Impacted crop and worms?! Help please!

[Chiquechicken]

My 2 year old bantam has a solid lump 1.5 inch diameter in her crop area. She has been drinking a little bit of water mixed with olive oil and I have been massaging the mass to try and get it to move for the last several days. I have removed her from the flock and am not giving her food right now, she's not eating anything anyway. There is mostly black clear liquid coming out her vent although this morning she had passed one dark solid stool. She's been like this for about 5-7 days and is getting pretty bony and is getting weaker, although still perks up when I come to check on her in the chicken box I've made for inside. I noticed this morning when I went to check on her that she has small black worms with white heads crawling all around her vent and a pretty putrid smell! (& at 8.5 mo pregnant I can barely stand it!)

Anyone know if I can treat for worms with her crop impacted? How long should I try the oil and massage before I try surgery? (I don't want her to get too weak, especially if that's the only way to help her) I am fairly new to the chicken thing, Please HELP!!!

 

[Judy]

They do not sound like an intestinal worm. They sound like something that has infested a wound, which would explain the smell. Even when intestinal worms are seen in the poop, there isn't a putrid smell. I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I would put her down. This chart shows the range of intestinal worms in chickens.

http://healthybirds.umd.edu/Disease/Deworming Birds.pdf

 

[casportpony]

If you can't take her to a vet, or provide emergency care for her yourself, she will probably die. Weight loss, bugs, smell, crop stasis, I think she has a reproduction issue that's probably not treatable. However, if she were mine, I would clean her vent (remove all bugs) and do a cloacal exam to check for swellings, eggs, masses, etc. I'd also tube feed her fluids, which I'm sure she needs. Dehydrated birds should get 30ml/kg every 6-8 hours.

-Kathy

 

[Chiquechicken]

I can't find a vet that actually treats chickens near me, though several that would put her down for outrageous fees, and i could do that myself. Id like to at least try and save her if possible. I noticed after I posted that, though there were maggots near her vent, what I thought was her vent is actually the end of her breastbone that has developed a sore. I have tried to thoroughly wash both the sore and her underside where the maggots are at...but they keep coming back! Any good ways to kill or clean maggots out? (Pretty sure they are maggots the first spotted were black but im mostly white now ) gross! Never dealt with this before.

 

[casportpony]

You will have to tube feed fluids, then fluids mixed with baby bird food.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...cken-and-give-subcutaneous-fluid#post_9910754

Find a vet and go get the catheter and syringe, they should just sell it to you. Ask them for a size 18 french catheter and a 35ml catheter tip syringe.

-Kathy
-Kathy

 

[Peaceeagle1]

My old reliable for killing bugs is diatomatious earth otherwise known a DE. Google it and read about it. Dries the bugs out to kill the, no chemicals. I guess the big question is, what kind of infection is there that is attracting flies and producing maggots? I think I'd have to treat the open areas topically since the crop issue is preventing eating. Make sure she has something soft to lay on to further prevent worsening of what sounds like a bed sore, an open area caused by constant pressure to 1 area. Gently clean the area with peroxide and water making sure to wash the peroxide off after applying and before putting an antibiotic ointment on. As for the crop issue, I have no idea since I've not(knock on wood) had that kind of issue with my flock. I completely understand about trying to save one of the flock rather then eliminating her, although that may end up being the ultimate conclusion. Good luck

 

[Mehjr10]

You can clean the wound with soapy water, coat with some neosporyn or 3n1 ointment.. No pain killer kind.. If you have any iodine or other topical solution you can use that, or a small amount or peroxide will also work .. If you need to trim off some of the feather to get all clean.. The flys will lay eggs in the feathers near the wound and will continue to hatch. So remove all of them..

As Kathy mentioned she needs fluid and some nutrients as you try to get the blockage to pass.


If you suspect sour crop, you can use a small bit (1/4 to 1/3 of a suppository) of Monistat or equivilant to kill off the yeast build up..

 

[Chiquechicken]

Thankyou all for your input! I have cleaned and sanitized the wound (I'm pretty sure was a bedsore from putting her onto newspaper when I brought her inside, instead of shavings like I have in the past, (I should have known better...pregnant brain :/) I coated the wound with neosporin and also dusted the entire bird with DE which I already had and was using with my flock, and when I checked the wound last the maggots had NOT returned like they had after my last cleaning. YAY!

I was also able to track down the syringe and catheter tube you suggested Kathy and my first attempt at getting fluids into her went quite well. Thanks for the link that you gave me! I was worried that the fluids would just come back up with the blockage in her crop but it actually made it so that I could massage and loosen some of the material and make it soft. I'm hoping that as I continue treatment with the fluids and massage it will clear!? I would really rather avoid cutting into her to try and clear it surgically!

Thankyou again to all who have posted!!

 

[casportpony]

Thankyou all for your input! I have cleaned and sanitized the wound (I'm pretty sure was a bedsore from putting her onto newspaper when I brought her inside, instead of shavings like I have in the past, (I should have known better...pregnant brain :/) I coated the wound with neosporin and also dusted the entire bird with DE which I already had and was using with my flock, and when I checked the wound last the maggots had NOT returned like they had after my last cleaning. YAY!

I was also able to track down the syringe and catheter tube you suggested Kathy and my first attempt at getting fluids into her went quite well. Thanks for the link that you gave me! I was worried that the fluids would just come back up with the blockage in her crop but it actually made it so that I could massage and loosen some of the material and make it soft. I'm hoping that as I continue treatment with the fluids and massage it will clear!? I would really rather avoid cutting into her to try and clear it surgically!

Thankyou again to all who have posted!!

It is so much easier and safer than dripping water into them. FWIW, tubing water into them is how I have been able to clear every hen that's had a slow or impacted crop, I've never vomited one or had to do surgery. It's like people, I think, stuff stops moving when you're dehydrated, right?

If she hasn't been eating, you could add a little corn syrup in case she's a little hypoglycemic.

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

Just remember that there is a chance that she has something else going on that caused her to get like this, If I had to guess, I'd say that something is worms, EYP, ascites, cancer or a stuck egg, all of those things could cause a partial intestinal blockage that would cause her crop to not clear and for her to lose weight.

-Kathy