More impacted crop questions.

[desertgirl]

One f my approx 2 week old BR chicks has a large,kind of firm crop (and I can feel "stuff" inside of it).They've had no food except for chick starter, so I guess it is the bedding (?). I have searched for cures for impacted crop (looks like mineral oil is the way to go?), but I'm concerned that this is a losing battle. Are some chicks just predisposed to this affliction? Once they get it, do they keep getting it?

 

[Judy]

Olive oil, not mineral oil, and a bit of bread soaked in olive oil sometimes helps.

But are you sure something is wrong? The crop should feel full at the end of the day. See if it is smaller in the morning.

 

[desertgirl]

It is very disdended. I noticed it last night,and seems to be a little bigger today. Her sister's seems fine (same age).

I just did some massaging-not hard,actually felt kind of squishy (and I think I felt sub Q air,if there are any other nurses out there).

I removed their food and put in some olive oil soaked bread,but they don't seem interested in eating it at all....

Thoughts?

 

[Glenda L Heywood]

HERE IS THE CROP FLUSH WITH BAKING SODA AND THE SURGERY LIST

Sour crop can be caused by any thing toxic to chickens
it can be from feed that is spoiled
it can be from botulism
it can be from grass forming a ball in the crop and not able to go thru

also one lady wrote her hen ate a filter tip from the cigarette
of which she had to give it two crop surgery sessions

with that said maybe your hen picked up something when free ranging

so here is the flush if it is grass she may have a wad of grass balled up in the crop that can't go thru the crop hole
you may have to flush her out
CROP FLUSH
first use the flush
1/2 cup of baking soda
1 pint of warm water

Here is what I always did for the crop problem
I took the 1/2 cup of baking soda
and disolved in the pint of warm water and with a
childs ear syringe filled the syringe with the soda water mixture.
Now I held her out from me and slwoly put the syringe to the back of her mouth and squeezed the water solution into the crop.

Then with my fingers came up under the out side of the chest of the bird. Starting below the crop and brought my fingers up so as to expel the impacted sour feed and what ever.

I did this till the water was gone - three times. Then I took and put her in a cage
alone and fasted her from feed for 24 hrs.

Then the next day i mixed the milk and two slices of bread and 1/2 small container of yoguart. and fed her this.

The next morning when I went out to give her the
bread/milk/yoghurt mixture, her crop was completely empty for the first time

So then as I havd put the chicken on a fast
I still feed the bread/milk/yoguart mixture this twice a day for a week
then the bird could be put on crumbles
DO NOT feed it any whole grain for quit a while

Also give the bird
1 tbsp of ACV in pint of water
as the ACV will help the gut restoration for good gut flora

CROP SURGERY???
AT WORST SIDE you may have to do this: A
friend of BYC made this up for impacted crop surrgery
more professional than mine

Items Needed:

Betadine solution
Isopropyl Alcohol
Gauze Pads
Razor blade or Exacto-knife
Tweezers (surgical - if available, find at Vet Supply or Pet)
Hand Towel
Sutures or Heavy weight Thread
Sharpie sewing needle that will accommodate thread
Scissors
Antibiotic ointment
access to warm water, preferably a kitchen sprayer

To perform the surgery, a "surgeon" and "assistant" are needed. The assistant holds the bird, wrapped in a hand towel,from behind being sure to keep the wings secure and unflapping.

1. Approximately 1/3 of the way down the crop, located on the right the breast; push back the feathers and have the assistant hold the feathers away from the site. Place a few drops of betadine solution on a gauze pad and clean the dermis of the crop at the site of the incision.

2. Wipe the area with an alcohol pad. Allow to dry.

3. Holding the skin slightly spread, cut through the outer dermis with the cutting tool. The opening needs to be only 3/4" - 1" in length. (The incision that we made was more horizontal than vertical.) The skin is fairly tough, so you may have to apply several strokes. The tool will pass through the outer dermis and you might encounter adipose (fat) and then flesh before entering the crop.

4. Once the crop has been opened, material may start to be seen through the opening. Place the bird over the sink and massage the crop so that the contents move towards the opening. The surgeon can grab the contents and dispose in the sink. Once the material is removed, rise the site thoroughly with warm water. Additional material may come to the surface, massage the crop to feel if there are any additional contents. (Tweezers may be needed to remove blades of grass or in our case a cigarette filter.)

