Impacted crop- too hard to massage

[Fluster Cluck Acres]

Is it normal for an impacted crop to be so hard you can’t massage it?

I have a 3.5 year old RIR hen. She’s behaving normally but has had runnier stools. This morning I did a crop check and hers was large and very hard. She ate some coconut oil voluntarily, but hasn’t drank yet this morning. She hasnt had access to food this morning. She is pooping and behaving like her typical anxious self. I have not been able to adequately massage her crop. It’s just that hard. A couple times I was a little more forceful with trying to massage it, and worried I was hurting her (but she’s also one of my more skittish so it’s hard to tell if she’s uncomfortable or just being difficult).

Anyway, is this normal? Do I just keep her isolated and try to get water, coconut oil, & ducolax in her and keep massaging? Or do I need to take more drastic measures?

Thanks!

 

[Tookie]

Give her lots of coconut oil and try massaging again. How full is her crop?

 

[OwO]

Do they have access to grit? If not you should make sure they do

 

[Fluster Cluck Acres]

Give her lots of coconut oil and try massaging again. How full is her crop?

I’ve kept her in a crate today with only water. Her crop has decreased in size about 50%. It’s now golf ball size. She spilled the water in her crate, so I gave her more as soon as I got home with more coconut oil, and left her alone a bit. When I got her out of the crate about 30 minutes later, her crop is finally softer. I think she finally got to drink some water. I’m going to keep on giving coconut oil & massaging for the remainder of the evening, and then I’ll put her on the roost with the others and hope she clears out overnight.

She’s very stressed, so I’m letting her go back with the flock while I’m at work.

I bought this Dulcolax today, but after reading some other posts, I think I got the wrong stuff. Any ideas?

 

[Fluster Cluck Acres]

Do they have access to grit? If not you should make sure they do

They have access to grit as of a few days ago. Prior to that I didn’t give grit because they were on sand & free-range often.

 

[Tookie]

I’ve kept her in a crate today with only water. Her crop has decreased in size about 50%. It’s now gold ball size. She spilled the water in her crate, so I gave her more as soon as I got home with more coconut oil, and left her alone a bit. When I got her out of the crate about 30 minutes later, her crop is finally softer. I think she finally got to drink some water. I’m going to keep on giving coconut oil & massaging for the remainder of the evening, and then I’ll put her on the roost with the others and hope she clears out overnight.

She’s very stressed, so I’m letting her go back with the flock while I’m at work.

I bought this Dulcolax today, but after reading some other posts, I think I got the wrong stuff. Any ideas?

Sounds good!
Not sure about the Dulcolax.

 

[Tookie]

How is she?

 

[Fluster Cluck Acres]

How is she?

She is doing okay, but not out of the woods yet. I kept her off food all last weekend, and the crop grew smaller, but never quite went away. I did not end up administering the Dulcolax as more research told me not to give anything with an active laxitive. I gave her regular Colace (docusate sodium I think) instead. Her crop has since soured, which is not surprising. I intend to treat w/ Monostat, however I've also decided to treat the whole flock for coccidiosis due to a few other symptoms some other chickens had (and wondering if this might have been the cause of the crop issues). So I'm waiting until the Corrid runs its course before giving her any other medications. Hopefully between the Corrid and then the Monostat, I can get her back to normal. Her behavior is still great, and this morning although her crop wasn't empty, it was much smaller than it had been in previous mornings. Thanks for checking in!

 

[Tookie]

She is doing okay, but not out of the woods yet. I kept her off food all last weekend, and the crop grew smaller, but never quite went away. I did not end up administering the Dulcolax as more research told me not to give anything with an active laxitive. I gave her regular Colace (docusate sodium I think) instead. Her crop has since soured, which is not surprising. I intend to treat w/ Monostat, however I've also decided to treat the whole flock for coccidiosis due to a few other symptoms some other chickens had (and wondering if this might have been the cause of the crop issues). So I'm waiting until the Corrid runs its course before giving her any other medications. Hopefully between the Corrid and then the Monostat, I can get her back to normal. Her behavior is still great, and this morning although her crop wasn't empty, it was much smaller than it had been in previous mornings. Thanks for checking in!

Thanks for the update! If you haven't seen this article here's a link.->
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

 

[Tookie]

How is she?