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

[Swbertrand1]

The one teaspoon of MS remains the same regardless of the amount of water you use in the solution. You can use as little as one teaspoon to one ounce of water and it will still work. I prefer the larger volume of water as I feel it will be more effective as a flush.

The principle is this. One teaspoon of magnesium sulfate is required to stimulate the intestines to produce mild diarrhea. The water is a carrier for the salts to get it inside the intestines. The larger volume of water will act additionally as a more effective flush, just as a stopped up toilet will respond better to four gallons of water chasing the clog than just a quart.

Forgive me for comparing a chicken to a toilet, but the flushing principles both involve volume of water and the assistance of gravity.

That makes better sense, and yours was a good analogy. I simply want to be sure because she's such a little girl. Thank you!

 

[Swbertrand1]

One last thing:

She's definitely on a downhill slide right now. For almost 2 weeks, we've been able to get food and water into her along with the Amox, but since yesterday, her food intake has tapered way off.
Stools today have been almost non-existent, almost like she's become COMPLETELY blocked internally. She's had plenty of water today, enough food to survive, along with Coconut Oil and Dulcolax, but she's NOT expelling anything so far.
Even overnight last night, she didn't expel much based on where she was when put up last night and retrieved the morning (she doesn't move once she roosts).
EDIT: Her crop is "squishy"; I can hear it squishing like I'm wringing out a sponge when it's massaged...

 

[azygous]

After trying everything you can to clear her system, sometimes nothing will work. Last week I had a patient die after trying everything.

 

[Swbertrand1]

Ughhhhh! If we lose this bird, I don't think my bf will recover. He LOVES this little chicken more than life itself... :-(

 

[azygous]

My patient was eight years old. Yours, being younger, has a better chance for a positive outcome.

 

[Swbertrand1]

That is the upside, but she's challenging ALL that we have in our bag of solutions!

 

[azygous]

The important two things are to make sure she's hydrated and keep her glucose up so she doesn't get too weak to pull through this.

 

[Swbertrand1]

We are doing that. Two more questions:

When we give the MS solution, do you recommend a particular time of day, and is it better to administer when the crop is full or empty?

Thank you!

 

[azygous]

I doubt it matters what time of day. I did it in the morning and late afternoon. The crop won't be empty since that's the problem you're trying to remedy.

Here's what I did when the crop was on the full side. I tubed the solution in and watched for signs of overflow. You will see the tube back up instead of going easily into the crop. Also, as the crop reaches capacity, the patient may squirm and buck from the bloated feeling. That's the cue to stop there.

 

[Swbertrand1]

I doubt it matters what time of day. I did it in the morning and late afternoon. The crop won't be empty since that's the problem you're trying to remedy.

Here's what I did when the crop was on the full side. I tubed the solution in and watched for signs of overflow. You will see the tube back up instead of going easily into the crop. Also, as the crop reaches capacity, the patient may squirm and buck from the bloated feeling. That's the cue to stop there.

Very good, and thank you as always!

We've withheld all but an essential amount of food from her today to try to get closer to an empty crop, but it's just not happening. She's getting Feed mixed with Water and Yogurt in small doses, and regular pea-sized Coconut Oil doses followed by a 5 minute crop massage. Other crop massages happen about every 30 minutes. Her water station has Electrolyte/Sugar mixed in, so I think we're good there.

The mid-day "feeding" got about 1/3 of a Dulcolax tablet added to it, and she still didn't produce a stool until about 4pm, very small too but mostly solid with the same yellow film on most of it.

We're going to start the MS in the morning after she gets a little feed this evening along with Electrolyte/Sugar with a little Honey mixed in.

S