Impacted/Doughy Crop + Stool Question, 5-1/2 mo Silkie hen

[Eggcessive]

I don’t have much to add, but I agree that the bean shaped thing is a lash egg from salpingitis. The yellow liquid in the dropping looks like yellow urates from liver involvement. Liver disease can be found with reproductive infections, cancer, liver disease, and heart failure. Were her urates yellow before you started giving B vitamins? The green poop could be from not eating enough.

 

[Swbertrand1]

Yes, I believe you're dealing with an early case of salpingitis. You should be in time for the antibiotic to be effective. I'd treat at that dose for ten days.

I think you have a handle on this.

Thank you! I think you're on the right track based on my study of Salpingitis in the last few hours.

She got her first dose of 125mg of Amoxicillin about an hour ago. I'll give her another about 10pm tonight, and then have her on 9am/9pm schedule for 10 days.

 

[Swbertrand1]

I agree, I think you are dealing with early Salpingitis as well. Take note of your photo - that "bean" - it's sitting on top of the poop and looks relatively "clean" (not mixed with fecal matter), so for me and my thought process, it came from the oviduct instead of the intestines. Further confirmation is your description of "cheesy".

I would treat with the Amoxicillin. Dose is 57mg per pound of weight given orally twice a day for 10-14 days. She weighs 2lb 2oz so that comes to 121.125mg - soooo 125mg twice a day is what I would give (there's wiggle room in amoxicillin dosing).
Do you have tablets or capsules? The powder in the capsules does not mix well with water, so it's better to mix it into something like coconut oil.
For example if you have 250mg capsules mix it with something "known" like 1 tsp coconut oil. Mix well, divide that in 1/2 - there's your 125mg dose! You can roll that coconut mixture into a little pill shape if you wish, put in the freezer to harden, then just pop it into her beak like a pill. Make sense?

I would also treat the crop like you are doing. It may be slowed due to infection - crop issues and reproductive disorders just seem to go hand-in-hand. So working on both conditions, hopefully she will start to recover for you.

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Thank you for your reply! That makes sense that it's from the oviduct, but I hadn't considered it's location relative to the rest of the waste - learn something new to ponder and put in the arsenal EVERY day.

I have 500mg capsules that are just barely expired, so I cut her dose down to 1/4 of that capsule on a scale (125mg) and administered it mixed in Starter Feed, Coconut Oil, Yogurt and a few drops of Nutri-Drench. She ate ALL of it! Then again, she's always a good patient and eats anything we give her, even straight Coconut Oil bits, frozen of course...

She's doing well this afternoon. I just returned home and her crop is far less "doughy", but might be because she's been drinking water. I keep her dry feed from her right now, instead opting to feed her in doses with therapeutics. Though she's a little put off by that, she's happy, active and came running toward me at the run gate asking for her feed...

I'll update in a day or two barring any other issues. Thank you again!

 

[Swbertrand1]

I don’t have much to add, but I agree that the bean shaped thing is a lash egg from salpingitis. The yellow liquid in the dropping looks like yellow urates from liver involvement. Liver disease can be found with reproductive infections, cancer, liver disease, and heart failure. Were her urates yellow before you started giving B vitamins? The green poop could be from not eating enough.

Thank you for the reply Eggcessive!

We noticed the yellow liquid Monday morning after discovering the crop issue about 4pm Sunday afternoon. The B-Vitamins had not been given at that time and were first given Monday about mid-day.

The yellow liquid has persisted into today's stools as well, though not in near the volume seen in the earlier photos.

Her crop has remained so full and stuffed feeling that I'm surprised anything is passing through her, so the fact that I'm seeing any stools is amazing, but she goes about every hour or so... Her crop does get massaged very frequently, though, as one or both of us is pretty much here all day every day.

That Sunday night in the coop was the only time I've see the green-colored stool, so that might be an aberration.

 

[Swbertrand1]

UPDATE for Friday; last post was three days ago (Tuesday):

As of this afternoon, not much has changed with Peanut, and I am not able to get her crop to completely empty either overnight, or at all. Each morning it's a doughy mass about a nickel to a quarter in size, but round of course. Her crop is massaged at least every hour, if not more often throughout the day. Her high activity level has not changed, and she doesn't seem to be bothered by anything, eagerly running toward us if we approach, running and playing in whatever run she's in, and just generally happy, alert, and healthy. The only difference is we do NOT allow her to free-range with the rest of the flock in the evening because she likes to eat the grass in the yard.

She has been on antibiotics (Amoxicillin) since Tuesday afternoon, so it's been three days of dosing. She's also getting plenty of Coconut Oil sometimes mixed with Starter Feed and Yogurt (Yogurt to fend off Sour Crop and Feed because she has to eat).

Her stools have not changed in appearance since this began, and she's also "going" regularly, leaving as many as 20 or more per day. They are a dark brown with yellow liquid mixed with the more solid matter (photos of samples from Wednesday to Friday, today, are attached). She has not, thankfully, passed any more of the strange mass that started this issue, the cheesy mass of pinkish stuff that looked like a small lash egg about the size of a bean.

