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- May 29, 2019
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In almost all of my cases of reproductive issues (egg yolk peritonitis, internal laying, and/or build up of soft shell eggs/egg material) crop stasis was one of the key indicators something was wrong. I believe inflammation or build-up in the reproductive system "gums up" their whole system, making it harder for food to pass through their GI at a normal rate. This causes smaller and waterier amounts of poop, and very often, a slow or doughy crop. In general, most crop issues (except some impactions) the result of an underlying problem.Oh my, thank you so much for such a quick and thorough reply.
I gave her a second bath (this time with epsom salts), and discovered that she had an impacted crop (I can't believe I didn't check for this in the first place). I've been tending to her crop by force feeding her oils and massaging it twice a day for a few days now but it's still impacted... but it's small? So strange. Did you see anything like this with your girl?
I also gave the poor girl a rectal exam but everything felt really normal in there... as far as I can tell.
I'm HOPING that he weird egg shell thing was just a fluke and that the impacted crop was the cause of all her problems, but I am so grateful to have all your advice right here where I can find it if the egg shell thing persists.
When my EE had a softshell egg break inside her, which caused EYP, half the battle for WEEKS was getting her crop to empty. It sometimes felt impacted--but like yours, the firm mass was quite small (not like a usual impaction)--or often became "doughy" (contents soften with manipulation and feel malleable, like dough). It wasn't until her infection was fully cleared up that her crop started functioning normally.
Here's what I did:
- I gave her small, cold bits of coconut oil (solidified)--in my case, I had to force feed her. I did this 3x a day followed by a 5 min crop massage, in circles, going down (not up).
- The only food I left out was watery mash and sometimes plain greek yogurt, though I had to force-feed her most of the time. Small amounts of canned tuna (in water) also got her eating a bit. So did chopped up leafy greens.
- I used water with acified copper sulfate as her only source of drinking water. Scroll down for exact dosage on the link--precision is important because too much can cause an overdose.
- Once she finished up her ACS regimen she was pretty much done with her antibiotics. I then switched her to colloidal silver, 1 drop 2x daily (500 ppm), as she still seemed sick. Within 48 hours she practically came back to life--crop emptying, eating, pooping, etc. I think it was a combo of all the above that got her there, though I can't speak more highly of my experiences with colloidal silver as a supportive care method.
Best,
Jenna