Hello, I have a 20 week old austrailorp who's crop is not emptying overnight and is the size of a tennis ball. She is alert, eating, drinking, pooping and still laying normally. We took her to the vet the next day. They took x-rays and said her crop was full of sand. We had a coarse sand floor in the run and was informed by the vet to change to a different substrate and sent us on our way telling us to massage her crop and it should work itself out. The vet also said we did not have to isolate and that she could eat, drink and socialize normally.
We immediately removed all the sand and replaced it with pine shavings and gave granite grit free choice in a dish. 2 days later I picked her up to massage her crop and she regurgitated brown fluid which smelled sour. Unfortunately it was sunday and the vet was closed, so i monitored throughout the day. She is still alert, eating, drinking, pooping, laying normally. Poop is solid, green/brown with typical white but filled with sand grit. The next day I took her in. Vet did a crop flush and sample. When the vet cam back into the room they said they revisited the x-rays and noticed something in the hen's crop (see attached). After seeing the x-ray I am questioning the vet's credibility. Why did they not see this in the first visit? They prescribed antibiotics (clavacillin) and anti-inflammatory (carprofen). Told us to give apple cider vinegar mixed at 2 Tbl to 1 gal. Orally give water and massage crop 3 times a day and if the object does not clear out in a week then they would have to remove it. A day later, after getting some rest and time to think about it, why antibiotics and anti-inflammatory if she has impacted and/or sour crop? I was not informed if the sample was bacterial or fungal and I was too tired to think to ask. Its now been a week since we noticed the crop issue. It is still not emptying overnight and is the same size. It has also gone from feeling like a sand filled balloon to feeling like a gas filled balloon. I did notice yesterday that her breath no longer smells sour. Should I continue with the vet's instructions or should I try to find someone else? Do I have to worry about pendulous crop since it has been extended for so long? Again our hen is acting completely normal.
We immediately removed all the sand and replaced it with pine shavings and gave granite grit free choice in a dish. 2 days later I picked her up to massage her crop and she regurgitated brown fluid which smelled sour. Unfortunately it was sunday and the vet was closed, so i monitored throughout the day. She is still alert, eating, drinking, pooping, laying normally. Poop is solid, green/brown with typical white but filled with sand grit. The next day I took her in. Vet did a crop flush and sample. When the vet cam back into the room they said they revisited the x-rays and noticed something in the hen's crop (see attached). After seeing the x-ray I am questioning the vet's credibility. Why did they not see this in the first visit? They prescribed antibiotics (clavacillin) and anti-inflammatory (carprofen). Told us to give apple cider vinegar mixed at 2 Tbl to 1 gal. Orally give water and massage crop 3 times a day and if the object does not clear out in a week then they would have to remove it. A day later, after getting some rest and time to think about it, why antibiotics and anti-inflammatory if she has impacted and/or sour crop? I was not informed if the sample was bacterial or fungal and I was too tired to think to ask. Its now been a week since we noticed the crop issue. It is still not emptying overnight and is the same size. It has also gone from feeling like a sand filled balloon to feeling like a gas filled balloon. I did notice yesterday that her breath no longer smells sour. Should I continue with the vet's instructions or should I try to find someone else? Do I have to worry about pendulous crop since it has been extended for so long? Again our hen is acting completely normal.
