Ruptured Crop! HELP!!!

[Reptigirl]

I have a very important little chick.. She is about 3-4 weeks old. I believe the chicks got attacked by a snake (not the 1st time here

)

She is alive, and very bright eyes and active. But it seems her crop has ruptured. She is very important to me . Is there ANY hope to save her???

The only other survivor seems to have an injured leg.

I don't believe any venom was injected as it appears to be more of a squeezing then venom... ANY help would be great! There is chick food still in her crop that I can see. I was going to just put her down but I can't bring myself to it when she is so bright eyed and alert. Can it be cleaned & stitched with dental floss? ANYTHING?

 

[OvertheHenHouse]

It can be. There's a thread - I'll see if I can find it...

 

[OvertheHenHouse]

Here's a thread I've read with pix that could be helpful:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=229796
Still looking for another one - sorry I haven't done this myself otherwise I'd be giving you directions right now...
For sure - again - it can be cleaned and sutured. One thing I remember - don't use regular white thread to close the wound ...
Still looking for another thread...

 

[OvertheHenHouse]

Here's the thread I was thinking about:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=229796
And it was from this thread that I learned not to use white thread to close sutures. You can do this - good luck -

 

[Reptigirl]

Oh THANK YOU! So much! I got her crop emptied. The hole is about as big around as a pencil but she is a tiny bantam chick.

She is still very alert! I have put the skin back together and giving her a minute to rest. Going to put a stitch in and maybe a dot of super glue on the outside. Her cage mate is coming around a bit too... Just has a limp

Sadly some of the chicks are missing

Looked all around and could not find the snake but the snake obviously moved some dirt around and went UNDER the cage

 

[OvertheHenHouse]

Good for you!!! I hope she continues to do well!!! And hopefully the other one will heal nicely as well. I'm so sorry for the missing chicks

What kind of snakes do you have that are so intent on getting to your chicks? I'm just finishing my run and hadn't thought about snakes but we've got gopher and garter snakes around here that are pretty big...and here I was more worried about racoons, dogs, coyotes, etc. etc.
I'll hold good thoughts for both chicks' full recovery. Please continue to post how they are - you did GREAT!!!
Amy

 

[Reptigirl]

Well the little chick is still alert this morning

Waiting until mid afternoon to offer her a little bit of water. Trying to give the wound time to heal.

Ha, funny thing is a actually own pet snakes.. I like snakes.... but I have lost way too many chicks this year to snakes.

We have several venomous snakes : Diamondback Rattle Snakes, Copperheads, Cottonmouths & Coral Snakes. We recently saw a HUGE Cottonmouth but it disappeared before we could do anything about it.
We also have several non venous snakes. I caught a rat snake trying to get a chicken a few months back. He was too small so no harm was done. Just relocated him.

We also have lots of checkard garter snakes. I wouldn't worry about garter snakes. They usually eat fish & frogs. Highly unlikely one would ever grab a chicken.

All my adult chickens free range and I have been lucky. Lost one small Jap Bantam to a hawk attack about 6 months ago. Lost 2 bigger chicks to a mystery predictor. They just disappeared one day. Guessing hawk or cat since it was during daylight hours. Now the snakes are coming out in full force at night... I can't wait until we actually get cold enough not to worry about them for a while!

For some reason the snakes find my Millie Fleur Cochin chicks extra tasty! Uh! This is the second batch of shipped in eggs the dang snakes have gotten to! Yet they ignore all the barred cochin chicks that are from my birds....

 

[OvertheHenHouse]

Glad to hear the baby is still doing well! Still keeping fingers crossed - and wondering if you should add electrolytes and some vitamins to the water, along with an antibacterial? Again, I've never done this - be proud of yourself that you did! - but just thinking on stuff I've read here.
I kind of figured you had snakes ... 'Reptigirl' was my first clue

- and was hoping it wasn't your snakes that got your chicks because that would be just too sad. You've definitely got an amazing collection of snakes where you are. In addition to the gopher and garter snakes we have rattlesnakes that can get huge. I'm with you - just waiting on the cold weather.
I think it's amazing that those snakes can figure out which birds are the ones you ordered and go after them - just goes to show that snakes are smarter than they appear

Holding good thoughts that both chicks make a full recovery ...

 

[Tom2021]

I have a very important little chick.. She is about 3-4 weeks old. I believe the chicks got attacked by a snake (not the 1st time here

)

She is alive, and very bright eyes and active. But it seems her crop has ruptured. She is very important to me . Is there ANY hope to save her???

The only other survivor seems to have an injured leg.

I don't believe any venom was injected as it appears to be more of a squeezing then venom... ANY help would be great! There is chick food still in her crop that I can see. I was going to just put her down but I can't bring myself to it when she is so bright eyed and alert. Can it be cleaned & stitched with dental floss? ANYTHING?

I have a small hen that was attacked by a possum a week ago.
I treated the area and let it drain for a couple of days.
The crop was torn pretty bad. So I ordered absorbable sutures with a
curved surgical needle attached.
So far I have put about twelve stitches in the crop and left a small opening on the side for drainage while the rest of the crop begins to heal.
I went to the feed store and picked up injectible penicillin and small gauge needles.
I administered only 3U of penicillin two days in a row so far. 0ne more, than one every week until the injury looks like it's healing.
I applied saline to clean the area and removed all the feathers possible to keep them out of the injury.
I applied Neosporin that I picked up at Dollar General and picked up Non-stick gauze pads with non-stick athletic tape.
Removed all the dead skin as possible and feathers.
Sprayed with antibiotic and covered with ointment.
She looks to be in good spirits and moving about her cage often. Eating and drinking so I'm going to take that as a good sign and continue to help her heal.
I've doctored my won animals from the time I was about 10 years old and still today at 68. It is really fascinating the strength and resilience small animals display.
It hasn't been cheap doing this for the little girl but it's worth it for her and my wife who loves her pet.
I also took pic's of the wound to watch the progress of its healing.
By the way, the hen laid on her back while I stitched her up and never moved.
The process took more than an hour.
If areas leak I'll have to repeat the process.
I'm sure there was a bit of pain but it's better than losing my wife's favorite hen.
If the wife is happy, the world is a better place.