Impacted crop surgery

[Southern Bee Lady]

With the assistance of all the information on backyard chicken, I just did surgery on my buff orpington hen. The hen is doing well.
The surgeon may take a while to recover
I want to start her on antibiotics. What do I use. I have terrimycin but not sure if that is the right one to use.

I hope I never have to do this again but it was either do it or put the chicken down.

 

[JennsPeeps]

You're a brave woman. Hope the bird (and you!!) recover quickly.

 

[emilyweck]

WOW! I saw a recent post that explained how one gal did this. I was floored! I'm so impressed! Great job! Lucky chicken!

As for med's, I can't help you but I'm sure someone will know. Good luck.

 

[Biddieacres]

Great job! What did you use for stitches and where did you buy it if you don't mind me asking? Hope she recovers well! I hear they recover rather quickly from that surgery.

 

[Toast n Jelly]

A friend and I did the same yesterday and the hen is still alive today

. I used crazy glue to seal both layers (separately). It's part of a larger problem though, this hen is having trouble breathing and has to open her mouth very wide for each breath so she hasen't been eating. I feed her little drops of yoghurt and hope whatever's affecting her windpipe will go away.

 

[Southern Bee Lady]

I used 100% cotton thread. Sterilized it and the needle in alcohol.
I was afraid to use the super glue. Afraid I would do damage if I glued myself to the crop. I put 3 stitches in the crop and 5 in the skin.
It looks pretty good so far.
I also used betadine as an antiseptic on the skin before the incision and after I finished stitches. I am giving her terramycin in her water.
Hope that is enough to keep down infection.

 

[princess araucana]

FYI, in a couple days you will see bruising that looks like a black/ green color. I did the surgery and afterwards thought he had gangrene infection! he was fine. You must give antibiotics.
Also, did you leave string hanging out and do the stitch where you can pull the string out once it heals?

 

[Southern Bee Lady]

My chicken is eating a mixture of yogurt, bread softened with oil and chopped boiled egg. She is standing up and appears to feel good.
I am only feeding her a small amount at a time. She has terramycin in her water. I picked up some vitamin/electrolyte powder at Tractor Supply and will start giving that to her tonight.
As far as the stitches, I should be able to remove the ones in the skin fairly easily.
I am hoping the three in the crop will not be a problem. Hopefully the 100% cotton thread will be fine. If I see any kind of irritation or problem under the skin, I will make a tiny slit in the skin and remove them.
Does anyone think the cotton thread will dissolve or will it cause a problem if I leave it in the crop?

 

[Southern Bee Lady]

Just an update on my hen. She is doing well. She has a little bruising around the incision. I keep her separated (but close) from the other chickens during the day. I put her on the roost with the others last night. I will keep her separated from the others during the day so I can control what and how much she eats for a few more days.
If she does well the rest of this week, I will relax and hope I never have to do anything like this again.

 

[4hooves&featheredfriends]

I just posted an update on this - I did surgery about a week ago.

A few differences, with the procedure. We did not suture both inside and out, just the outer dermis and inner as one. May cause a lesion, but she seems fine. We did pack the site with Triple Antibiotic before suturing.

No discoloration around the suture - we used sterile sutures that my Mom had on hand as a former ER nurse.

As these babies from the winter go out it seems pretty common. I might suggest that people limit the amount of grazing and accessibility to grass. I do this with my horses to prevent colic in the spring.