Small Impacted Crop: To Perform Surgery or Not?

[ChickenKeeper8]

Okay great!
Thanks so much for your info <3

Waiting for her to her daily egg right now...All my other chooks have laid...

Hope you have a good week!

 

[ChickenKeeper8]

Just wanted to update everyone on how Rosie is doing....

Sunday, I gave her probiotic yogurt and lots of olive oil. I didn't let her free range so she wouldn't make her impaction worse. The only food that was available to her was hen layer crumble feed (this is my usual feed for my flock, since they didn't like the pellets at all) and grit/oyster shells. I massaged it all throughout the day at different times. She didn't lay an egg that day, so, at the end of the day I gave her a crushed calcium tum in electrolytes.

Monday morning, she was acting normal and her crop was completely flat!! I didn't let her free range, and kept her in her run with only crumble feed, grit, and oyster shell all day. I gave her only a little bit of olive oil before bed, and some electrolytes. She didn't lay yesterday either, so I gave her another crushed calcium tum in some electrolytes. Oh, I also gave her the top of one clover, to ease her back into eating regular food again.

Today, her crop was flat again this morning and she is acting totally normal. So I let her out with the flock for a little bit, to eat some clover. She is back in the urn with the others, and has been going in and out of the henhouse.....When she does that she usually lays an egg sometime that day!! Finger crossed!!

So, I am going to keep giving her calcium tums in electrolytes, until she has laid an egg for at least 3 days right?

Thank you to everyone that has contributed to my problem!

 

[azygous]

Nice work! Sounds like you've pulled her through.

 

[ChickenKeeper8]

It was all thanks to your info!
Have a great week

 

[ChickenKeeper8]

Hello everyone,

Just an update......My Rosie was fine laying and an empty crop, up until Saturday morning.... That morning she had an impacted crop and was acting slow.
So, I automatically restricted her free ranging, gave her olive oil, and some electrolytes. I massaged her crop throughout the day and gave her olive oil/electrolytes multiple times.

Soon after that, she had two soft eggs and was acting better.

Sunday, her crop was very small and she was acting fine.

I copied what I did when her crop was impacted.....Gave her some more electrolytes and olive oil, and some acv it helped last time.

Later that day she started to act sluggish.......

Today she is acting even more sluggish, to the point where I think she might not make it past saturday.......

What is going on with her??

Also, I have noticed over the past few weeks 2-3 poops from Rosie with tape worms in it. I have been giving her some dewormer.........

Please help!! I don't want to lose her...

 

[azygous]

Boy oh boy. Poor Rosie seems to have angered the chicken gods. Poor girl.

My biggest concern of all her travails are the two soft eggs. If an egg was broken inside her, yolk is a perfect medium for bacteria, and she may need an oral antibiotic if you suspect one of these eggs left some yolk inside. It would account for her sluggish behavior.

Are you sure there isn't another egg stuck? That can affect the crop function if there's a blockage.

Did you use fenbendazole for the tapeworm? Not every wormer will deal with tapeworms.

 

[ChickenKeeper8]

That was my fear....I checked her vent inside and out...and I couldn’t feel any left over eggs bits.....I even massaged the outside area of her vent to help with pushing and egg bits out.....But that was my first suspicion: Internal egg yolk infection.

I used the Fenbendazole for her slight tapeworm infection.

 

[azygous]

I suggest giving calcium on the chance she has an egg stuck. It helps with contractions, but it also helps regulate the egg cycle. I use calcium citrate with vitamin D. One per day until the eggs are coming one a day max, and good shell quality.

Be sure she's drinking enough fluids.

I also would hunt down an antibiotic. She may be starting an infection. With sick chickens, I don't wait and see before starting the antibiotic since chickens go down hill awfully fast.

 

[ChickenKeeper8]

I’ve been giving her calcium since last week. And have been giving her Pedialyte

which antibiotics do you recommend?
Some people say ibuprofen, Tylenol, etc... but I’m not going to do that! What about penicillin from a farm supply store?

the stores are closed right now....until tomorrow around 9am...Is there anything that I can give her from my medicine around the house??

 

[azygous]

Penicillin is fine. Whatever is one hand would probably do okay. Go look.