I feel like I need to continue on this path, even though I can't get the crop to completely empty, because I want to get through the Amoxicillin 10-day treatment in case we are dealing with Salpingitis, then deal more fully with the Crop Issue. Though hard to understand, she is getting enough to eat because she's only lost 1 ounce of weight since last Sunday/Monday.

What do you folks think??

Again, stool photos attached are from Wednesday, Thursday, and today, Friday in chronological order. Some stools look much better and more "normal", but I'm showing the worst of them here.......

 

[azygous]

Are you aware that the "cillin" antibiotics can aggravate crop yeast? For that reason, I don't try to treat crop and bacterial infection at the same time.

In your shoes, I would finish her course of amoxy, ignore the crop for now, just provide grit and probiotics and of course watch her diet.

Her crop may not be a significant issue right now. As long as she's happy and active and eating, try to live with the small lump for the time being.

 

[Swbertrand1]

Are you aware that the "cillin" antibiotics can aggravate crop yeast? For that reason, I don't try to treat crop and bacterial infection at the same time.

In your shoes, I would finish her course of amoxy, ignore the crop for now, just provide grit and probiotics and of course watch her diet.

Her crop may not be a significant issue right now. As long as she's happy and active and eating, try to live with the small lump for the time being.

Not aware of that, but it makes sense; my bf and I even talked about the "meds" making her crop issue more difficult to treat, so that helps.

We agree that getting through the antibiotic is more important than the crop, especially since she's clearly getting nutrition, hasn't lost significant weight, and is leaving regular stools, not matter how they look.

We're living with the lump, but helping it all we can...

Thank you!

 

[Swbertrand1]

UPDATE on Peanut:

We're now at day 9 of the Amoxicillin 2-a-day 125mg dosages; she'll finish tomorrow evening. Though it's been a struggle to stay in front of the Impacted Crop, we're managing to keep her fed and watered, and she's only lost 2-3 ounces of weight in over a week. We weigh her daily.

Starter Feed and Yogurt help tremendously since the Yogurt fends off the Sour Crop, while Coconut Oil helps keep everything lubed so she can digest some food. Each morning, her crop is doughy and firm, like a ball of clay that we can shape to our liking. That starts the day's cycle of Coconut Oil, Feed, and medication.

Oddly enough, we believe she laid an egg this morning, but can't be 100% sure - the egg was directly beneath her roost bar in the coop, and Kilo always has laid her eggs in a nest box. If she laid mid-treatment AND with an Impacted Crop, I'd be shocked, but it doesn't look like her sister's egg. We'll have to wait through the day to see if Kilo lays; if she does, then this is surely Peanut's egg and nothing short of surprising.

All things considered, she's doing quite well. She has not slowed down, is alert, active, happy, and the same sweet little girl we've always known her to be... Fingers are crossed that we can get her through this issue like we did with her Wry Neck!

 

[Swbertrand1]

UPDATE on Peanut:
09/25/2021 (Saturday; day 13 of Crop Issue)

Peanut has been off Amoxicillin since Thursday evening, so it's been 36 hours OFF the antibiotic. Her crop issues (Impacted/Doughy Crop) persist, but there may still be some reproductive issue based on her stools. We're making sure she gets Coconut Oil and have tried to get her crop mostly empty by this morning (Saturday). It did NOT empty.

So, we held her food until just after noon today because she is just not processing food as she should (crop that hasn't emptied overnight). We're going to stay on Moist Feed, Yogurt, Coconut Oil, and Fried Egg mixed together for her along with plenty of Fresh Water. The Fried Egg was just added to her diet today as part of the soft food regimen related to her crop.

Through the morning, these are what her stools looked like (all taken today). What do you folks see here? I see that some food is getting through (solid parts); I see grass in there that she managed to get into her yesterday by mistake (she's quick on her feet!); I also see lots of liquid; finally, I see lots of yellow. When hosing this "yellow" off the walk/floor, it seems to be kinda "stringy", like it's some kind of membrane, at least in part. You can see the "stringy" parts in photos 1, 2, 3, & 7. What do you think?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Her crop issues (Impacted/Doughy Crop) persist, but there may still be some reproductive issue based on her stools.

I think you are dealing with early Salpingitis

I agree that the bean shaped thing is a lash egg from salpingitis. The yellow liquid in the dropping looks like yellow urates from liver involvement. Liver disease can be found with reproductive infections, cancer, liver disease, and heart failure.

Did you read up on Salpingitis? Sometimes the antibiotics can help with the inflammation, sometimes not.

For me, I would treat the crop issue more aggressively to see in that can be resolved. Treat for Sour and Impacted - see what happens. https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

I'm sorry she's still struggling. Reproductive disorders can be the pits. Often all you can do is treat symptoms, make them comfortable and once they continue to decline repeatedly, then put them out of their misery.