Impacted crop or pendulous? I need advise

[beatrice]

I have a 16 week old Black Australorp hen. She either has a pendulous crop or an impacted crop. After reading info on both my husband and I are going to try the surgery. Does anyone have some advise for me? She still runs around the yard and keeps up with the other 2 hens but last night I noticed she could not get up to the top of the nesting box to sleep with the rest of the flock.

 

[Country4ever]

What all have you tried before thinking about surgery?
First of all, quit giving any scratch. (to all your chickens). Isolate the one with the problem. Don't give her any food for a day or 2, and minimal water. Massage her crop gently many times a day.
If you can get a couple cc's of olive oil down her, I would do that ASAP.
Then she how she is in a couple days.
I would also start yogurt in a couple days. Make sure she is drinking after a day.
Sometimes a big squishy crop does have a compacted core in it. They seem to put out tons of mucous in an attempt to pas the compacted stuff.
I wouldn't do the surgery unless you've tried these other things.
Once she's separated, you can monitor her input and output, which will give you better info.
sometimes they just need a few days without food, and the other things I've mentioned, and they start improving.
But you just have to control her intake......by putting her by herself and not feeding her for a day or 2.

 

[beatrice]

ok, I will try this first. Should I just leave her a small shallow dish of water and nothing else?

 

[Glenda L Heywood]

Here is tips on flushing with soda water
that is important to do before surgery to see if it is just sour grud in the crop and not any thing that is covering the crop hole

once again I will try and express the manner in which you do a flush

THIS IS IMPORTANT TO THE CHICKEN

(1) chickens do not throw up!!!
DO NOT PUT THE CHICKEN BEING FLUSHED UP SIDE DOWN???

(2) so it is you that have to keep them right side up and come up from below the crop and push, bringing the spoiled food etc out the chickens beak. tHIS IS DONE WITH YOUR PUSHING WITH YOUR HAND UP AGinst the chickens crop area.

(3) so when flushing the crop you only want to get the spoiled things out of the crop

(4) as for leaving the baking soda in the sour crop that is important as it is what cures the sour crop
so hopefully some of the baking soda stayed in the crop

(5) you have to do the flushing three times in a row when doing the flush

(6)as that is what gets the spoiled food out

also fo not feed any thing for 24 hrs after flushing
and then for a week twice a day feed a slice of bread with milk on it
and add 1-400 mg of Vit E squeezed on the bread
she needs the Vit E to help the spoiled food problem

any other questions email me

 

[Country4ever]

yes beatrice, just a little water. And nothing she can peck up from the bedding....like old scratch, grass, etc.

 

[beatrice]

ok, my husband and i massaged her crop 4 times today and gave her the olive oil each time. She spit up a bit each time, mostly liquid with little chunks. It smelled unlike anything I have smelled before. Also, we have her isolated. She has pooped, mostly loose and liquidy although some regular chicken poop.
Now, Glenda I have read your email, should we try the flush tomorrow? Is something we wnat to do for a few days? What am I looking for to come up, large stuff or liquid? What happens to the stuff blocking the crop hole if that is the case? Is that what I am trying to remove if I do surgery? also, her crop is soft not hard. My husband is a scientist and is very comfortable doing the surgery. Have you done this surgery?
Thanks for the help.

 

[Country4ever]

The hope with the flush is that you will break up and dislodge the stuff that might be blocking things.
See how she is first thing in the morning and how it feels then.
I don't know if its the same with older chickens, but sometimes its taken me close to a week to massage all that stuff loose. It didn't come up, but rather became small enough to pass downward.
Also....sometimes there are defects in things downstream, and all the emptying out the crop won't help that. Sometimes too, they have eaten a piece of plastic or a staple or something, and its caught downstream.
good luck and keep us posted!
P.S. Sometimes an infection starts up and you need to give antibiotics.....but for now, I would try what has been suggested first.

 

[Judy]

The only time I have read about someone doing this surgery was for an impacted and hard crop, and from your description, I would guess she has sour crop. Have you read the threads on the FAQ page about sour crop? There are several other things you can try. Is a vet an option? She could have a fungal infection in there and benefit from an oral antifungal.