed in warm water every 6 hours. Again, be sure to monitor the crop and its performance.​

​

After two weeks, I find the hen is ready for her normal feed again. Once she lays an egg - she is ready to rejoin the flock.​

Mine had crop surgery 10 days ago. The vet said a very soft to liquid diet for a week, gradually reintroducing less soft food. As in, make a mashed potato-like mash with her normal pellets for a few days and if all is well, the crop is emptying, start cutting back a bit on how much water you add. No grit, no oyster shell. For mine, I was advised to feed her just under a quarter cup of food for each feeding.

I adjusted as needed. She grew tired of the mash after a couple of days so I started doing hard boiled eggs and then scrambled eggs. The vet said to feed nothing but her mashed crumble but if she won't eat, I'd move to eggs. Mine is unfortunately getting tired of eggs now too! You could try Harrison's food, which can be made very soft and many hens love it. It's on Amazon.

As of the last two days, mine has had an empty crop both mornings. Yay! Just to give you a possible timeline. I brought mine inside the house while she heals and so I can monitor her eating. Yesterday she started getting outside time and plan to move her fully out once a really cold spell passes. (This weekend)