Between my Hubby being sick and my chicks I am ready to scream..
My only young Hamburg chick (2months old)has been sick and had an eye infection. I've been treating it with Tylan and flushing the eye with Oxine/water. Then I noticed it's crop becoming very large. I felt it and it felt like a beanbag! I gave it veg oil, tried massaging the crop - still no improvement. It looked as if it were getting weaker by the day so I knew I had to do something to empty it. It was full of what looked like bits of corn, as if the little guy had only ate those bits out of the starter. Well I got my X-Acto knife, put in a clean blade, ran it through a flame. I gathered up Oxine, Beadine, q-tips and my liquid skin glue (I bought encase my horses cut themselves). I layed the little guy on a puppy pad, scrubbed the area with the beadine, and made a small incision in the side of the enlarged crop, staying clear of any large veins. Cutting first the skin, then the crop membrane. The little guy didn't put up a fight. Hardly any bleeding, that must be a good sign..right? I cleaned the Q-tip w/Oxine and wound it tight, then used it to scoop out all the bits of undigested corn stuff. Not a pleasant smell, but not as bad as I thought it would be. After I scooped out all the stuff, I rinsed it out with warm water/Oxine mix until it all looked clean. I then dried around it, and using the skin glue with the tiny applicators I put a few small dabs along the crop membrane and slowly touched them back together, then did the same for the outside skin. You can't even tell and he/she already looks like they are feeling better. I hope it makes it, but if not I know I did the best I could for it.
