Impacted Crop???

[SD13]

Hi everyone,

I came out this morning to see my Azure Blue (20-22wks old) not looking well.
(We got her from Frey’s as a ready-to-lay, but she has never laid and came injured and bullied-so she’s had a rough go from the start)
I think she has an impacted crop as it was hard and swollen, she’s been puffed up and very lethargic and she let me pick her up which she never does.
I’ve isolated her, given her access to warmth, water and given her a syringe of vegetable oil mixed with some warm water.
I’ve massaged her crop on and off for a few hours, at one point she pooped out mostly clear liquid with a bit of white and green.
Her last two movements have been small amounts of clear mucus looking consistency.
The crop feels a lot less hard but still swollen. There is no foul smell from her breath to indicate it’s become sour crop.
She can no longer stand and my heart is breaking, I don’t know what else I can do.
She is currently laying down, dozing in and out of sleep. Her breathing seems alright, on the slower side.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Tookie]

How big is her crop?
If your certain its impacted crop treat for it.
Give her a few tablespoons of oil and massage, massage, massage in a more downward motion.

 

[azygous]

More often than not, a crop disorder is triggered by an underlying health issue. Keep that in mind. If you will read my article on crop disorders, that will save me time going over all the particulars. https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

With impacted crop, and you need to verify that's what you're dealing with, requires a lot of oil to break up the impacted contents. So I suggest you go to town on the oil. Coconut oil is the best oil to use because you can chill it, making it solid, and it's easy to safely shove pieces of it into the crop without worrying about it going into the airway. Give a full teaspoon every hour, each dose followed by ten minutes of crop massage. @Tookie is pointing out the most important feature of treating impaction.

If, after several hours of this intensive treatment, it fails to break up the contents, give a stool softener. (Sodium ducosate.) Wait an hour and massage some more.

 

[SD13]

Hi everyone,

I came out this morning to see my Azure Blue (20-22wks old) not looking well.
(We got her from Frey’s as a ready-to-lay, but she has never laid and came injured and bullied-so she’s had a rough go from the start)
I think she has an impacted crop as it was hard and swollen, she’s been puffed up and very lethargic and she let me pick her up which she never does.
I’ve isolated her, given her access to warmth, water and given her a syringe of vegetable oil mixed with some warm water.
I’ve massaged her crop on and off for a few hours, at one point she pooped out mostly clear liquid with a bit of white and green.
Her last two movements have been small amounts of clear mucus looking consistency.
The crop feels a lot less hard but still swollen. There is no foul smell from her breath to indicate it’s become sour crop.
She can no longer stand and my heart is breaking, I don’t know what else I can do.
She is currently laying down, dozing in and out of sleep. Her breathing seems alright, on the slower side.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!

How big is her crop?
If your certain its impacted crop treat for it.
Give her a few tablespoons of oil and massage, massage, massage in a more downward motion.

Thanks for the reply.
I would say it’s bigger than a golf ball, smaller than a tennis ball. It’s definitely not as hard as it was this morning, but it’s still very much engorged. I can see her wince when I massage particularly on the right side, which I notice it’s protruding more from. She’s been letting me massage her every 30min-1hr, she’s now able to stand up but she wobbles and is visibly weak.
I have given her about 4ml of vegetable oil mixed with water from a syringe. Should I just be giving her straight vegetable oil?

 

[SD13]

More often than not, a crop disorder is triggered by an underlying health issue. Keep that in mind. If you will read my article on crop disorders, that will save me time going over all the particulars. https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

With impacted crop, and you need to verify that's what you're dealing with, requires a lot of oil to break up the impacted contents. So I suggest you go to town on the oil. Coconut oil is the best oil to use because you can chill it, making it solid, and it's easy to safely shove pieces of it into the crop without worrying about it going into the airway. Give a full teaspoon every hour, each dose followed by ten minutes of crop massage. @Tookie is pointing out the most important feature of treating impaction.

If, after several hours of this intensive treatment, it fails to break up the contents, give a stool softener. (Sodium ducosate.) Wait an hour and massage some more.

How do you mean shove pieces of it into her crop?

 

[Tookie]

Thanks for the reply.
I would say it’s bigger than a golf ball, smaller than a tennis ball. It’s definitely not as hard as it was this morning, but it’s still very much engorged. I can see her wince when I massage particularly on the right side, which I notice it’s protruding more from. She’s been letting me massage her every 30min-1hr, she’s now able to stand up but she wobbles and is visibly weak.
I have given her about 4ml of vegetable oil mixed with water from a syringe. Should I just be giving her straight vegetable oil?

You can mix the oil with water to get her hydrated, but you'll have to give more of the oil mixed with water.

 

[Tookie]

How do you mean shove pieces of it into her crop?

Chill coconut oil until it's solidified, then break it apart into chunks and put the chunks into her mouth so she'll swallow it and it goes into her crop.

 

[Eggcessive]

If you have some electrolytes, pedialyte, or Gatorade give her some in a small cup or scoop to drink. Dip her beak into it. Some raw or watery scrambled egg could be offered. She looks very weak and pale. Recheck her crop early in the morning to see if it has emptied. Does she move her legs and toes if you touch them? Check her skin under her vent and belly for any lice or mites.

 

[SD13]

If you have some electrolytes, pedialyte, or Gatorade give her some in a small cup or scoop to drink. Dip her beak into it. Some raw or watery scrambled egg could be offered. She looks very weak and pale. Recheck her crop early in the morning to see if it has emptied. Does she move her legs and toes if you touch them? Check her skin under her vent and belly for any lice or mites.

She isn’t going near her water, so I will have to give her hydration through the syringe. She stood up for me when I massaged her last, about 20minutes ago, wobbled a bit when I set her back down, but has been standing up since.
Her toes moved around my hands when I held her which is an improvement from this morning when they weren’t moving much.
I checked and have seen no obvious signs of lice or mites, and try to be very diligent with cleaning the coop often to try to prevent that.
Yes she’s very pale, but she’s more alert than she was this morning, so I am hoping that’s a good sign

 

[SD13]

How do you mean shove pieces of it into her crop?

Just read your article, will get going in the advice; thank you!
I just noticed a small amount of discharge or something, do you have any advice on that, or is that sometimes “normal” for crop issues?