Impacted Crop, Young Impacted Crop

[Cwencre]

Hi! I have a young and super friendly hen who might have an impacted crop. The mass in her crop is almost the size of a baseball and very hard, I tried massaging it and it barely morphed the shape. I've had her off of food and drinking water with Apple cider and Apple cider vinegar in it for 24 hours. She is still energetic and very hungry, wanting to eat pellet feed at any opportunity. She is pooping but the mass is not getting any smaller, and she has trouble swallowing. Will a laxative help break down the huge, dense mass?

 

[MaisyBird]

Hi there, I've also had issues with impacted crops and have helped my chickens get through them. First, dont feed anything else to your bird until the mass is cleared. Even though your hen will be hungry, feeding her will only add to the problem since nothing is going down. My hen really enjoyed watermelon and I would give her pieces of that instead of her grain because it was almost all water. The water will help break up the mass if you keep massaging it. Hope this helps and keep us updated!

 

[Eggcessive]

Can you give her electrolytes with vitamins in her water? You can refrigerate some coconut oil, and give her about a teaspoonful chopped into small slivers orally. Colase stool softener (Dulcolax is another brand, but do not use the Dulcolax laxative,) can be used to help break up the impaction as well. The main thing is to give her lots of water, and massage her crop several times a day. Check her crop early in the morning to see if it has emptied. Here is some reading about crop disorders and the difference in treating sour versus impacted crop:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...ntion-and-treatments-of-crop-disorders.67194/

 

[Cwencre]

Ok, I will try giving her the coconut oil slivers and stool softener (read about it and the dosage on another post). I'll keep you updated! Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[Soy Milano]

She may need a crop flush. It might be a good idea to take her to see an avian vet - http://www.poultrydvm.com/poultry-vets.php

 

[Cwencre]

Good news: This morning we gave her 200mg of stool softener (docusate sodium) dissolved in 1tbs of apple juice, and I checked her again this evening and her crop is much softer. She is still perky and not showing any signs of distress or discomfort. I will check to see how she is in the morning and give her fresh water with Apple cider vinegar to help prevent sour crop.