OH NO!!!! I just got home tonight from work to a pullet with a hole in her, very near where her crop should be. She has no idea she has an injury, she is ready to eat and very alert, normal in every way, except that she has been limping and losing balance for a few weeks now. I suspect it was a rat attack, I caught a rat in my live trap either last night or tonight, I;m not sure since I leave for work very early and didn't check it before I left. Will rats eat a crop of a chicken?? If so, that is so wrong, WHAT DO I DO? I am fully prepared to perform surgery, I have sutures and most everything I might need, I'm a vet assistant.
How do I know if it's her crop? How serious is this if it is? Can it be stitched up and she can eat again? Can I feed or water her to see if it's her crop, like will it fall out through the hole so I'll be able to tell? This is so terrible, I've had to keep them locked up in their coop b/c of a hawk killing my birds, how I can't even let them be safe in their coop b/c a rat is eating them alive???
Following are pics, sorry they are graphic but I didn't know what other way to explain it. I guess I"ll try...it simply looks like a hole in her skin. There is no organ visible, no edges of an organ visible, however how do I know, I don't know what a crop looks like from the inside! It just looks like a hole in the skin exposing muscle. There is no pathway leading anywhere....the skin is attached to the layer underneath it. In other words, I do not see the esophagus emptying into the hole.
I am freaking out, this is a pullet I hatched here, I am very attached to all my chickens and I want to try to save her if possible. I am devastated, my poor poor poor Esmerelda! I've been trying to nurse her back to health from the stumbling and then this! Please if anyone can help!
Photo of her laying in my lap on her back:
The dark spot is not a hole, it's just a little blood clot.
The pen is marking her keel bone. It's directly underneath the pen.
Pen pointing to the tip (start) of her keel bone:
Pen pointing to the spot where the hole is.
How do I know if it's her crop? How serious is this if it is? Can it be stitched up and she can eat again? Can I feed or water her to see if it's her crop, like will it fall out through the hole so I'll be able to tell? This is so terrible, I've had to keep them locked up in their coop b/c of a hawk killing my birds, how I can't even let them be safe in their coop b/c a rat is eating them alive???
Following are pics, sorry they are graphic but I didn't know what other way to explain it. I guess I"ll try...it simply looks like a hole in her skin. There is no organ visible, no edges of an organ visible, however how do I know, I don't know what a crop looks like from the inside! It just looks like a hole in the skin exposing muscle. There is no pathway leading anywhere....the skin is attached to the layer underneath it. In other words, I do not see the esophagus emptying into the hole.
I am freaking out, this is a pullet I hatched here, I am very attached to all my chickens and I want to try to save her if possible. I am devastated, my poor poor poor Esmerelda! I've been trying to nurse her back to health from the stumbling and then this! Please if anyone can help!
Photo of her laying in my lap on her back:
The dark spot is not a hole, it's just a little blood clot.
The pen is marking her keel bone. It's directly underneath the pen.
Pen pointing to the tip (start) of her keel bone:
Pen pointing to the spot where the hole is.
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