Impacted crop ... for the second time. What to do?

[FarmerChick]

I'm not sure if we want to go back to the vet — the surgery cost $300 the first time, plus a $50 office visit.

*********Wow that caught my eye big time. I would never do this. But I am not judging you at all. We all spend our money where we see fit. I own a working farm and we have 400 chickens...I never could take one to the vet..LOL

I made that mistake with some Boer goats. I called the vet a few times on (things I now learned to fix myself easily) and the price was staggering. Once I learned goat farming, I have never called a vet in 8 years. Some die, that is life. I do the best I can and get meds I need from the vet since we know each other well....but those prices, for me, I could never afford.

I have all my chickens on straw in the nest boxes but then I replaced it all with the nesting pads. I love them. While I never had impacted problems with straw, the nesting pads are wonderful, easy clean up and soft on eggs. My chickens are on a light amt. of shavings on the floor of the big pens and open outside runs. So they do well...so far..LOL

best of luck to your chicken..hope she improves and things get back to normal
Karen

 

[kinnip]

I take my animals to the vet when they really need it, but I'm a big fan of waiting it out. I'm amazed at how resilient animals are. Every time I think it's the end for one, they prove me wrong. I too would be reluctant to spend that kind of cheddar on a second operation. Give her some water with vitamins and electrolytes to keep her strength up and keep massaging. She may surprise you yet. Best of luck!

 

[chefhinkle]

I have an Easter Egger too. She is 9 weeks old and also has an impacted crop. We use straw (but now are rethinking that one) because we've never had an issue with the original 15 chickens. We're trying olive oil and yogurt and are researching other things to try. I really really hope we will not have to do surgery but we don't have a choice. I don't think we have a vet in the area who would do it anyway, but I'll call around and find out just to be sure.

 

[DLS]

OK peoplew who HAS done this surgery? is it really EASY?? OR NOT?

 

[chefhinkle]

Fast forward from my original post on 8/01/08 -- My easter egger's crop was still impacted. We tried everything we could find online to remedy the situation but it was still there. We finally did the surgery on 8/06/08. My husband had to do the initial cutting near the top of the crop - I was holding the chicken. He gently pushed from the bottom up, once it was opened up. At first nothing came out and then finally there was a piece of straw that popped out of the incision. I jumped in at that point and starting pulling out long pieces of straw. You wouldn't believe how much was in there - it was at least as big as an egg (probably more). I kept pulling and pulling. We thought it would never end. I'm not lying when I tell you the chicken laid completely still (with the exception of the cold saline solution that ran down under her wings when we rinsed everything) and never moved. It was the darnest thing we've ever seen. We kept her in the house overnight the first night and then put her in the cat carrier in the chicken house after that. She was on soft food for 3-4 days. It is now over a week later and she's strutting her stuff in the run. The surgery itself took 30 minutes. The chicken would surely have died without the surgery. Would we do it again? Of course, but only as a last resort after trying everything else recommended. It was nerve-wracking but it worked. My husband and I were both very shaky after the surgery. I felt like a could use a beer - and I don't even drink.

 

[Jenski]

SunsetChickens, any update on the condition of your hen? You may want to check out my new thread on Metoclopramide (Reglan) for treatment of impacted crop (although I imagine it would only work on a mass that had some small chance of being passed).

Hoping for the best for your girl,


Jen in TN
~:<>

 

[shirauo]

Funny- I had read the Sunset Blog when we first realized our 1-yr-old Easter Egger had an impacted crop. We isolated her & put her on the olive-oil, bread regime. And the hard mass went soft, but never went completely down. After a week of solitary confinement, we decided that no, we were not up to spending hundreds of dollars on our chicken at a vet and maybe she is just a pet. But now it's been a few weeks and my goodness...

HER CROP IS HUGE! I think this must just be a predisposition. We periodically massage her, but at this point, I think she's just used to it being huge. She has had some lump or other since the end of January-- sometimes bigger, sometimes smaller. She has not layed in about a week and we fear that she is just going to keep getting worse.

Tricky thing-- Is it better to put her "out of her misery" or to let he continue to play with her sister hens & scratch around the back yard? She has been regurgitating a few times a day, usually when held. I'm starting to wonder if it's time to let her "live on the farm" where we get our grass-fed beef. And maybe look at getting a new Easter Egger while the feed stores still have some summer chicks.

 

[CarlaRiggs]

Shirauo,
The problem with the impacted crop is that eventually the hen dies of starvation. After losing a young blue cochin, I've been checking my hens' crops each morning when I let them out of the coop.
My golden laced Wyandotte was developing a crop, and acting lethargic. I panicked.....
I prayed about this hen, and then began feeding the girls grit that I had. My chickens freerange a lot in my urban backyard, and I was thinking they naturally ate grit. But now I add it to treats and their food.

Forgot to mention ~ all the girls are fine now.

Carla

 

[GloriaH]

I just did crop surgery on my Bantam Faverolle. It was very simple and easy...Gloria

 

[mypicklebird]

Long- my thoughts on impacted crops, grit too.

Their crops can impact for a variety of reasons. The crop is just a big storage bag that feeds into the rest of the digestive system. The crop can impact if the chicken eats something(s) too big to past further- like straw, large leaves, plastic items, ect. The crop can impact if the rest of the GI stops moving due to some other disease process. The crop can impact if the chicken has nerve dysfunction to the crop itself. Sometimes a crop will impact if the chicken eats lots of dry pellet/crumbles, and has run out of water- this can be helped by massage, flushing, water. Removing the impaction yourself or a vet's help will help mainly if the crop is impacted due to the first reason, then if the crop is not too damaged/stretched out- it will shrink down over time. The bird must be prevented from eating the items again, or it will likely happen again. If the crop is too damaged, or it was impacted due to another reason- removing the material will not really help- the underlying cause needs to be found and addressed.

Leaving a chicken with an impacted crop, once you know it is happening is just cruel- untreated, they will slowly starve to death. Water can usually pass, but food cannot- they will linger for weeks, slowly getting thinner. Treat it or cull the bird.

An aside about adding grit to the diet to help with an impacted crop- I can't see how this would be useful. Grit is used in the chicken's grinding stomach (the gizzard), the crop is not a grinding organ (just a stretchy skin bag basically). Offering grit is important for general health and digestion- f your birds have access to seeds, insects ect, or if they do not have access to dirt with natural grit/small rocks in it. Supposedly confined chickens fed only commercial diet do not need it as the food does not have big particles- but I do think chickens have a natural drive to eat sand/small pebbles- so even then I think it is nice to offer. Anyway- offer grit for overall GI health if appropriate in your set-up, but not useful in the acute impacted crop.

jess