Patial Impaction - Food not digesting

[My Three Chicks]

Hi. Thank you in advance for your help. This is my first illness after having chickens for about 9 months.

I was inspired by all the posts and started making fodder for my girls. Well yesterday I gave them a huge tray and was just wondering with the wheatgrass shoots and the roots, if these were too long and stringy. And sure enough 1 of my 4 girls woke up with an impacted crop. It's about the size of a golf ball and hard. She's still eating (before I took the food away and isolated her), acting normal, and pooping. I did notice that her poo has undigested seeds which is not normally the case.
So far, I have her isolated in their big run with only water. I gave her scrambled eggs mixed with about 3 ML of olive oil this morning. At lunch the crop seemed even bigger. But I gave her some bread soaked in 5 ML of olive oil. (I'm too nervous to put a syringe in her mouth!) I've massaged after both.

What else should or can I do at this time?

I'm really worried and don't want it to get worse.

 

[Jeanw]

Hi there, sorry about your hen! here is a good article about crop issues, I pray your girl gets better!

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

 

[azygous]

How about grit? It's just as important as oil in getting a clogged crop resolved. Offer it along side the water.

Liquid oil is hard to give to a chicken safely. That's why I adopted coconut oil for clearing impacted crops and constipated baby chicks. If you chill it until it's solid, you can break off pieces and pry open the beak and slip them inside with no worry of aspiration of the oil.

Don't be stingy with the oil. Use a teaspoon full at a time. All together, you may be giving a tablespoon of oil. Massage with fingertips, focusing on center mass. Try to get it broken up and you will be able to feel it empty. Keep giving oil and massage until the crop clears. You need to be dedicated and persistent.

 

[My Three Chicks]

How about grit? It's just as important as oil in getting a clogged crop resolved. Offer it along side the water.

Liquid oil is hard to give to a chicken safely. That's why I adopted coconut oil for clearing impacted crops and constipated baby chicks. If you chill it until it's solid, you can break off pieces and pry open the beak and slip them inside with no worry of aspiration of the oil.

Don't be stingy with the oil. Use a teaspoon full at a time. All together, you may be giving a tablespoon of oil. Massage with fingertips, focusing on center mass. Try to get it broken up and you will be able to feel it empty. Keep giving oil and massage until the crop clears. You need to be dedicated and persistent.

Ok, thank you. I'll try coconut oil. How many times a day should I be giving the oil and massaging?

And yes, she has access to water and grit (and oyster shell) now while she's being withheld food.

 

[RoyalChick]

By the way, try offering her the coconut oil chips. The first time I dealt with a crop issue I opened her beak and popped it in like a pill. That was pretty easy. But the next chicken I had with crop issues grabbed the coconut oil piece out of my hand. Not all of them love it but most of mine gobble it up willingly.

 

[azygous]

I thought I made it clear that an impacted crop is a project. A major project. You will be working on it non-stop. You will push a teaspoon of oil into the beak and then massage, massage, massage. If nothing seems to be breaking up, another teaspoon of oil and more massage, massage, massage. Until your hand feels like it will fall off your arm. Then more oil. More massage.

Read my article on crop disorders that @Jeanw kindly linked to. It has more detailed advice on what to do if oil and massage fails.

 

[My Three Chicks]

By the way, try offering her the coconut oil chips. The first time I dealt with a crop issue I opened her beak and popped it in like a pill. That was pretty easy. But the next chicken I had with crop issues grabbed the coconut oil piece out of my hand. Not all of them love it but most of mine gobble it up willingly.

What are coconut oil chips? Just solidified coconut oil?

 

[coach723]

Yes. Refrigerate or freeze the coconut oil til it's firm (I live in Florida where it's hot so my coconut oil tends to be liquid, freezing is faster for me then). I put small dollops on a paper plate. Once firm break or cut into chips and put in the beak, she'll swallow it.

 

[RoyalChick]

Yes. Refrigerate or freeze the coconut oil til it's firm (I live in Florida where it's hot so my coconut oil tends to be liquid, freezing is faster for me then). I put small dollops on a paper plate. Once firm break or cut into chips and put in the beak, she'll swallow it.

Exactly. Sorry @coach723 - I didn’t mean chips like you can buy chips. Buy a jar and put it in the fridge and you can chip off chunks of it when it is cold and solid. I just keep my jar in the fridge so it is ready in case I need it.

Ooops - meant to be replying to @My Three Chicks

 

[azygous]

The way I like to do it is I measure out a teaspoon of coconut oil while it's soft. Then I divide it into pea-size pieces, THEN I chill it. If it's around 80F, it pays to freeze it so it stays solid long enough to get it all into the beak before it liquifies.

Another tip, if you can find virgin, unrefined coconut oil, it has the sweet coconut flavor, and chickens love the taste and will eagerly eat it from your hand unless they're too sick.