Small Impacted Crop: To Perform Surgery or Not?

[592667]

Hello fellow chicken lovers!

I hope you guys can give me your opinions on my poor little chook, and her small impacted crop.

So....Let me start to explain....

2 weeks ago, my Rosie was acting constipated but had a large squishy crop. So, my first thought was sour crop. I gave her some yogurt, and a tiny bit of grit. Only 30 minutes later, she laid a long, soft shelled, egg. I noticed some egg white coming out of her vent, so I squeezed, and a second soft shelled, but it was regular shaped. 45 minutes later, she flew out of the hospital pen and was running around, scratching, and pecking. I knew that she might occasionally have two eggs, since she is a golden comet, a high production breed, and is only 8 months old.

Moving on.....

Last Friday, I noticed that Rosie had a firm crop. I massaged it, and gave her a lot of water and olive oil. She was very full from the water/oil so I massaged her only a few times (maybe 2) since she was acting sleepy/tired.

Saturday, her crop was harder, but not huge. I massaged it, but ( I believe) didn't give her oil. That morning she had another 2 soft shell eggs just like the ones I mentioned previously. Then, she started acting normal again! Odd...

Sunday, her crop was hard-ish but small. Definitely not a baseball or softball size, maybe a little smaller than an oval shaped golf ball. I gave her electrolytes and olive again, all throughout the day, massaging frequently.

Today, Monday, she was totally normal running around, clucking, pecking, etc.... I felt her crop but couldn't find the hard mass. After a few minutes of feeling around for it, I found it, it was not hard as a rock, built not completely soupy feeling. It was small like an oval golf ball, again, but very malleable. I gave her some apple cider vinegar, and massaged it already 2 times. I plan on giving her some more olive oil later.

So....All that leads me to my big question: Should I perform crop impaction surgery today on her? Or should I keep on massaging and giving olive oil and apple cider vinegar to her?

My fear is that if I let it go on too long, she will get sour crop!!

I have all the supplies to perform the surgery, and have binge watched crop impaction surgery videos.....What do you guys think??

I hope someone helps me today! I don't want to wait too long.

~ All The Best ~

 

[MarkJr]

Is it empty in the morning before she’s exposed to any food?

My girls have various stages of gluttony at all times. If it’s empty in the morning, I don’t worry at all about it.

 

[592667]

It is empty except for a small malleable mass in her crop. its not very large. I did feel some hard grit like objects in her crop yesterday.

 

[azygous]

What you're doing is focusing on a secondary issue when the issue behind it is going untreated. Those double shell-less eggs are the reason Rosie's crop isn't emptying efficiently.

Because her reproductive system is in need of regulating, the double egg laying can cause frequent blockages which slow the gizzard and crop functions as everything comes out of the same chute in the end. (Pun alert)

The treatment is not crop surgery but calcium to regulate her cycle and to boost her calcium reserves. Get some calcium citrate plus D3 from the vitamin aisle where they sell people vitamins. It should be a minimum of 500mg. Give her one per day for a while until you see normal eggs with one per day being laid. Give the tablet directly into her beak.

Continue to monitor her crop each morning to see how it is emptying overnight. You may need to continue oil and massage each morning to encourage the crop contents to break up and go down. If it continues for too long, say three days, a molasses flush can help move things through and get her digestive system open and moving again.

There are things we can try before we resort to drastic crop surgery.

 

[592667]

Thank you!
She has laid solid regular eggs since those soft ones on Saturday. Does that still mean she is having an egg issue, which is causing a slight crop impaction?

She never had any problems with eggs or her crop until 2 weeks ago she laid those two soft shelled eggs. After that, she laid regular eggs up until last Saturday. She laid yesterday too.

Also, I have oyster shells available 24/7 since a different hen had a rough egg shell issue. That has been cured though.


Also, how would I do a molasses flush?

 

[azygous]

That's good to hear that she's reverted back to solid shells and one egg per cycle. I suggest you get the calcium and hold onto it in case this starts up again. I keep a bottle of calcium tablets in my run so I can pop a pill into a hen immediately if I see she is starting to have egg quality issues. Oyster shell is not as easily absorbed as the kind of calcium in a calcium citrate tablet, and not all hens absorb calcium easily.

As for the slow crop, it may take a while to get the digestive system back on track. Continue to monitor the crop, and give oil and massage. Be sure she's getting enough water and her water source is easy for her to use. Sometimes this is the problem, especially with nipple waterers. They can sometimes be poorly vented and the water is too hard for the chickens to extract. Just something else to check on.

Another thing you can do is give her yogurt or probiotics to boost the good microbes in her intestines to help digest her food more efficiently.

 

[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.

 

[casportpony]

hould I perform crop impaction surgery today on her?

Absolutely not! Try giving more water and see if that helps.

 

[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.

 

[Sally PB]

Nothing to add here, except to say this thread is EXACTLY what I mean when I tell people how friendly and knowledgeable people are on BYC!