-Be careful not to tear the skin around the site with the massaging.

5. Rinse the site again. Pat dry with a gauze pad. Take a minimum of a dime size dose of antibiotic ointment and "pack" the site - lightly smearing the cream or ointment into the site.

6. Thread your needle, cutting a 12" section of doubled thread. Knot the end, leaving a 1/2" tail. Place 3-4 stitches through the dermis, catching the lining of the crop. End the stitches with a knot on the opposite end from which you started.

7. Allow the "patient" to recuperate isolated from the flock. Use newspaper for bedding, offer water and withhold grain. Offer plain yogurt 6-8 hours after. Yogurt and mash/grain can be offered on day 2. Water at all times.

8. Keep an eye on the incision, being sure that their is no tearing or redness. The stitches can be removed 7 days after surgery. Apply antibiotic ointment to the site.

We put our girl back with the flock on day 4, watching her closely.

I hope that this helps for future reference.


and the surgery you probably won't need but will include
keep us posted how your helping her

 

[desertgirl]

So this is where I am...

I have given olive oil, held food, and am massaging her crop. I had already added ACV to their water (since the day I got them). Some of threads say to seperate the chicks. I've moved both girls into the house (chily tonight and I want to keep a close eye on her).I have her in a seperate "cage" (laundry hamper ICU!), but both of the siblings seem so upset to be apart that I fear I'm doing more harm than good. Why am I seperating them again?

 

[Judy]

Old worn out nurse here (retired RN.)

I wouldn't separate just for crop problems. Separating is done, as you may have guessed, primarily to try to prevent spread of infection. Also, others could attack her for being sick, or the weak member of the flock, as well.

Ugh. Sounds like she ate something she shouldn't have, that the others did not.

You could try the crop surgery if you can scrounge enough equipment. Evidently it works fine to sew the crop and skin together afterwards, weird as that sounds to me. But it makes it a whole lot simpler, as you can about do it with household stuff that way, rather than having to try to obtain absorbable suture to sew the crop separately.

But the sub q air really does not sound good, as I am sure I don't have to tell you.

If you can't flush the stuff out with Glenda's approaches, or get her to vomit it out, you may have to try the surgery, or let her go.

I'll stay subscribed and try to watch the thread, though it is late here and I have to get up early.

 

[desertgirl]

Thank you. Good knowing there's another nurse out there to help!!!

I broke down and put them together (both in the ICU bin-no shavings). There is water with ACV, and I'll put the "healthy" one in another bin to eat every now and then.

I'll repeat the olive oil in the am, continue with the massages. I'm trying to avoid the flushes, as I've done a little home chicken anatomy lesson, and I would NOT want to risk aspiration (high likelyhood).

As for surgery...ugh. Let's hope it doesn't come to that!

Rest well. Talk to you tomarrow, and thanks again. I was beginning to think no one would answer.

 

[Renee]

Everyone loves nurses!

I would hold off on any extreme measures for your chick.

Is the chick pooping? If it is, the problem may resolve itself.

You should remove all shavings and straw and use only paper towels. Make sure plenty of water is always available. You can feed the chick cool scrambled egg or wetted chick mash to help food go down more easily. Some people say putting drops of olive oil on the beak of the chick works to get them to swallow it.

As you noted, emptying a crop is difficult for an amateur and often results in the chick aspirating fluids and dying of pneumonia. If it is a genetic malformation, you will not be able to permanently solve the problem anyway.

Sorry about your chickie. I lost my Nugget to a sour crop and it was very sad. She was so hungry.

Good luck.

 

[desertgirl]

Awww-sorry about your poor Nugget (great name,by the way!).

She is drinking and pooping, seems relatively happy. I've got them on paper towels only. I put about 5 cc of olive oil down her crop earlier (had an unused insullin syringe in a pocket from work, thank goodness!), and have massaged it occaisionally (down,not up).

They are sleeping soundly, so I guess I'll turn in for the night and check them in the am. Thanks for your help!

 

[desertgirl]

The crop was much improved this am! Yay!

I went ahead and fed them, but now I am noticing the one who had the problem before is more distended than her sister's again. Not nearly as bad...maybe some residual problems? Should I repeat the olive oil treatment?

And as for the shavings, as I think they are the culprit, I'm going with just straw ad paper towels. At what age do you think it might be safe to re-introduce the aspe shavings?