Impacted crop question

[TX Chick Noob]

I was able to get out early enough today to do a general crop/condition check of my girls. One of my 23 week old ISA Browns has a hard lump in her crop, around golf ball size. I am chilling some coconut oil to give her, but wanted to confirm I need to crate her to restrict food access. Should I restrict water too?

 

[DobieLover]

I was able to get out early enough today to do a general crop/condition check of my girls. One of my 23 week old ISA Browns has a hard lump in her crop, around golf ball size. I am chilling some coconut oil to give her, but wanted to confirm I need to crate her to restrict food access. Should I restrict water too?

Do NOT restrict access to water. On the contrary you may need to tube water into her crop to help break up the mass.

Do you have any stimulant free stool softener similar to this?:

I have used this to clear a partially blocked crop.
I just snipped the end of the capsule and squeezed the contents into a very small amount of veggie based baby food, drew it up into a syringe and gave it to her.
She was crated for easy access (NO FOOD), and I went out every 2 hours throughout the day and gave her 50 mls of water via careful syringing then a 2 minute crop massage.
She got her last crop massage when the rest of the flock had gone to roost.
By the next morning the blockage was more than half gone so I gave another dose of docusate, more water and this time went out ever 3-4 hours for water dosing and crop massages.
After two full days of treatment the crop was flat so I offered her a wet mash made of her normal feed to eat for the day. Her crop was full that night and flat in the morning so I released her.
To this day she hates my guts for treating her but at least she's still alive to hate them.

 

[TX Chick Noob]

I got her first dose of coconut oil down. Had to break the first part up into pill size pieces and put in her beak, but once the other chickens decided she was getting a treat she also decided it tasted pretty good and packed the rest out of the bowl for me. I think I’m supposed to wait about 10 minutes before I try to massage her crop. After I’m done with that the first time I’ll go check if I have that laxative, I think I may have some.

 

[Shadrach]

You'll get a variety of advice on this.
First do not restrict water. The more water you can get down her the better.
Full impactions are fortunately quite rare. A full impaction is serious and often needs an operation to clear.
A full impaction is when nothing passes throught the crop to the gizzard and left untreated the bird starves.
Partial impaction (a hard lump in the crop but some poop coming out the other end) is more common.
Is your hen still pooping even if it's mainly liquid?
I massage partially impacted crops. I give cold coconut oil and massage trying to break the ball into smaller pieces. About 15 mins after giving the coconut oil and a massage I make the hen drink water. 300 mililitres of water per treatment is a good estimate. I treat every couple of hours.

 

[TX Chick Noob]

I haven’t seen her poop but I have 11 pullets so it is hard to monitor. She is crated now (in the coop) so I will be able to tell if/when she poops. Did coconut oil and massage, getting her water now.

Edited to add she has been laying for just over 4 weeks and did lay the past several days. The eggs the last two days were a little smaller but not by much. So pretty sure she isn’t egg bound. Probably something she ate.

 

[Shadrach]

After I’m done with that the first time I’ll go check if I have that laxative, I think I may have some.

DO NOT USE A LAXATIVE!
What you need if you decide to use it is a stool softener. You need to be very carefull about this.

 

[TX Chick Noob]

Sorry I worded that wrong. I meant the stool softener mentioned above. Not going to give it yet, just checking if I have it in case needed.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Right, don't use laxative, just stool softener if you are going that route.

For me, if I catch a slow crop first thing, I just give coconut oil twice a day, massaging the crop. See if it empties overnight. Repeating the steps for a couple of more days even if it's emptying.

I do leave the hen with her flock to eat/drink as she wishes. My observation is usually a hen that is having crop problems will self regulate food but drinks a lot of water. Vary rarely do I isolate a bird at all.

If the crop is still hard and not moving after coconut oil for a few days, then I move to stool softener. I just pop the gel tab into her beak and let her swallow. Continue with coconut oil twice a day.


https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

 

[TX Chick Noob]

Main reason I have her crated is to see if she is pooping. But she is in the coop with her flock.

 

[TX Chick Noob]

So she has passed some mushy dark green poop. First one was slightly more liquid than the second.

More info about my setup and what they eat for general reference. I am giving them Nutrena Hearty Hen layer feed (18% protein), with free choice grit and oyster shell out at all times. Also put eggshells out most of the time. For treats a few times a week we take in a cup of scratch to feed/throw around for them, or take a flock block in for 10-15 minutes. And every now and then they get the dead bugs out of the DynaTrap.

They don’t free range yet (I keep getting nervous about hawks). So occasionally we take in a tree branch with leaves on it (elm, hackberry, or bodark). And I have some grass (coastal) growing in a tub I take in ever now and then. If the grass is really long I try to chop it up instead and throw around in the coop.

Their coop is 10’x12’ (converted horse stall). Three nest boxes and three 8’ roosts that are varying heights. Floor is dirt with deep bedding (pine shavings and dead leaves).

Tried taking her a scrambled egg. She picked at it a little bit didn’t eat much, so the other girls got a treat.