Okay you guys prepare for some yuckyness. I am still reeling from it.
So I watched a few YouTube videos when I got home and prepared myself. Mark and I performed the deed tonight.
I decided that long hard thing was not supposed to be there, and since nothing else is working I might as well retrieve it.
We began prepping the area. Soaked the tools in iodine. we covered the table with seran wrap then paper towels. Next we layed Mama on her side. Mark held her legs and we covered her head with a towel. I clipped her feathers at the incision site and cleaned with iodine.
We made the first incision on the skin and she went mad. Held her and kept going. There was very minimal blood and we had gauze prepared to dab and clean. Next we made the first incision into the crop. It was thick and I really had to saw into it. I cut about a half inch ( just enough to stick my finger in there.) then all hell broke loose.
It was the most horrible smell I have ever experienced in my life. First a tremendous amount of puss came out (could've been yesterday's yogurt though) followed by gobs and gobs of the scrambled eggs that I have been FORCE FEEDING the poor bird. Anyway there is a pic to follow of what we pulled out but I found two twigs in there. I don't know if they were causing an obstruction though because they came out with the heap of egg. If they weren't the reason for this impaction then it's something far along the digestive track because I stuck my finger in all corners of that sucker.
After I felt around to ensure there was no more hard anythings, I used a dropper to flush water into the crop and squeeze it back out. We then cleaned the open wound with warm water and iodine.
I decided against sutures and instead went with crazy glue. All of the YouTube videos used crazy glue and I must say it was a good choice. It bonded the crop back together immediately and did the same to her skin. We let her sit for a few minutes before washing the front of her with warm water.
She is now relaxing in her crate.
Here is the egg I pulled out and the two twigs. It was a lot of stuff. Initially I only felt one twig so I'm hoping the other one was clogging her up. If not I've really done all I can do and am at a loss. Because of her having three days worth of food in her, I am confident that worms were NOT the problem. It was either these twigs or something farther down keeping this food from going anywhere. Doesn't explain why her crop was empty when I found her emaciated but quite frankly I am completely stumped and out of explanations.
Mark and I are at the laundromat so I don't know what she is up to now but I'll give you an update before bed.
I've taken away her crumbles but left her water. Should I wait to give her any yogurt until the morning?
