Impacted crop, hen can't breath!

[AnimalsComeFirst]

My old, blind chicken Hazel whom I have recently diagnosed with impacted crop, is having trouble breathing. We have tried to feed her vegtable oil, then massage her crop while tipped upside down... little peices of food has come up but there is still a big lump in her throat that we can feel. Her neck is all over the place, she is gaping and gasping for breath. We also tried to feed her vegtable broth and plain yogurt mixed with chicken food. We've had to use a sucker thing to put food down her throat.
She has been doing this for 24 hours, and is still alive remarkably. Hopefully someone on here can advise me on what to do next, because there is no chicken vet around my town.
Thanks!

 

[GoldDogsMom]

There are posts on BYC with pics of people doing crop surgery...

like: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=229796

 

[AnimalsComeFirst]

Thanks for showing me, I saw it before... but I don't think i'd be able to do that.... beginner chicken owner.

 

[GoldDogsMom]

I understand...don't think I could do it myself either, wish I could offer more advice...

 

[remuda1]

Don't give her any more food. There is too much in there already that is not being passed through the digestive system. Massage her crop while she's right side up. If you're not getting anything out, don't try to make her vomit anymore at this time. You can try to get her to swallow some olive oil then use the massage. The idea is to loosen and break up the impaction so that it will pass through her if that's possible at this point. Once you feel (with your hand during massage) that the mass is LOOSE and BREAKING UP, then if necessary you might try to vomit her again. What she needs now is nothing that will add to the impaction. Lots of water and try the olive oil and LOTS of massage. Do not give her anything solid again until the impaction either passes out of the crop through the digestive system OR you are able to have her vomit it out.

If it's wadded and twisted up grasses or hay or that sort of thing, it will be very difficult to get it to pass. Dry, pasty chicken feed impactions are more likely to break up with the addition of oil and lots of water......

The only other thing to do would be the crop surgery. If you are unable to do it, take her to the vet. Good luck with it, I hope she makes it.

 

[AnimalsComeFirst]

Gold: LOL, no prob.
Remuda: WOW! Thank you! I've been waiting for someone to direct me the right way! I don't have much olive oil, can I use safflower oil instead?

 

[remuda1]

Honestly, I don't know of anything about safflower that would harm a chicken so I would say go for it. The goal is to get her crop and the rest of her digestive system functioning again. The way to check for this is to snag her first thing in the morning prior to her eating anything and feel her crop. If the crop is empty in the morning, then you could start with scrambled egg with a little oil in it, I also put some chicken feed in it with a lot of water so that it's kind of like a gruel. I've also used a bit of canned cat food in with it. Along with the scrambled eggs, these two are great sources of protein. I always mash the scrambled eggs up into little bits.

Be very careful when you are attempting to vomit her.... I never hold my hen upside down for longer than 3-4 seconds. They can aspirate into their lungs which can easily result in death. Also, be very careful when trying to get the oil and water down her. Same thing can happen as their airway is UNDER thier tongue so very easy to get the water or oil in it. I've never forced oil or water.....

Lastly, the hen needs to be isolated with no bedding other than newspaper or something like that. You don't want her trying to eat her bedding. You will also need to monitor her output (poop). Have you seen what it looks like since this started? The sad thing about this problem is that since nothing is passing through the birds, they are basically starving to death. Once they feel a little better, they want to eat everything in sight. You have to be careful to make sure that they are functioning properly BEFORE they have free choice access to food.

Hope this has helped.

 

[AnimalsComeFirst]

Okay, I just gave her some olive oil mixed with water, while massaging her crop... I hope i didn't get any in the airway. :-o She seems to be gargling the oil when I put it in her mouth... hmm. Her neck is still having spasms... should I try to keep her neck in place? If so, how?
So, i'm doing all this outside... should I put her in a carrier or a different pen... cause our chicken coop is full of shavings.

 

[nurse_turtle]

It sounds like a really bad impaction with sour crop. If it is long grass and hay twisted up in there, it won't pass on it's own. I feel she may be suffering and scared. If you can't perform the crop procedure and there isn't a vet available to do so, you may need to put her down. Just be prepared for that possibility and be confident enough to make the right decision for her and you.

 

[AnimalsComeFirst]

She is blind so I doubt she would be able to eat grass or hay... i think its food, maybe sand stuck in there.
I hope you're wrong and I don't have to put her down! I love her a lot.

(Thanks though.)