Sour Crop and Aspiration

[Kukelekuu]

Hi Backyard Chickens Folks,

Thank you in advance for your help! I've been struggling with a hen with an impacted crop that turned sour for several days now. I'm absolutely desperate because I haven't been able to feed her for 36 hours, and she hasn't absorbed any real amounts of liquid in the last 48 hours.

She has a massive amount of liquid in her crop but I really don't want to vomit her because of the risk of aspiration. I read that sour crop can be moved with massage and withholding food and water, which I did, but her crop was so full that liquid kept shooting into her beak anyhow - hence my fear now that she has already aspirated. Nothing has helped. I have two questions now. First:

- I have a crop tube, a small needle, and a syringe. I passed the tube and tried to pull the fluid out that way, but it didn't work. Is it even possible to remove the contents of sour crop that way, or does the suction damage the crop? Is it possible or even safe to remove the liquid by entering the crop with a needle and drawing it out with a syringe? Or is vomiting, aspiration risk and all, really my safest option here?

- If she has indeed aspirated, what can I do to reduce the risk of aspiration pneumonia?

Thank you in advance. She has had water with apple cider vinegar, and once her crop is empty I will feed her yoghurt to get some probiotics into her. I just need to get it empty right now....

Thank you!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm sorry you're having trouble.
Is she pooping at all?

No one can tell you what the best option is, but...if massaging the crop alone is causing liquids to come up and choking her/she's aspirating, then it's probably best to try to vomit her to clear as much as you can.http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/impacted-slow-and-sour-crops-prevention-and-treatments
Not having any liquids/water in 48hours, she would be dehydrated. Hopefully once you get her cleared she can drink and you will be able to get the crop working.

Keep watch on her and listen to her breathing - if she develops a rattle/wheeze that you would associate with aspiration pneumonia, then she may need antibiotics to help fight infection. If you have a vet that can assist you that would be best.

 

[rebrascora]

As always, I agree with Wyorp Rock. With her crop so full, you have little chance of breaking the contents up with massage and just as high a risk of aspiration as with vomiting as well as the fact that she will be getting weaker the longer you leave it.
I ended up doing crop surgery on a bantam pullet with an impaction and she aspirated during surgery. I was convinced that she would die, despite the surgery being otherwise successful.... I removed a softball sized mass of soggy straw from her crop. She was up and eating within 10 mins of super gluing her back together and although she rattled and wheezed for 3-4 days afterwards she came right without antibiotics, so don't assume that pneumonia has set in even if she is wheezing. They can be amazingly resilient. Whilst aspirating is to be avoided as much as possible, it is not necessarily a death sentence. Not being able to ingest fluids will definitely kill her.
I very much doubt that a needle and syringe into the crop will be able to draw off any fluid either as the fluid will almost certainly be thick and the needle will clog, probably in the same way as the tube clogged.

Once you vomit her and make some space in her crop, then you can start to try to break up the contents by massage. If the crop is too full, as you have found, you just push fluids up her oesophagus.
One of my other chickens that was partially impacted but some fluid was passing (so her crop was not totally filled) would not release fluid when I tried to vomit her, but the action of inverting her and massaging helped to break up the sediment that was in the very bottom of her crop, and after a couple of quite intensive upside down massages over a few days (when I got to the point of "do or die" desperation) she came right without further intervention.

I know how frightening it is to do risky procedures, but you can be assured that she will die anyway if you don't, so you have nothing to lose..... my biggest regrets have been putting off taking action and the bird dying, because I was too scared to do what needed to be done. The crop surgery was a real turning point for me and I can tell you it is worth pushing through that fear for the chance of success.

Good luck with your girl.

Regards

Barbara

 

[Kukelekuu]

Thank you both so much for your recommendations! It was very helpful.

Last night when I checked on her, the fluid build up in her crop had disappeared. I think the partial impaction that caused the sour crop shifted enough for the fluid to pass. With the fluids gone, I could feel a large, soggy mass of grass in her crop. The culprit! She is brighter and more alert. I have been tubing her with oil, vinegar, and water to try to keep the infection at bay and get the mass moving. She's been eating some yoghurt and scrambled eggs (in small increments, once I can feel that the previous helping has been digested) and I have been feeding her lots of grit, in the hopes that the stones in her crop will work the grass into digestible pieces with massage.

My hesitation with surgery has less to do with the fear of killing her, and more with my discomfort in causing her that much pain. An invasive surgery without anaesthetic is something I personally don't feel comfortable doing, but I will if I know it is her only hope and I feel it would save her life.

For now I'm going to work on trying to break up the mass and prevent another sour crop. Thank you both again.

 

[sbhkma]

Please keep us updated on her progress. We're all cheering for you both!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Glad the water water went down, but she needs to be drinking plenty and staying hydrated. A lot of people do have success with using Dulcolax to help break down what's in the crop - instructions are in this article: https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...d-sour-crops-prevention-and-treatments.67194/

Thank you for the update. I hope she gets better.

 

[rebrascora]

Hi
Yes, I wasn't advocating surgery in this case.....at least not yet anyway. Just really trying to encourage you to go ahead and vomit her to remove some of that fluid to enable you to better massage the contents.
I can assure you that I did not take the step of operating on an unanaesthetized chicken lightly, but the huge mass that I removed could not have progressed through her system or been regurgitated, so surgical removal was the only option to save her and her recovery after surgery was dramatic and totally amazing, despite having aspirated during the surgery.
I would agree that trying a stool softener is the next step. I would not directly feed her grit.....allow her access to it to take as she wishes, but there is a risk of packing her too full of it and making matters worse. The outlet from the gizzard will only allow a small size of grit to pass, so too much could clog her system. The crop is too soft/thin a muscle to enable it to use grit to break down fibrous material, although regular massaging may help, you could also scratch and inflame the lining of the crop by massaging with a lot of grit in there..... the crop is not really designed to perform that function.

Good luck with her and I am so pleased that you have at least got fluids passing now.... that must be a huge relief.

Regards

Barbara