Life span of a chicken with crop stasis

[Ashleys backyard farm]

My 14 week old chicken was diagnosed at the vet with crop stasis. The vet said at her current condition if she doesn’t get well within a week that I should get her euthanized I really don’t want to lose her and I’m trying everything possible to keep her alive. She’s very emaciated but some food must be getting through because this has gone on for almost 3 weeks now. My question is: how long can a chicken survive with this condition?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Welcome To BYC

How have you been treating her?

Did the vet run a fecal float to see if worms and/or Coccidiosis are part of the problem?

Give her fluids and begin treating the crop. See that she's eating, give her some wet feed to eat.

Here's how to treat the crop https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

 

[Ashleys backyard farm]

Welcome To BYC

How have you been treating her?

Did the vet run a fecal float to see if worms and/or Coccidiosis are part of the problem?

Give her fluids and begin treating the crop. See that she's eating, give her some wet feed to eat.

Here's how to treat the crop https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

He there! Thank you for your response. Over past few weeks I’ve tried lots of things including garlic water, isolation, small portions of food, crop massages, homeopathic treatments, etc. The vet said that with how low her crop is hanging that even if she were to heal, her crop may never work properly. I was such an emotional wreck at the vet that I didn’t even ask some important questions. It was basically them telling me she’s going to die. She did tell me to start putting ACV in their water which I believe have helped some. I just can’t tell if she’s gaining any nutrients to gain weight because her crop is always full looking but not hard. It just hangs there

 

[Ashleys backyard farm]

Welcome To BYC

How have you been treating her?

Did the vet run a fecal float to see if worms and/or Coccidiosis are part of the problem?

Give her fluids and begin treating the crop. See that she's eating, give her some wet feed to eat.

Here's how to treat the crop https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

I also want to add that she still has an appetite. But when she eats too much her crop gets so full she starts gagging and vomiting. I’ve had to turn her upside down multiple times to help her expel her contents of the crop. I know there’s a lot of opinions about that but I’ve felt confident doing it as it seems to help alleviate her problem some.

I also want to ask, if I gave her the medistatin would it help any?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Crop hanging low on a 14wk old is a little rare, but I think I'd try a crop bra.

Since the vet gave you "bad news" then maybe just try a Hail Mary and treat her for everything you can.
Treat for Coccidiosis (Corid), deworm her (Safeguard) and treat the crop as impacted and Sour. I'm going to tag in @azygous to get her experience as well.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

 

[Beaker99]

I have an identical issue in my 14 week old pullet. I've been treating the crop for weeks. It's very frustrating. I thought she'd die but she's got some fight in her. Hope you get some improvement.

 

[azygous]

I really do understand not wanting to give up on such a young bird. Goddess knows I've tried weeks and months of every treatment I could think of to save my own.

Crop issues are not always treatable. This one sounds like an especially tough one. I wouldn't give up, though.

There is one thing you can try that might help. It sort of duplicates what a crop bra would do. I hold the chicken in my lap and massage the crop. I do it several times a day. I've never had a chicken object to this.

I begin by gently lifting the crop and supporting it. This alone often helps the crop to partially empty. Then I kneed the crop with my finger tips, focusing on any hard spots, trying to break them up. If the crop is mostly liquid, it's necessary to be especially careful and gentle so as not to force the liquid into the esophagus.

This can keep the contents from stagnating, and it gets food out of the crop and into the proventriculus so nutrients can start to be absorbed in the intestines and keep her alive.

It may be that this is a genetic defect and it will not improve, but there's also a small chance the chest muscles on the young pullet can strengthen and eventually hold the crop in the proper position. Sometimes long shots pay off. It's always worth a try.

It would be worth it to try the crop bra along with the massage. If the crop is supported, it may give the chest muscles a little help, and they may be more apt to strengthen.

 

[Ashleys backyard farm]

So a bit of an update for everyone. My girl is still alive! She’s such a little fighter.

I got her a crop bra and wow oh wow. Within 3 days her crop was emptied. I took it off of her just to see if her crop would work properly but it went back to its saggy state after a while. So I put it back on and have been keeping it on her. She seems to feel better now that food is able to digest faster. Her poo is still pretty liquidy, but she’s still eating and drinking.

Right now I’m trying to focus on getting her back to a healthy weight. She’s pretty malnourished but not to a point where she wants to quit. So I’m going to be feeding her things like eggs and yogurt and oatmeal along with her layer feed since now my girls are officially 18 weeks old

Thank you to everyone for your help! Also if you’re in need of a crop bra head over to Etsy and look up AptosBeach ! She’s awesome and delivers quickly! Definitely recommend.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

So I’m going to be feeding her things like eggs and yogurt and oatmeal along with her layer feed since now my girls are officially 18 weeks old

I'm glad to hear she's still hanging in there and has improved.

I would keep her on chick starter or an all flock feed that is 18-20% protein. Provide oyster shell free choice. Skip the oatmeal, it's not that nutritionally dense for chickens and could be quite sticky/gummy to process, it's not something I would give to a bird that has crop issues. A little egg, fish or meat to give a protein boost would be o.k.
For probiotics, buttermilk or probios are a bit better than yogurt.

 

[K0k0shka]

@Ashleys backyard farm how is your chicken doing? I hope this story has a happy ending. I'm looking for something to give me hope, because I have a similar situation with a 6-month-old pullet, except the bra hasn't helped her. I've tried everything and nothing has helped so far... the vet gave it her best but she can't determine the primary cause (the crop stasis is usually a symptom of something else).