Older Hen with Slow Crop: Slow Crop Treatment with Updates

[elissarules]

So Im taking her out of the cage to massage her and her crop is flat and empty. Im having a hard time finding it. Nonetheless, Im gonna massage her right now. After 15 minutes I’ll feed her

 

[elissarules]

Crop was down again this morning. Should I be concerned she wasn’t able to digest the scratch? I fear I may have given her too much. I didn’t realize they aren’t supposed to consume a lot.

 

[Kiki]

Crop was down again this morning. Should I be concerned she wasn’t able to digest the scratch? I fear I may have given her too much. I didn’t realize they aren’t supposed to consume a lot.

I have never bought or fed scratch.

 

[kissezmychicken]

I just want to say how wonderful you are. Your caring and loving behavior is something special and I am very impressed by you. I am sending you all the support and kindest vibes. From Newport, Washington.. Trish.

 

[Kiki]

I just want to say how wonderful you are. Your caring and loving behavior is something special and I am very impressed by you. I am sending you all the support and kindest vibes. From Newport, Washington.. Trish.

She is great huh?!

 

[elissarules]

I just want to say how wonderful you are. Your caring and loving behavior is something special and I am very impressed by you. I am sending you all the support and kindest vibes. From Newport, Washington.. Trish.

She is great huh?!

You guys!!! Thank you. Thank you so much!!! It is so kind that you would say such heartfelt things to me. It truly means so much!

 

[elissarules]

I haven’t been able to check up on Bernie’s crop properly practically all week. Ended up having to take my fiancé to the ER for stomach flu/dehydration (all by myself it was horrible!) and then the next day I got that exact stomach flu. Couple that with a pretty bad finger cut, I’ve been having some bad luck this week.

I definitely still don’t look 100% (my brother said I look like those “Don’t Do Drugs” ads on TV lol!) but I checked up on her. Crop was firm but definitely not empty (and I managed to get someone to remove her food last night). In all honesty, I think it’s the crop bra. The tape was falling off but I didn’t have the time nor the energy this week to handle it. Now with my finger AWOL and my only approved chicken helper sick with me, I’m going to have to mend it myself. I’m going to sew them together today.

I also moved Bernie to a small coop I got on craigslist for free. Ventilation is okay; there’s some intentional holes with some wire over it. It’s made for four hens I believe. I used it for four hens I just finished integrating into our flock. I figured it’d give her some more space to move - the poor thing has been in a small cage for over a month. But I don’t think it’s going to be below freezing any time soon, so I think she’ll be okay. Lemme know if you guys say no to any of that.

When her crop starts flattening properly again, I was planning on taking her out of the cage during the day, putting her back in the cage during the night, and then checking up on her in the morning. Is this necessary? What would you guys recommend? Thanks so much.

 

[Relleoms]

Sorry to hear you’ve been sick. It’s definitely going around! Wish you a speedy recovery!
As far as Bernie goes, she’ll probably be fine in the bigger coop. At this point, you’ll definitely need to reintegrate her into the flock like you would any other new chicken. I don’t know what a chickens memory is like, but I do know the first time I tried to reintegrate Tilly after she’d been sick, it was awful. I guess they were just being chickens, but they were so mean to her! So make sure to do the playpen method when the time comes.
As far as when she’ll be ready to go back, is up to you. We’re battling sour crop/crop stasis/pendulous crop right now as well. We got an X-ray after a week of no improvement, which only showed no impaction in her digestive tract. We made a decision to put her back with the flock as soon as she finished her meds rather than keep her in the house, even though she’s not “healed”. The reason is 2 fold. One, it’s unlikely she’ll ever get better, as it seems a tumor is likely causing the blockage. And two, even though she looks terrible with her gigantic swinging boob, she seems so much happier with her flock than watching the Olympics with us . We’ve decided her quality of life is more important since she’s likely not going to be with us long.
So, what I’m trying to say, if you think she’s improving enough to be with the flock, go for it. If you feed your entire flock properly (fresh water every day, layer feed with free choice grit & oyster shell on the side), she should get along just fine. She can still wear her bra & get daily massages to keep things moving.
I know how stressful this whole situation is for you, and Bernie, and really hope you both get well soon!!!

 

[elissarules]

Sorry to hear you’ve been sick. It’s definitely going around! Wish you a speedy recovery!
As far as Bernie goes, she’ll probably be fine in the bigger coop. At this point, you’ll definitely need to reintegrate her into the flock like you would any other new chicken. I don’t know what a chickens memory is like, but I do know the first time I tried to reintegrate Tilly after she’d been sick, it was awful. I guess they were just being chickens, but they were so mean to her! So make sure to do the playpen method when the time comes.
As far as when she’ll be ready to go back, is up to you. We’re battling sour crop/crop stasis/pendulous crop right now as well. We got an X-ray after a week of no improvement, which only showed no impaction in her digestive tract. We made a decision to put her back with the flock as soon as she finished her meds rather than keep her in the house, even though she’s not “healed”. The reason is 2 fold. One, it’s unlikely she’ll ever get better, as it seems a tumor is likely causing the blockage. And two, even though she looks terrible with her gigantic swinging boob, she seems so much happier with her flock than watching the Olympics with us . We’ve decided her quality of life is more important since she’s likely not going to be with us long.
So, what I’m trying to say, if you think she’s improving enough to be with the flock, go for it. If you feed your entire flock properly (fresh water every day, layer feed with free choice grit & oyster shell on the side), she should get along just fine. She can still wear her bra & get daily massages to keep things moving.
I know how stressful this whole situation is for you, and Bernie, and really hope you both get well soon!!!

Oh thank you! I’m so sorry to hear about your own lil birdie! I think you’re making the right decision, too.

I actually had her in a cage in the chicken coop and the other hens got to interact with her. I don’t think they will attack her. The new hens....maybe. I want to wait to put her back for when I’m able to intervene if I need to.

I think if I know that the crop bra is working, and that her crop is emptying, that I will. I don’t even know how long to keep the crop bra on before even trying to see if she doesn’t need it anymore.

Best wishes to you and your birdie as well! Thank you so much for your help <3

 

[Relleoms]

Oh thank you! I’m so sorry to hear about your own lil birdie! I think you’re making the right decision, too.

I actually had her in a cage in the chicken coop and the other hens got to interact with her. I don’t think they will attack her. The new hens....maybe. I want to wait to put her back for when I’m able to intervene if I need to.

I think if I know that the crop bra is working, and that her crop is emptying, that I will. I don’t even know how long to keep the crop bra on before even trying to see if she doesn’t need it anymore.

Best wishes to you and your birdie as well! Thank you so much for your help <3

Sorry, didn’t mean to hijack your thread .

All that to say...I hope you can put her back soon. It’s great she’s been with her flock the whole time. That will make reintegration so much easier, but definitely need to wait until you are also healthy & can spend some time observing! Hope for you all that that will be very soon!