Impacted crop from oyster shells

[Tristeli]

I just encountered this very same problem. My speckled Sussex who has been on antibiotics for 3 wks now for an internal infection presented with a huge and hard crop. Vet exams and eventual X-rays revealed it was just stuffed with “particulate” matter. It glowered brightly on the image (I’ll attach if I can so you can all see). I had seen her eating the oyster shell in the week prior and thought that was a good sign as she had stopped laying during her illness. When I released her from her vet trip she made a bee line right up the oyster bowl and tried to continue stuffing her crop with it. Based on my observations I’m fairly certain what the X-rays show is indeed the oyster shell and possibly sand that is in the run. I saw her eating it after giving her the daily antibiotic pills that were prescribed.
My situation is currently not yet resolved. My avian vet will not attempt the surgery as he’s never fine it before and I’m waiting on a call back from UT about how to proceed. Was anyone successful in passing the oyster thru her system or waiting for it to naturally dissolve? Or is surgery the best answer? My Sussex is still eating-quite ravenously and I do see she’ll poops indicating her system is still functioning albeit not optimally.

 

[PurpleCArTires]

I just encountered this very same problem. My speckled Sussex who has been on antibiotics for 3 wks now for an internal infection presented with a huge and hard crop. Vet exams and eventual X-rays revealed it was just stuffed with “particulate” matter. It glowered brightly on the image (I’ll attach if I can so you can all see). I had seen her eating the oyster shell in the week prior and thought that was a good sign as she had stopped laying during her illness. When I released her from her vet trip she made a bee line right up the oyster bowl and tried to continue stuffing her crop with it. Based on my observations I’m fairly certain what the X-rays show is indeed the oyster shell and possibly sand that is in the run. I saw her eating it after giving her the daily antibiotic pills that were prescribed.
My situation is currently not yet resolved. My avian vet will not attempt the surgery as he’s never fine it before and I’m waiting on a call back from UT about how to proceed. Was anyone successful in passing the oyster thru her system or waiting for it to naturally dissolve? Or is surgery the best answer? My Sussex is still eating-quite ravenously and I do see she’ll poops indicating her system is still functioning albeit not optimally.

I think each situation might be unique. Maybe seperate her so she cant stuff her face with the shells and give her cocnut oil and wet feed to see if they dissolve on their own. You can also try massaging that bad boy a few times a day.

My girl ended up having a strip of fabric in her crop clogging everything up. If i wouldn't have done the surgery, she would have surely died. After i did the surgery she pooped out like a tablespoon more of the shells (so some apparently made it thru her system ok).