Question about sour crop treatment

[Rhyara]

It's the 7th day! One more treatment left.
She struggles so much, I'm glad she won't have to eat anymore

Her crop is still very full in the morning, it's rather hard but still malleable. Should we keep her inside until her crop clears and/or treat her for impacted? Or is she okay to rejoin her flock now that she's done with her meds? I feel like isolation is getting to her a bit but want to do whatever is best for her.

Edit: Reread your thread, looks like I should switch out her crumbles for the egg and yogurt. Probably keep her inside another day or two then.
It was going to be warmer tomorrow like inside temperatures; I was hoping for a day like that for the transfer back to the coop.

 

[azygous]

There's no reason she can't be with her flock. The only reason to separate her would be to make it easier on you to treat her.

Have we covered tube feeding? She might benefit from a three-day Epsom salt flush to clean out her digestive system from top to bottom. But it's nearly impossible to get all of the liquid required into her conveniently. This flush requires a half a cup of solution twice a day for three days. You can't rely on a chicken drinking that much on their own, and syringing the solution would take forever.

You can try the short flush to see if it might do the job. Syringe one teaspoon of dissolved Epsom salts into one ounce of warm water into her. She might drink it on her own, but she has to get it all into her. Make fresh plain water available following this one-ounce solution.

 

[Rhyara]

Ohdear. She struggles so much I can barely get the cream in her mouth, I don't think I could get a tube in there for long enough to do a feeding

Is the short flush also 2x for 3 days?
She's so tiny, I don't think that her crop can hold half a cup when she's this full
Hopefully she wouldn't hate salt water as much as the cream.

 

[azygous]

The short flush is just the one ounce solution one time. It's not salt water. Please do not confuse magnesium sulfate with sodium chloride. The later would be very dangerous. It would make a chicken vomit and become seriously compromised as to electrolyte balance and she could die. The magnesium sulfate stimulates the intestines gently to empty, pulling the contents out of the crop and flushing them through. "Salts" is just another name for minerals, salt the mineral being one of many.

Tubing is actually much, much easier and efficient than syringing. The tube goes in one time, the solution is syringed into the tube, not directly into the beak, so there's no reinserting involved. Once the tube is in and solution is filling the crop, the chicken is generally calm. Occasionally, the chicken will squirm and you stop until the chicken settles down again, the tube remaining in the esophagus without needing to be reinserted unless you've lost control of the tube. As far as learning to tube, it's much easier than most people think, and once you've done it, you are then a pro, it's that easy. You can get a tube feeding kit from a vet for small animals for just a few dollars. We would adjust the amount so that her crop won't be overfilled since she's small.

 

[Rhyara]

Oh yes, epsom, just said salt to shorten but I appreciate you being extra clear ❤

We'll try giving her the short flush tomorrow and if that doesn't clear it up I'll get the tubing kit.
Should it clear out in a day or a maybe few days?
And Is one ounce still good for a 5 month bantam cochin?

 

[azygous]

One ounce of water to a teaspoon Epsom salts. One ounce is barely two tablespoons. The result could be within an hour or two or it could take 24 hours. It can result in some flamboyant poop, so be warned.

 

[Rhyara]

Sorry, I'm horrible with measurements
Thank you so much for all your help ❤
I'll be relieved when the flamboyant ones reveal themselves lol.

 

[Rhyara]

I think she aspirated some of the solution so I stopped. She sneezed and now had a gurgle sound coming from her.

We're only like 9 or 12 ml in. I only have small syringes in my emergency supplies because usually things are small doses so this has been taking a while. Should I take longer than a few seconds of breaks before trying to open her mouth again? I feel horrible...

 

[Rhyara]

I havent tried giving her more. She took a rest on my husband's lap. After a bit she got up, sneezed and shook her head then got to preening and pooped a little.
Put her in her little enclosure and she got some water and food. She seems to be behaving normally now but I can't help feel like I've killed her.

 

[azygous]

You probably need a refresher on how to syringe liquids. This will also serve as an instruction on where the tube gets inserted when/if you decide to tube. Notice the airway in the center behind the tongue. The esophagus is on the chicken's right side of the throat. By inserting the syringe along the right side of the mouth and going just slightly under the side of the tongue, you can avoid aspirating any liquid as it goes directly into the crop.