Impacted Crop, Work in Progress

[BanoOmg]

One of my RIR hens has an impacted crop. It gets super fat, like a baseball.

We've been massaging it several times a day for a few days. Today is day 3. On day 1, we injected olive oil into her mouth and onto her feathers (whoops!)

She's isolated in a dog crate in the run, with her own water and food. I'm about to put ACV in the water after I post this. I've been feeding her crushed pineapple and apple sauce, and today added a little yogurt and a sprinkle of crumble.

When I massage her crop, it gets softer and malleable. It feels like one of those stress balls filled with coarse sand or perhaps oyster shells.

She's still moving around and can jump up to roost in the dog crate. She still drinks and eats. Her bock sounds pathetic; like a sad whoopie cushion.

How hard am I supposed to massage her crop? Should I be trying to crumble and break the gritty stuff inside?

Here are some pics:

She's on the right in this pic. The other hen was hatched the same day. Great comparison shot

 

[BanoOmg]

Oh, I forgot to mention she is still laying without issues. I let her out for a minute today before these pics, and she marched right up into the coop to lay.

 

[BanoOmg]

Update: She's pooping a lot, and her crop is a lot easier to massage. The sediment is a lot more loose. It's still oversized, but I thiiiiiink it's getting better!

 

[Dephora]

What is the crop like first thing in the morning before she eats? Is it still full?

 

[BanoOmg]

Still full, yes. I take her food out at night, but today I'm trying no food, ACV in the water, and a dish of coconut oil. Syringing olive oil into her beak was no good for any of us.

 

[Cazook]

If you're working it out and she is still active and not extremely skinny I would say keep doing what you're doing. If you get to a point where you can't get it to go down (ie long grasses in crop) then maybe you gotta try smt else. Good luck

 

[BanoOmg]

She's not yet skinny, and she can still jump up on the roost in her crate. I'm a little worried, but it seems to be getting better!

 

[Dephora]

I do always take the food away until the impact is fully gone. Otherwise, they just keep packing it in.

Usually takes 24 hours of ACV water and at most yogurt or a shot of coconut oil, Someone on here gave the advise of freezing the coconut oil into small chunks and I will say they gobble them down like they are little bugs, much easier than squirting in olive oil.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

She may benefit from a crop bra so you can get the crop to clear. If you have not treated for sour crop, then that may be a good idea too.

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

 

[BanoOmg]

Update: she's doing a lot better now! She's pooped out what looks like mortar, so I think she was just trying to build a brick house or maybe just a fireplace and chimney.

Or maybe she just ate a metric ton of grit to try to get something unstuck from her crop because that's what her instincts said to do to fix the issue, but I like my story better.

Her crop was almost completely empty this morning, so she got some mashed up food and chowed down. Her crop ballooned up again, but it's a lot of liquid. Crop bra will help, I'm sure.

I'm still isolating her so I can keep her away from the feeder and the grit. It's looking good though!