Getting worse…treatment for impacted crop, lethargy

[77horses]

Hi all,
I’ve searched the forums and for the life of me cannot find a solid treatment for impacted crop that doesn’t involve surgery. Maybe that’s because there’s not one, who knows. But there has to be an alternative. One of my hens have impacted crop. I brought her to the vet yesterday, had X-rays done…I kept her inside overnight and checked her crop in the morning, it’s not emptying overnight.
So if anyone has any known treatments for impacted crop other than surgery, please share! She has lost so much weight already from nutrients not effectively being passed through, but I really can’t afford to spend hundreds of dollars on surgery at the vet (nor do I want to attempt it myself).
Thank you.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Hi all,
I’ve searched the forums and for the life of me cannot find a solid treatment for impacted crop that doesn’t involve surgery. Maybe that’s because there’s not one, who knows. But there has to be an alternative. One of my hens have impacted crop. I brought her to the vet yesterday, had X-rays done…I kept her inside overnight and checked her crop in the morning, it’s not emptying overnight.
So if anyone has any known treatments for impacted crop other than surgery, please share! She has lost so much weight already from nutrients not effectively being passed through, but I really can’t afford to spend hundreds of dollars on surgery at the vet (nor do I want to attempt it myself).
Thank you.
View attachment 2873420

If it's just grains, & grit you can use the crop massage method, & work the feed out of the crop through the food tube that leads to the stomach.

You take solid coconut oil, feed alot of it to the bird, massage in a circular motion at a slight downward angle. You should feel the food moving, & the crop shrink abit.(Do not Make the bird regurgitate)

During the treatment, no food. You can offer water, this will help soften the impaction too.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Looks a rock lodged in the tube, but that should be easy to dislodge with the method I posted above.

 

[77horses]

If it's just grains, & grit you can use the crop massage method, & work the feed out of the crop through the food tube that leads to the stomach.

You take solid coconut oil, feed alot of it to the bird, massage in a circular motion at a slight downward angle. You should feel the food moving, & the crop shrink abit.(Do not Make the bird regurgitate)

During the treatment, no food. You can offer water, this will help soften the impaction too.

Thank you!!! I’ll give this a try. I believe it’s mostly grain and grit in there, especially based on the X-ray. I recently started feeding them hearty hen pellets but Nutrena, and it seems this issue began right around the same time.
I’m also offering nutridrench in her water, to make sure she’s getting a little boost in nutrients at this time. That’s okay, right?

 

[MysteryChicken]

Thank you!!! I’ll give this a try. I believe it’s mostly grain and grit in there, especially based on the X-ray. I recently started feeding them hearty hen pellets but Nutrena, and it seems this issue began right around the same time.
I’m also offering nutridrench in her water, to make sure she’s getting a little boost in nutrients at this time. That’s okay, right?

You're welcome.

Vitamins are okay.

I also feed Nutrena, but I feed all flock since I have roosters.

 

[77horses]

Update: her fecal float results came back from the vet. No round worms, so that’s good. But she has cocciodiosis. So I’m going to pick up some liquid Corid and treat her + the whole flock. My only concern with this is that I read you’re not suppose to give any vitamins in the water during Corid treatment. She has lost a lot of weight due to lack of nutrient absorption so I’m worried if I stop adding nutridrench to her water during treatment, she’ll get worse. Thoughts?

 

[77horses]

Update: she’s spending another night indoors. It’s not looking good; she’s much more tired tonight, she keeps lowering her head down as if she can’t lift it, like she’s falling asleep but keeps fighting it. Not sure she’ll make it through the night. Still giving her water with nutridrench in it, hoping it gives her enough strength to hold on. Would electrolytes help?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I would push fluids.
Give her some coconut oil and if the crop is impacted, then I would try 1 stool softener along with the coconut oil.
You can also try a flush to see if that helps. @azygous has a great article that I'll link below. Flush consists of 1 teaspoon Molasses mixed with 1/4 cup of water. Have her drink it all.
Molasses acts as a laxative. Not sure what she's got in there sort of hard going back and forth between this new thread and the old one https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...reating-for-lice.1497838/page-4#post-25024762

If you are going to treat with Corid, then you wouldn't want to give her any extra vitamins that contain B1 (Thiamine).



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

 

[Ryguy3684]

Update: her fecal float results came back from the vet. No round worms, so that’s good. But she has cocciodiosis. So I’m going to pick up some liquid Corid and treat her + the whole flock. My only concern with this is that I read you’re not suppose to give any vitamins in the water during Corid treatment. She has lost a lot of weight due to lack of nutrient absorption so I’m worried if I stop adding nutridrench to her water during treatment, she’ll get worse. Thoughts?

Nutridrench contains thiamine mononitrate(b1) in the ingredients list, so I wouldn't use that while treating for coccidiosis. I would use the molasses flush that @Wyorp Rock recommended. Have you started the corid treatment yet? You may want to drench dose her, in addition to mixing it in with the water, like you do with the rest of the flock. That way, you know she's getting enough. I use the corid powder, so I don't know liquid drench dose off the top of my head. I'll see if I can find it in my bookmarks. I just lost my rooster and one hen from a coccidiosis outbreak, so I had a few pages saved for quick reference.

 

[Ryguy3684]

I found it. Here's the drench dose thread.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/corid-oral-drench-instructions.1211991/