Question over impacted crop

[Plants]

Hi everybody!
I have a question regarding a possible impacted crop going on with our hen.

Our hen is a 3 year old bleu des landes who almost finished the molting (feathers are almost back to normal size) so no eggs for almost a month. Besides the molt and adding a bit more protein to their meal (grain, oats, soft corn and table leftovers like white pasta + whatever they forage in our garden), the hen was doing good until yesterday.

She didn't leave the coop and seemed lethargic, but when I grabbed her to check the hen fought back as usual. She refused to eat all day and only drank water. We took the hen inside home because its quite cold in Belgium.

This morning it's still the same. She is refusing to eat and only drinks water from time to time. Most of the time she stands still but we brought her best feathered friend inside and sometimes they move around. Looking for some answers here I found a good post regarding impacted/sour crop (the one with the crop corset tutorial), so I grabbed her and realized the crop was still full. At first it was a bit hard, but after drinking some water it was a bit softer, like water balloon. I waited some minutes and tried massaging the crop really softly while standing on my lap.
After a minute of massaging, she threw up some water and I immediately stopped. There was no foul smell so I'm more inclined to the impacted crop rather than sour. I'm worried I did something wrong but I believe I was not pressing that hard.

I don't know if I will get a vet visit tomorrow or if it will have to wait past the weekend, so I am wondering what can I do.

- How long can a hen be doing OK if they refuse to eat?
- Should I retry massaging and giving some oil? If I do I will make sure she didn't drink for about 30 mins.
-Anything that can help?

Thanks for your help as always!

 

[azygous]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/ This is my article on everything you need to know about treating a crop issue.

Impacted crop can lead to sour crop due to the crop contents fermenting from sitting in there. It's normal for such a chicken to drink nothing but water to try to flush the crop out. So make available plenty of fresh water.

To treat the impaction, I use chilled coconut oil because it is safer than liquid oil which can get into the airway. Use one teaspoon of oil at a time and massage the crop. You may need several applications of oil and massage over the day to get the crop to empty.

By the way, it would take many days of not eating for a chicken to die of starvation. You don't need to worry about it.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would limit her diet while she is having crop problems. A bit of chicken feed with a lot of water and some watery soft egg would be best when her crop is emptying. Do you provide some granite poultry grit in a container she can take as needed? Azygous is the expert on crop problems. Many times a crop issue is from a slow crop, worms, or reproductive problems.

 

[Plants]

My fiance managed to contact the vet so we are a bit more at ease now. He said that the crop is indeed impacted and full of water, but on his exploration he said he felt something strange with her digestive tract. Apparently it is a bit soft and feels a mass on it, which requires more exploration, but he mentioned it could be a 2nd egg duct or some sort of abcess, which could be affecting the draining of the crop. He took the hen in to monitor it, give fluids, take some samples and do an echo if needed, so we will see. I will keep you updated!

Thanks a lot for the help, and we will definitely look for some poultry grit to add in the run.

 

[fldiver97]

My fiance managed to contact the vet so we are a bit more at ease now. He said that the crop is indeed impacted and full of water, but on his exploration he said he felt something strange with her digestive tract. Apparently it is a bit soft and feels a mass on it, which requires more exploration, but he mentioned it could be a 2nd egg duct or some sort of abcess, which could be affecting the draining of the crop. He took the hen in to monitor it, give fluids, take some samples and do an echo if needed, so we will see. I will keep you updated!

Thanks a lot for the help, and we will definitely look for some poultry grit to add in the run.

Glad you got help! Hope she recovers quickly

 

[Plants]

We had an update from the vetand things are not looking good. Apparently there is some tumor on the stomach causing some blocking on the digestive track, and the only way to know if it can be removed is by opening the hen. To make things worse, the vet saw some fluid around the heart which is bigger than usual... Let's see how it goes ... keeping high spirits for when we go visit tomorrow

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry to hear that she is not doing well. They don’t have stomachs, but they have a crop and a gizzard. Tumors can be common in chickens. Some may be related to a couple of avian viruses, while others are not. Crop impactions are common. Water belly (ascites) can be present if there is heart failure. Fluid can also be present inside the abdomen from a persistent right oviduct (also called cystic right oviduct) which is probably what your vet was describing yesterday as a possibility. Most state vets will do a necropsy and studies of the tissues to help determine a cause of death if you should lose her. You might mention that to your vet if that would happen. Let us know how she is doing tomorrow, and I hope that you get better news.