Impacted Crop

[WatkinsCluckers]

I have a Silkie hen that her crop is huge and will not go away over night. I took her to the vet on Friday and they said that the X-ray (yes, I spent way to much for this hen) shows that everything in there looks like it can pass and I need to give her these drops and quarantine her from the flock. I had to see if she pooped, ate, drank. Her crop wasn’t completely empty when I put her back with the flock. I did that because she became so depressed and she actually ate and drank more being with her friends. I did let her free roam (now looking back I shouldn’t have) and her crop is now larger than before. I ended up putting her inside again this morning. This time I will not give into her sadness. I do not want to do surgery, what are other ways to help her get things moving a long that you’ve seen work with your flock?

 

[Aunt Angus]

I JUST went through this with a chicken I rescued. I gave her a little coconut oil (she ate it willingly) and just massaged her crop. Unfortunately, you have to isolate them when their crops are impacted because you need to restrict their food. Otherwise, she'll just jam it up again. She'll need water, of course. You can keep her in a crate or something similar in the run so she can be near the flock. But a lil oil and massaging that crop in a circular motion should get it moving again. No surgery required unless it still doesn't work...

Good luck!

 

[WatkinsCluckers]

I JUST went through this with a chicken I rescued. I gave her a little coconut oil (she ate it willingly) and just massaged her crop. Unfortunately, you have to isolate them when their crops are impacted because you need to restrict their food. Otherwise, she'll just jam it up again. She'll need water, of course. You can keep her in a crate or something similar in the run so she can be near the flock. But a lil oil and massaging that crop in a circular motion should get it moving again. No surgery required unless it still doesn't work...

Good luck!

Thank you for that input! Sadly we decided to cull her because she took a turn for the worse. It was devastating, but we’re happy she no longer suffers.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Thank you for that input! Sadly we decided to cull her because she took a turn for the worse. It was devastating, but we’re happy she no longer suffers.

Awww.... I'm so sorry. It's always difficult to make those decisions, but I'm glad she's no longer struggling.

 

[WatkinsCluckers]

Thank you