Nevadans?

[Lacy Blues]

Aubrey,

How is Mama doing tonight?

 

[aubreynoramarie]

Well gosh I just don't know. This bird has me completely stumped. I am not noticing very much improvement. Yesterday I came home from work and saw that she had drunk a little bit of water. I out her outside and put some crumbles on the ground then spied on her. She pecked at it a bit which had me really hopeful because up until yesterday she wasn't eating or drinking on her own. Anywho, around 5:00 I force fed her yogurt and scrambled egg just to be safe. This morning her crop was still completely full. (same as yesterday morning). So just like yesterday morning I sat with her and fed we olive oil and massaged. There really isn't a mass of anything weird. I just don't understand. I did feel that long skinny pointy thing again though. I don't know what that could be. It feels like a bone or a twig. I can't break it and when I try she screams and fights. I'm worried it's actually something that's supposed to be there but it doesn't seem right. I'm beginning to wonder if worms were really the true issue this whole time. But then again I don't even see how she could fit something that feels like this down we throat?

 

[Lacy Blues]

The throat is long and skinny.

Do you know how to perform a surgery? If it won't break up and it won't go through, it's probably sitting in there putrifying. There are threads on here that tell how to do a crop surgery. I've done one but I waited so long before getting up my nerve to do it that I lost the bird anyway. Boy did her crop contents stink! Anyway, if you or someone else is comfortable with doing it, I'd get it done ASAP, she's been sick a long time and weakened too. The longer you wait, the weaker she will become.

 

[aubreynoramarie]

I've read the threads and I do feel confident that the surgery is easy and pretty non-invasive. My only hesitation against it is that I don't know if this twig/bone-like thing is actually causing the problem. When are you going to be in town? Was that today? I'd love for you or someone to come feel this thing and give me a second opinion. I don't see how this thing would be keeping water from going into her stomach so I'm stumped. Also I need to know where to get the supplies for cutting and sewing.

 

[Lacy Blues]

I doubt that its keeping water from going through. If her crop feels full of water, it may be the pre-digestive juices that come into the crop to start breaking down the foods. But if it can't go through, it would get pretty nasty in there with putrefactive bacteria filling up her system. One more reason to push the yogurt.

I won't be in town til the weekend. I'd be glad to come by but I don't think you should let it go that long.

For cutting and sewing, I would just use a very very sharp and sterilized blade of some sort (x-acto works great) and I just use regular cotton thread for sewing. Their bodies will absorb the stitches. Sterilize the thread and regular sewing needle along with the blade.

 

[aubreynoramarie]

Oooookay. Greens feed has scalpels but not dissolvable sutures so I'll go pick up my cutting utensil tonight. I don't wanna do this unless I know for sure that thing needs to come out, so if anyone would like to stop by this afternoon and give me a second opinion I would really appreciate that

 

[SunnyDawn]

Savers on Oddie blvd, it's huge. And there are three other thrift stores next to it and a Goodwill in the same shopping center

That's my favorite thrift shop too. I have tried the Goodwill there but never had much luck. I think when it comes to thrift stores timing is everything.

Oooookay. Greens feed has scalpels but not dissolvable sutures so I'll go pick up my cutting utensil tonight. I don't wanna do this unless I know for sure that thing needs to come out, so if anyone would like to stop by this afternoon and give me a second opinion I would really appreciate that

Yeah I wouldn't want to perform surgery on something that is supposed to be there either. I have no idea if that would be a normal thing for a bird to have in it's neck so again I am no help in this area. Have you tried going online to search for graphics on a chicken's anatomy? There are also online vets that specialize in fowl. That's where I went when I thought my bird's were sick and it turned out they weren't. I might have done something drastic then if I had not asked my questions online first.

 

[Lacy Blues]

The long hard sharp thing is not supposed to be there. The crop is like a flesh balloon. There should be nothing in there that isn't food. I don't know what she could have swallowed but it's not supposed to be there.

 

[aubreynoramarie]

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. Here she is the second we finished and put her away. She any stand the thought of me touching her and had to preen immediately. And settling down. 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?

 

[SunnyDawn]

I had an interesting day today. I was out feeding animals at 8:00 this morning and the back door slammed shut on me and I have no idea how but it locked on me! The lock has been weird since we moved in (I'm sure before that) and it is difficult to work but it has never locked on me. When I first went to turn it, it started to give but then wouldn't turn the rest of the way and when I turned the knob the other way it clicked tight and then wouldn't budge no matter how hard I jiggled it!

I tried to find a way to break in. Something I've always been able to do in every other house I've lived in but this house was locked up tight as a drum. I guess that's good news. I went to the one neighbor we've met, to use the phone, but they weren't home and the other neighbor's dog wouldn't let me get near their property so I decided to walk to my friend's house that is a couple miles away. This may not seem like much for some of you but with my back disability I was hurting by the time I got to my friend's house (no names please, it's not this person's fault I am an idiot).

Well this friend of mine has a key to my house and is a serious homebody but this one time (of course) she happened to not be there. When I got there and realized she wasn't home I actually broke down and started crying!!! Now some of you don't know me very well so you have no idea how out of character this is for me but trust me... I don't cry. Well rarely anyway. There was nothing left to do but walk back home. I sat in the dirt on the side of the road when I got tired and just kept going til I finally reached home then sat out on the porch for several more hours til my Dad finally came home at 1:30 to check on me when I didn't show up for lunch with him and my brother (he had stayed in town with my brother who is visiting Reno for a couple of days).

By that time I was pretty parched and hungry (I went to feed the puppies before I ate breakfast and even before I got myself something to drink) so I was very happy to see the two of them drive up! Ah well, lesson learned. From now on I never step foot out of the house without my keys and my phone!!!