Impacted Crop - at a loss

[castironkid]

Hello all. I have an almost 1 year old easter egger hen whose crop issues I'm not able to resolve.

She was "off" for about two days and moving her head as if to clear the crop. I caught her first thing in the morning, noted her full crop, and started by isolating her in a dark box for a day. That day, she did regurgitate some milky, sour fluid, so I figured her crop was sour and once it emptied I'd feed her some balancing stuff and we'd be good to go.

Unfortunately, the next morning, her crop felt hard and full, so I assume it's impacted. Using the methods in this article, I started trying to clear it. She ate the coconut oil, behaved for the massages, and quickly was in better spirits (did some dust bathing in her sawdust even), but after two treatments of oil and one of stool softener, she lump is still there. I'm also concerned about her starving, so I've been feeding her small amounts of raw egg mixed with water. She did poop during the day, so liquid is able to move through her.

I gave her another night to see if anything would change. Nothing. I've got raw egg and coconut with a stool softener broken into it available if she's hungry- she ate a bit first thing.

I have no idea what to do. Help!

 

[ChicNmom]

Do you have any idea what she might have eaten?

To break up the hard mass find the center of it. Out one or two fingers in and briskly move your finger back and forth until it softens. Then move to the next hardest spot and do the same thing. It will resettle overnight and feel hard but each day it should be a little smaller.
As the lump gets smaller I would give her more soft watery foods or scrambled eggs, maybe some watery oatmeal with some chicken feed dissolved in the mix.

I successfully used digestive enzymes on a hen that had a baseball size lump of straw in her crop. It took a good week to break it up. I would work on it several times a day for a few minutes and then give her a break. I'm sure it got a little uncomfortable for her.

As long as something is moving through she should get through it even if she loses a little weight.

Also mage sure she has grit available if she wants it. Maybe some lettuce since it's mostly water and soft fiber.

 

[ChicNmom]

Was it like that first thing in the morning? Is the mass any softer or smaller?
Is anything coming out the other end? Does her breath smell sour and what I would describe as yeasty?

It could be fernenting. I also wonder if a clump is blocking where it would drain and move further into her digestive system and gizzard.

With my hen initially the crop was so impacted I could barely move it. If there is fluid around it then you can probably move it a little.
So, the other thing I did very gently was to move the mass to one side of the crop. Then try to push her skin and whatever amount of loose crop over to make a wrinkle. Then I sort of pinched each edge of the mass and tried to pull and work it apart. (Sort of like when a hoodie string comes out of the hood and you thread it back through with a safety pin on one end if that makes sense.)

 

[ChicNmom]

How does she look in general? Did you try the ACV water or treatment?

Oil is great for moving things through but won't break down the straw. That's why I used the digestive enzymes in my hen. ACV will also help break down the fibers and help stop the fermenting. Fermenting is also the result of something breaking down and the straw does take a long time and a lot of work.,

Ultimately you are the one dealing with this so I support whatever decision you need to make in the best interests of your girl.

 

[Eggcessive]

With such a young bird having this crop problem I would try seeing a vet to get the mass out of her crop. Most crop disorders I have seen were in older birds who suffered from reproductive issues, and no treatments ever helped. There are many good videos on crop surgeries, but your vet would be the most qualified one to do it.

 

[turkey girl 0964]

You might want to put Apple Cider vinegar in her water. It helps to kill bacteria that might be in her crop.

 

[castironkid]

Do you have any idea what she might have eaten?

To break up the hard mass find the center of it. Out one or two fingers in and briskly move your finger back and forth until it softens. Then move to the next hardest spot and do the same thing. It will resettle overnight and feel hard but each day it should be a little smaller.
As the lump gets smaller I would give her more soft watery foods or scrambled eggs, maybe some watery oatmeal with some chicken feed dissolved in the mix.

I successfully used digestive enzymes on a hen that had a baseball size lump of straw in her crop. It took a good week to break it up. I would work on it several times a day for a few minutes and then give her a break. I'm sure it got a little uncomfortable for her.

As long as something is moving through she should get through it even if she loses a little weight.

Also mage sure she has grit available if she wants it. Maybe some lettuce since it's mostly water and soft fiber.

this is heartening! I am ordering some chick grit, in case the smaller size would help, and updating her setup in the house to be a little more long-term. I'll adjust my expectations to this being in the order of weeks rather than days.

If I had to guess, I think it's a wad of straw. This began pretty soon after I gave them a bunch of fresh straw in advance of some cold and wet days. And it feels like straw when I touch it, plus some stuff that feels sandier.

 

[ChicNmom]

this is heartening! I am ordering some chick grit, in case the smaller size would help, and updating her setup in the house to be a little more long-term. I'll adjust my expectations to this being in the order of weeks rather than days.

If I had to guess, I think it's a wad of straw. This began pretty soon after I gave them a bunch of fresh straw in advance of some cold and wet days. And it feels like straw when I touch it, plus some stuff that feels sandier.

Straw takes a while to break down. Think of it as a tangled ball of string in her crop. You'll start to see bits of straw in her poop when it's breaking up. It doesn't really digest too much.

Regular grit should be OK and probably better suited to the job. But chick grit would also help.
Just keep at it!

 

[Eggcessive]

Is there any possibility that you could see a vet and have them get the mass out with crop surgery? Many times a crop disorder can be from another problem that is slowing down digestion. I would only massage the crop if it is firm, and giving fluids by a crop feeding tube can help an impaction to move on.

 

[castironkid]

Straw takes a while to break down. Think of it as a tangled ball of string in her crop. You'll start to see bits of straw in her poop when it's breaking up. It doesn't really digest too much.

Regular grit should be OK and probably better suited to the job. But chick grit would also help.
Just keep at it!

the solid mass is still there, but today it has much more liquid all around it. I'm thinking there must be some serious fermenting happening in there... i wonder if I should switch methods and try to treat the sourness for a while? Any thoughts? She has a mix of grit in there now!