Liquid Food (emergency)

[Mavrik]

I need to get some nutrients into a chicken real fast, I need something liquid so it passes past an impacted crop. (waiting for help in the emergency section for the impacted crop)

 

[gritsar]

Some hard boiled egg mixed with some plain yogurt, poultry electrolytes or water in a blender. It'll be thick, but it will be liquid.

Good luck.

 

[Mavrik]

Sounds too thick, I know water is getting though, I'm thinking more in the line of a sugar water solution of some sort, I don't have a clue on the ratio/mixture. It's been days since she had eaten, she it lethargic.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Electrolyte Solution
1 Qt Water
½ tsp baking soda
1/4 cup Karo Syrup or Black strap molasses
½ tsp salt

 

[AccentOnHakes]

Try mixing a bit of feed with water, stir it up, and use an eyedropper to suction up the top layer of water. It might have small bits of feed in it, should have some nutrients.

 

[Mavrik]

Just so you know, the yogurt made my bird throw up all day. Stop recommending yogurt!

From another thread...
Quote:

 

[rancher hicks]

First of all , I would not recommend more "soft " food for an impacted crop. Keep in mind that the crop is "impacted" because it is full of food/feed that has not passed through it.

It might help us to research the function of the crop and I have not done this but my understanding is that it is where chickens "grind" up what they eat using muscles and "grit".

There are two types of grit. Soluble and insoluble. Each helps with "grinding" grasses, grains and other things chickens eat. However "insoluble" can stay in the crop for a longer period of time and is coarser. Usually made of stone/granite.

I would recommend gentle message to try to help the unground food pass through it. No feed at all since it would only lead to more of a "backup".

So what to do? Using an eyedropper I would give liquid vitamins, but just an eye dropper full. Over doing vitamins can damage a chickens kidneys. (PP magazine)

If you walk her about a bit that might move the muscles and get things moving. Not a great deal but a little.

Remember grit is as important as any thing else in a chickens diet. Both types should be offered to laying hens and insoluble to chicks and roosters. EVEN IF THEY RANGE. I like to keep a tub or large dish full of insoluble grit availble at all times.

These are not wild chickens they are domesticated and may or may not find it on their own. Some breeds are better foragers than others.

Hope things improve.

Rancher

 

[Kat0crazy]

Baby food!!

Stage 1

Add some uncooked egg whites.

Feed through a syringe

 

[Polish rooster]

Compacted (impacted) crop is an emergency. Food is not going through and stays in the crop. Chicken is hungry but the crop is full. There is a blockage somewhere in the track or chicken has eaten something like tough grass, straw or even carpet strands. Those bind in the crop. In this situation they go desperate and will eat anything. Make sure they can't get a hold of long hair which in combination with hard to digest strands of grass or straw will make a clump which cannot be digested no matter what chicken gets. Yes, hungry and desperate chicken will eat long human hair. Without surgery it is not curable and a visit to an avian vet is a must because the food that stays in the crop will sooner or later spoil and a bacterial or fungal infection will come. That is a death sentence. Pumping more stuff into the crop makes things worst. One of the causes of blockage can be parasite infestation like roundworms. They can completely block solids from going through. Liquids can still sip through (hence watery diarrhea). Deworming is a must. If you ever see even one roundworm in chicken poop it is an alarm and the whole flock should be dewormed before chickens get overwhelmed by these nasty parasites. I had dead roundworms in a pot with water for half a year(!) and they did not decompose. They are like indestructible strands of hard rubber.
Compacted crop is a secondary condition - something else is the primary reason that causes this condition. Regular deworming is a good way of preventing compacted crop.
Once you have a weak chicken with a big crop a visit to a vet is a must. Do not be cheap, you wanted chickens, and they depend on you.