Small Impacted Crop: To Perform Surgery or Not?

[azygous]

ACV is a great additive to the drinking water and can help prevent many kinds of problems, but it's not a cure or treatment for disorders once they are established.

I would hold off on the calcium and give it only if you see the egg cycle or egg quality falter again. Then give it immediately and continue until eggs are coming normally again.

It's not uncommon for the crop to have a little lump in it following a crop issue. In time this will resolve. If you're the least bit concerned about the amount in the crop in the morning, a teaspoon of coconut oil can't hurt.

It's not really possible to narrow down a time frame for all this since each individual is different. Her behavior will tell you when she's feeling fit. She will be active and vocal and have a good appetite.

 

[casportpony]

Wondering what the outcome was for your hen?

Do you have one with a crop problem?

 

[casportpony]

@Overo Mare, @micstrachan, can you share your tubing experience?

 

[StPaulieGirls]

Thanks for this! Luckily, I have my spouse and my nephew on Team Calm. I think that I'm more worked up thinking about these more invasive procudures than actually doing them, if you know what I mean.

I'll check on our patient in about an hour to see how her crop is this morning. We don't have all the nice French catheters here, but we do have some mini aquarium tubing that we're hoping will do the trick. If we do go with tube hydration, we'll definitely take it slow.

Since this hen isn't contagious, I'm thinking of bringing in a pal from her little sub-flock of other barred rocks. I hope that company might inspire her to drink more on her own and maybe to eat some yogurt?

Grateful for everyone's advice and guidance,
Kerri in MN

 

[Eggcessive]

I would tube water with electrolytes and massage the crop. My experience with impacted crops has been that then hen had other problems that caused a slowdown in digestion. How old is the hen? There is a possibility of crop surgery by your vet if it doesn’t clear soon. Be sure to not use Ducolax laxative bisacodyl, but the stool softener doccusate sodium. Colace is the better known brand name, and generic doccusate sodium is less expensive.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

@Wyorp Rock @Eggcessive, have either of you ever dealt with an impacted crop?

Looks like @Shezadandy has been helping @StPaulieGirls on this thread.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/post-crop-surgery-treatment.1349103/post-23863993

 

[592667]

Okay awesome. I was a little doubtful of operating on her crop.

I don't have a nipple drinker, but 5qt and 1 qt trough drinkers. Since I thought that nipple drinkers made a mess

I'll probably just give her a calcium pill just to be sure everything is okay. Along with that, I will keep on giving her olive oil and massaging her crop throughout the day, along with yogurt (if she'll eat it).

Is there a time frame when I should be concerned? I have heard so many time frames for getting infections etc....Also, does Apple Cider Vinegar help break down the mass, and keep her crop from getting and infection?

She is acting fine today other than that small crop impaction.

 

[azygous]

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

 

[592667]

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

 

[592667]

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.