just did surgery on impacted crop! 3/4 RIP coach

[WhoaNellie]

Wow! That's just awesome! I'm pretty sure I'd never have the guts to do what you did.
Fingers are crossed for Coach!

 

[chickensioux]

 

[Slywoody]

I have the utmost respect for all you gals on here that are willing to go all the way for your birds.

 

[shay20]

How is she doing?
I just found this thread and the whole story, You are so awsome for doing that for her, great job.

Soooo can i call on you as a chicken doctor? hehe , your awsome.

 

[Ross Ranch]

Your bravery is inspiring! A valuable post! Best wishes for recovery!

 

[fiberart57]

Very nicely done!

I hope that she's well this morning.

I've never had to do this on one of my girls but I have a couple of small technical questions, if you don't mind.

How big was the incision? I know that it was large enough for you to put a gloved finger in there but there's a wide variety of finger sizes.

What size is the dog crate? I would imagine that part of the success of her healing involves keeping still and not jarring the incision area.

Did you cut any of her feathers out of the way?

What kind of pressure was applied to the maxi-pad dressing?

Thanks ever so much and congratulations on your courage again. I agree that sometimes these little girls can cause anxiety.

Mary

 

[Casey3043]

Well, you've given me the courage to try this myself MAYBE......I am also a nurse, but I am retired so have no access to the sterile instruments, etc that you had. I currently have a hen with a crop problem. She is Victoria, my alpha hen, and quite a favorite. She went to the vet last week and received antibiotics and cisapride and medications for gapeworm, which were found in her stool sample. (None of my hens have every evidenced the gapeworm behavior, so I did not suspect that they had them. I worm them all twice a year with Wazine). But like you, I had decided that if she died, I would do a necropsy to see what was in there. Now, she doesn't seem inclined to die, nor does she seem inclined to improve.

Over the course of a week, she has not improved. Her crop is still swollen, but soft and squishy. When I massage it, she burps a little. It doesn't smell sour, but I can smell the fruity pedialyte.

She is in the dog crate in the spare room. She has not eaten for a week. She has no appetite, and I am feeding her by dropper. She is existing on pedialyte, water, vitamins, and baby food. It seems that only liquid is getting by the impaction. She is pooping a little. I have decided that tomorrow I will take her back to the vet and ask him to do crop surgery. I have spent a lot of money on this hen. She's the same one who had this issue last August. At that time, medications took care of it. So, at the risk of throwing good money after bad, she goes in tomorrow for surgery.

One good thing has come of this, and that is that I was able to move my pullets in with the older hens relatively smoothly without Victoria beating everyone up. Now the second coop is ready for the new chicks I have ordered!

 

[bonniebe]

well, coach is alive and bright-eyed this morning. i picked her up and her chest was very wet. i took her into the shower and cleaned and rinsed her chest well. i swaddled her, again covering her head and carefully separated her feathers until i found the incision. still open. i cleansed the area with betadine and using superglue with a brush end first closed the crop, held it with tweezers for a minute, then brushed the edges of the skin and held them together. she actually looks better this morning, perkier. she ate about a tablespoon of cooked pumpkin for breakfast. still pooping well. one of the things i was thinking when i started this surgery saga was that most people do not have access to surgical type instruments. everything i used can be bought at a pharmacy. remember, stomachs, and crops are not sterile, food is not sterile. i did find out several things. i would wash and cut the feathers before surgery, i don't think i would pluck, it seems it would cause increased swelling and inflammation. i would definitely try to close the incision somehow, steri-strips didn't work well for me, but so far the superglue seems to be holding. i found out chickens don't like to have bandages around their chest, and i found out coach is not thrilled about showers. if you apply pressure to birds, remember they don't have diaphragms like we do, they use their chest muscles to breathe, so be careful how much pressure you apple when holding pressure or bandaging. it can be pretty easy to apply too much pressure, then they cannot inhale. i put her in a dog crate about 2x3 feet, it seems to be adequate

 

[Casey3043]

LOL! I am trying to picture the shower. Did you strip down and take her in with you? Did you shampoo her with Pantene? How about conditioner? Good thing she's not out in the wind or her feathers might get frizzy!

Glad to hear she is doing so well. I know Victoria has not layed since last summer when she was sick, and it's just as well, because she is on Baytril again.

 

[momreda]

Quote:
Yes, now that she is better she can not have a bad hair err... feather day!!!