how to nourish hen w/ impacted crop

[lilmagill]

hello. my ginger has an impacted crop that i massaged today for over an hour while giving her water through a syringe until i felt it break up a bit. when i put her back in the run she immediately pooped out grains. good sign. she's drinking vinegar water and kefir but i've read i need to not let her eat for a while. i have no way of separating her from the other girls so i'm wondering if i can make a big batch of loose oatmeal for them all today. would that be ok for ginger? would that be enough for the other girls?
thank you!

 

[Relleoms]

I would suggest wetting their regular food to a slightly thinner than oatmeal consistency and feeding to all the flock! That way they still get the nutrition they need. My girls love it & think it’s a treat (sneaky!).

 

[srodems]

We have dealt with impacted crop successfully in a few of our birds. If it is solid (ours was like a baseball), you should massage regularly giving them olive oil a the same time. Use the mass to push and move the blockage through. I would not feed her for at least a day or two until you see the crop reduce. They are getting nutrition from the food in their crop that hopefully begins to process and move through their system.

If crop is sour, gassy and fermenting you need to throw the chicken up. Turn upside down and squeeze crop multiple times until completely empty. Then give them an anti-fungal to stop the fermentation process. Don't feed for a day or two and then start feeding via tube if necessary pediatric bird food with nutrients. If that works you can move them to softened crumble. Sometimes I puree the wet crumple in with the powdered baby bird food and feed via tube if they won't eat. Because the food is liquid they are getting enough water. Keep on the anti-fungal for at least 5-7 days. You can use Monistat if you cannot get pill anti-fungal.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

When trying to clear an impaction hydration is important, but you actually dont want to add any more mass (food) to the problem. Generally you offer fluid only for up to two full days

 

[srodems]

Always important to offer water. They might not drink it, but it should be offered. I would suggest massaging with oil instead of water though.

 

[lilmagill]

thank you. i still have lots of questions, so i hope you don't mind... how long do the healthy girls need to be with their food in order to eat enough for the day? my problem is i have no way of separating my girls all day and night to make sure that they eat and ginger doesn't. suggestions? and how many times a day should i massage? and if it is a hard baseball, do i still make her throw up? or do i only do that if it's squishier? i can't imagine her throwing up a baseball. thanks again.

 

[srodems]

If it is hard and not fermenting you can just massage her with oil. Do not throw her up unless it is fermenting (gassy, smelly crop smells). Use the mass to help massage. You can squeeze it and try to spread it out a little. I will say that I think it is imperative that you separate her out and not let her have access to food, even if it is just keeping her in a cage in the run/coop. She cannot be allowed to eat unless you see her crop reduce. Water and oil are fine, but no food.

 

[srodems]

The two hens we have had hard impactions with are food monsters, so they will keep eating if allowed and the impaction won't stop them.

 

[srodems]

Since it is Sunday massage as much as you can today. I would say a good massage every 1-2 hours.

 

[lilmagill]

When I was massaging her this morning after I had given her some water I heard ‘rumblings’ in her crop and she, several times...burped? ...with that fermented smell. so it is definitely fermented. She is on the nest so I can’t tell you how she is now. I’ve only massaged and watered and oiled her once, and that was this morning. I will let you know. You are all very kind. Thank you.