impacted or sour crop is there an easy solution??? updated

[max101]

I have been massaging all day
The mass is soft and very pliable now
It doesnt seem to be going down though
I have been squirting yoghurt and apple cider vinegar down her throat
She hasnt pooped since this morning
I can feel all the grass inside her
It is making a swishy noise now
I will switch to water with the vinegar in it now and keep massaging
If the lump moves though to the stomach will it get stuck in the intestines or something??????

 

[tulie13]

Once the lump moves down, you should be pretty much home free - her guts will grind it up (gizzard). It should not get "stuck" again. The crop is where things tend to jam up, unless there is something undigestable in there, like a long piece of string. Keep it up, maybe just do the yogurt once a day, as yogurt can curdle in a sour crop, adding to your problems. Stay with the oil massage + applesauce and ACV water for now. Once you clear the crop, give yogurt to help re-establish crop flora, as it will have been through a rough situation!

Keep up the good work!

 

[Lora C]

we just went through a similar situation. We followed the same advice for 6 days (yogurt, acv, massage, etc.) but she was never able to pass what was in her crop, and was losing weigh and strength. We made the decision to skip the crop flush because we didn't feel like whatever was in there would ever come up, so we opted for the crop surgery as detailed in several posts here. That was last night, and so far, so good. We make a very small incision and in her skin and crop and removed a lot of stuff in her crop that wouldnt have moved if we hadn't gone in and removed it. I hope we saved her life - she would have slowly starved to death otherwise - so I hope our decision pays off for her.

I found this very helpful - there is a section about crop surgery: http://fowlfacts.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=afflictiondiseaseff&action=display&thread=1188

Good Luck

 

[tulie13]

Quote:
If it is a wad of hay, a crop flush would likely not bring it up. If this oil/massage, etc. doesn't clear it in a couple of days, crop surgery might be in order. Glad to know you did the surgery, apparently they do tend to bounce back from it very well! Did you give antibiotics post-surgery?

 

[max101]

The crop appears to be very squishy today.
I cant tell whether it is empty but alot of mass has been cleared out.
She is pooing very dry poos in small amounts.
I am still giving applesauce to her and watermelon
She doesnt want to eat on her own
She pecks but does not take any food I have to force feed her
She does appear more frail
Could impacted crop be a secondary thing???
Maybe something else is wrong with her???
She has been wormed recently and has no lice or mites
She has been broody lately and she never really recovered from her last chicks.
She mothered them for over 6 weeks
In the end I gave them away as she was giving up all her feed to them and wouldnt eat much herself
I have food out all the time she just wont eat it

 

[Lora C]

Quote:
If it is a wad of hay, a crop flush would likely not bring it up. If this oil/massage, etc. doesn't clear it in a couple of days, crop surgery might be in order. Glad to know you did the surgery, apparently they do tend to bounce back from it very well! Did you give antibiotics post-surgery?

For my girl, its 48 hours post op, and she's doing very well. I probably would have given her antibiotics if i had some on hand, but didn't. I have since ordered some Tylan and Pen G and if she needs it, ill give it to her. I've been offering her yogurt and other soft foods, but she's not impressed. I did give her watermelon and she LOVED that. So she's definately got an appetite. It's not for everyone, but my hubby and i feel like we made the right choice in this case to do the surgery. Her incision looks good and i am hopeful that she'll recover.

 

[mypicklebird]

Really the only option that works if the material is a large amount of straw/hay ect is removing it, meaning surgery. The stuff turns into a fibrous matt- like hay felt. You either need to get the help of someone like a vet, or do it yourself (there are threads on here detailing it). She was a better candidate for surgery when it was first noticed than now when she is more frail from not eating normal food for longer. She cannot live on water and applesauce (sugar), and will waste away quickly. She may have an underlying problem as well, but her primary problem appears to be an impacted crop. If you cannot do/get the surgery done, you should probably cull her. Chickens generally do fine with gas anesthesia, but most of the home jobs are not done with anesthesia- they are done with a towel wrapped around the bird for restraint.

 

[max101]

It is great to hear your chicken is oing great after the surgery
How did you stitch up
That is the only thing that is stopping me from cutting
I hope poach makes it

I have never culled anything before
I really dont know if I could

 

[songbird]

Chickens do just fine under anesthesia. For crop surgery, only a very light plane of anesthesia or sedation is needed. Any vet can do this safely. I've done it with just a titch of injectable sedation IV.

 

[Lora C]

Quote:
I think you are like us an dont have the option of going to a Vet, right? Its definately not something my hubby and I wanted to tackle on our own, but when faced with the option of watching her die (or worse yet, culling her) or operating, we felt we had to try...

I would have like to have had real suturing material, but we just used regular thread and needle (a curved "C" shaped one) and sterilized them in alcohol. We kept the incision in the crop very small (1/2 ") - just enough room to reach in with blunt tipped tweezers. We only needed one suture to close the crop and 4 to close the outer skin. There was very little bleeding (thankfully) and Lola barely moved throughout the procedure. Its true what everyone says - they are incredible tough and tolerant.

It was only my first surgery, but feel free to PM if you have any questions to help you get through it. I've been given so much good advice here that I would be happy to reciprocate.