Impacted/Pendulous Crop (Surgery?)

[ShiviBear]

Good morning fine chicken people..

I noticed this hen was not eating in the morning two days ago, when I picked her up I felt that her crop was full and hard....very hard. Her crop is definitely impacted, I can feel a hard area, barely squishy and an area of undigested pellets that surrounds it.

After reading a few suggestions here and various other ones on the web, I quarantined her and started feeding her coconut oil and massaging her crop. I did this all day Sunday off and on. Monday morning there seemed to be a change, the crop definitely seemed squishy and not as hard and gave me hope.

Unfortunately, I had a kitten emergency (not a serious one) and spent all day at the vet and couldn't continue the oil and massage regiment. When I came back last night, her crop still felt a bit squishy but also harder then that morning.

Last night I gave her olive oil instead, but unfortunately her crop is very hard again this morning. It swings as she walks and she is definitely losing her pep. And although she poops a little, it's a very small amount. I did give her a bit of chicken soup broth this morning hoping to get some nutrition in her.
I must prune apple trees this morning but will make her a crop bra as soon as I can.

I did get a scalpel and suture at the vet yesterday in case I had to do crop surgery but am really reluctant.

Is there ANYTHING else I can try before taking this route?
My problem is going to be finding somebody to hold the hen that I can trust.

Am willing to try anything....I don't want her to be uncomfortable anymore.

Suggestions are always appreciated.

 

[ShiviBear]

To Add: My vet said next time I could bring the chicken in and he will do the surgery and suture but he left to go on vacation today and will not be back until Monday.
I doubt his fill in would do it...it's possible. But am not sure if my sister, who owns the chickens (I only take care of them) would agree to pay for this. They are working chickens to her and would opt to just buy an extra one when purchasing the next batch. I definitely treat them as more then just working hens..I love them.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

I have a similar thing going on with my hen. How is your hen doing?

 

[ShiviBear]

I have a similar thing going on with my hen. How is your hen doing?

She's kinda the same, not worse but not better. She still has what I am guessing is grass in her crop wrapped up in a ball, I give her olive oil and coconut oil and
massage throughout the day when I can and feed her mash or broth.

This week has been CRAZY with animal emergencies of all sorts for me, and she unfortunately fell down the priority ladder.
I do what I can for her, hoping for a miracle, she definitely digests a little bit of food because she poops a little.

Hopefully today, as long as no new emergencies pop up, I'll have a chance to make her a crop bra and I was thinking of trying a method to clear impacted crops I found looking around on YouTube. I'll link it here and tell you how it goes...supposedly this mixture (cinnamon, chili powder, ginger powder, baking soda, lemon juice) breaks up the gunk and the hen passes it. I'm willing to try anything here.
If that doesn't work, I will try surgery but REALLY do not want to go that route.

Video I'm referencing...

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Thank you for sharing this. I scrolled past it last night while looking for ideas to treat my Darla. I feel so bad for her. I'm not sure if she's suffering from sour crop (from possibly missed vent gleet) or an impaction. If it's something that going on with her that's completely out of my control or if it's something she ate. I hate to try surgery if she's going to pass away from a reproductive disorder because that's a lot of stress on her. I'm going to try what's in the video you posted. Please let me know how it goes for your hen and I will do the same

 

[KAKG]

I’m caring for a hen with similar issues right now. Sour crop, and I suspect a partial impaction. There are lots of very helpful posts on this forum. I’m having success with miconazole for the yeasty crop, and docusate sodium to soften the impact ion and get things moving. Searching the forum will give you the info you need for dosing. I’ve also been feeding some egg scrambled with coconut oil and massaging regularly. It has taken 3 days, but finally saw improvement today. Best of luck with your hens!

 

[HeatherKellyB]

I’m caring for a hen with similar issues right now. Sour crop, and I suspect a partial impaction. There are lots of very helpful posts on this forum. I’m having success with miconazole for the yeasty crop, and docusate sodium to soften the impact ion and get things moving. Searching the forum will give you the info you need for dosing. I’ve also been feeding some egg scrambled with coconut oil and massaging regularly. It has taken 3 days, but finally saw improvement today. Best of luck with your hens!

I'm so happy that your hen is starting to improve. Hopefully the OP's hen and mine will be on the mend soon! Going to try this starting tonight.

 

[cosmicmama]

She's kinda the same, not worse but not better. She still has what I am guessing is grass in her crop wrapped up in a ball, I give her olive oil and coconut oil and
massage throughout the day when I can and feed her mash or broth.

This week has been CRAZY with animal emergencies of all sorts for me, and she unfortunately fell down the priority ladder.
I do what I can for her, hoping for a miracle, she definitely digests a little bit of food because she poops a little.

Hopefully today, as long as no new emergencies pop up, I'll have a chance to make her a crop bra and I was thinking of trying a method to clear impacted crops I found looking around on YouTube. I'll link it here and tell you how it goes...supposedly this mixture (cinnamon, chili powder, ginger powder, baking soda, lemon juice) breaks up the gunk and the hen passes it. I'm willing to try anything here.
If that doesn't work, I will try surgery but REALLY do not want to go that route.

Video I'm referencing...

So, did that magic concoction work?

 

[ShiviBear]

Well...yes basically...it did dissolve the majority of the hard ball that was in there. It definitely made a HUGE improvement and made my hen much more comfortable.
But, that being said, she still has crop issues...so from the start it was a deeper problem then just an impacted crop.

She is still hanging in there..now I am treating her for a sour crop.

But if you have a mild to moderate case of impacted crop, then I say this is definitely worth a try. I was skeptical, but it does work.

A pain in the fluffy butt to slowly feed it to a hen 1/2 ml by 1/2 ml as I do not know how to tube feed a hen.
That poor hen hates me now...hides under the coop as soon as she sees me.

 

[Fossey2]

Well...yes basically...it did dissolve the majority of the hard ball that was in there. It definitely made a HUGE improvement and made my hen much more comfortable.
But, that being said, she still has crop issues...so from the start it was a deeper problem then just an impacted crop.

She is still hanging in there..now I am treating her for a sour crop.

But if you have a mild to moderate case of impacted crop, then I say this is definitely worth a try. I was skeptical, but it does work.

A pain in the fluffy butt to slowly feed it to a hen 1/2 ml by 1/2 ml as I do not know how to tube feed a hen.
That poor hen hates me now...hides under the coop as soon as she sees me.

I am feeding my hen this same concoction to help her impacted crop and what I have found VERY helpful is to wrap her tight in a towel and let her basically stand in my lap with my left arm around her, gently cupping her head and helping hold it still. Then I carefully use the tip of the syringe to pry her bottom beak open slightly and squeeze the mixture into her mouth. She struggles way less like this. Takes me about 20 minutes to get the entire thing down her but no chance of aspirating and she doesn't struggle much. I would say she gets about 90% of it!