Impacted crop? PICTURES!

[janinepeters]

You said they don't "register" it. Doesn't that mean they don't feel it?

Congratulations for saving your chicken's life. That's not what I have a problem with. What I have a problem with is spreading serious misinformation about pain perception in animals. Because it leads people to take certain things too lightly...like cutting into an animal with no anesthetic, without even knowing what is wrong.

Some references on pain perception in animals:

1. http://www.euprim-net.eu/network/courses/downloads/presentations/course4/3_braskamp.pdf
(Deals only with mammals)

2. http://www.amazon.com/Fish-Feel-Pai...55518505&sr=8-1&keywords=do+animals+feel+pain
(Deals only with fish. I do not know of any research specifically on birds, but fish also have relatively simple nervous systems and the author makes a compelling argument that they do in fact feel pain)

Best,

Janine

 

[ChickensRDinos]

What I meant to convey was that bird's brains are too small to comprehend and process what is happening and they have no reaction and make no attempt to flee. I do not know how much of it they feel or don't feel but for practical purposes of dealing with this situation they will not react.

If I did not use the correct word here then I apologize. That was not my intend.

 

[Warrprincess688]

So I talked to a couple people and didnt see this thread til it was too late. I talked to a lady today who deals with vets. She had the same situation and brought hers to the vet. The vet said it was a tumor and she had the same symptoms as mine that explains why I never saw anything in her crop. I believe it is a tumor. I'm just trying to make her comfortable now. She's having a hard time standing. After watching her eat, I did feel her crop and the crumbles did make it to the crop. Thank you all for your help. I will make her comfortable and will have her put down if it is the best decision. I feel bad for this girl never had a better layer, and quite as cute a character.

 

[9pines]

I have 6 very spoiled hens who are about 1 year old; 2 Aracaunas, 2 Wellsummers, and 2 Buff Orphingtons. I live in Upstate NY, so it has been very cold (20degrees or less at night) this winter. Their unheated coop has lots of hay for warmth, is relatively wind proof, and they all huddle together on the roost.

About 2 weeks ago, I noticed one of my Buffs, Nellie was not doing so well. She was standing all alone in the run,all puffed up, didn't really seem to be eating, and very sleepy. Then I noticed her "jerking" her neck. Her comb and wattles seemed a bit greyish. That night it came time to roost, and Miss Nellie was down below the roost. I knew it was going below 20degrees that night and was worried about her being all alone . Many signs of distress, so I brought her in the heated garage.

Just the warmth helped her. It seemed as though her crop was bigger that the others. I did alot of reading here and other sights to advise me in treating her. I put a syringe of olive oil down her throat, then massaged her crop. In doing this she threw up a couple of times. I thought this was good. Impacted crop is kinda like being constipated. I did this three times over the course of two days. It really seemed to help. I withheld food also, only water with electrolytes, which she wasn't drinking. I was a bit worried, and didn't know what else to do. I felt like I was starving her, but didn't want to clog the crop further????? I finally gave her a finely chopped up apple She loved it!! After 7 days in the garage she seemed much better. The weather was unseasonably warm so I put her back out to the coop.

Its been day 5 since she went back out. Today I went out to find her kind of crumpled laying on the ground?? I was bringing their breakfast of warm cooked oatmeal and some chopped up tomatoes and greens.

As I picked her up , she seemed so helpless and weak. Once again her crop is enlarged. So now she is back in the garage????? My 5 others are in great health and laying regularly!!! What is going on??

Any advise would be appreciated. I just don't like to see her in pain!!

 

[ChickensRDinos]

What does her crop feel like? Is it hard or squishy? Can you feel a blockage? Is it empty in the morning before she has eaten anything? Is her poop normal?

 

[9pines]

Her crop is more hard than squishy. When I brought her in the first time, her crop seemed to be a bit more squishy. I did massage her crop a bit. Time will tell. I may have to give her more oil. The problem is trying to do by yourself. Difficult to hold and open beak and squirt syringe. Anyone have suggestions??

 

[BeckySue]

I thought I'd share the story of my little Red Star, Evelyn. She's normally very active, but about three weeks ago, she was pretty listless. We let the girls free range with supervision every day so I keep a close eye on their activity.

I took her into the house and took her temperature: 106.6 degrees F. I started her on antibiotics thinking she had a bacterial infection and collected her droppings for analysis by the state.

When I was dropping off her sample, I mentioned to the state vet that her crop felt full in the morning. The vet suggested she might have an impacted crop and that I should give her apple cider vinegar in water (2 tbsp/gal). I told her I was treating her for coccidiosis, since that is something the flock has been diagnosed with in the past (reasonable to assume this is making Evie listless and depressed).

The results came back negative for coccidiosis, while her crop still felt full. I started her on the vinegar water and soft foods, yogurt and cottage cheese, scrambled egg, layer pellets softened in water, and kept her in chickie hospital for a week and a half, regularly massaging her crop. She was eating and pooping out solids in very watery droppings. I took her temperature again after the week and a half and she still had a fever (normal temp is 103 degrees F, while her temp was still 106.6 degrees F). At this point I started giving her SpecLinx-50, 750 mg/quart of drinking water for five days. After the second day of antibiotic, she regurgitated a gray mass about the volume of an 1/8 of a cup, and boy did that smell bad! After she got that up, she really started feeling better. Started eating more heartily and her droppings returned to normal.

We put her back in the coop two days ago and her sisters were very happy to see her. She had to reestablish her position in the pecking order, but she's doing very well.

I would tell those who are treating impacted crop, to keep an eye on the droppings. If the bird isn't passing solids, she's starving. Also, treat for bacterial or fungal infection, as often this is making the girl sick as well.

 

[realsis]

I've read on this site two "cures" for sour crop.the first is a bit unconventional however about ten people swear it cured sour crop. that's taking a monostat suppository and cutting it into 1\3 and feeding the 1/3 to the afflicted chicken once daily. They have had excellent results with this. Another method I've read here as a "cure" is feeding lactose free KIFIR grain to the chicken. they said it took a couple of days with feeding the water kifir grain and her sour crop was cured.This was one persons experience. the monostat use SEVERAL people had tried and it cured all their sour crop problems. I've read so many people with great success doing this if it were my chicken I'd likely try it. it sounds really unconventional however they swear it cured their hens and saved their lives. if you choose the monostat you can purchase at the grocery store the suppositories. if you choose the lactose free kifir grain you can get the kifir at a health food store and even online at Amazon.com. i bought some kifir myself; lactose free to have on hand for sour crop. i got mine off amazon for around 9 dollars. but if you want to try the monostat suppositories it seems more have had success with feeding 1/3 of the suppositories . i just wanted to share with you some "cures" I've read about. I'd defiantly give it a try. people swear by it although unconventional. i wish you the best of luck. it it were my bird because of what I've read about both methods or cures I'd likely try these methods myself. i m glad she is doing so well thank you for sharing this method.

 

[fowlmouthgirls]

If their crop is impacted, are they unable to poop? One of my 5 week old chicks crops is huge tonight! I mean the size of a golf ball, but its squishy. I brought her in and massaged it and she made a HUGE poop, but the crop is still the same size. Am I prematurely worrying? She's my three yr olds chick, and I would hate to dismiss it and find she's gotten worse.

 

[ChickensRDinos]

How was she in the morning. It takes 4 hours + for the food to work it's way through a birds system so the only way to really tell for sure if to without food overnight and check in the morning to see if the crop is now empty.