Sour crop

[cate1124]

My vet told me unequivocally there was no treatment for my Henrietta and that she had a month to live at best. She wanted to euthanize. I did my own research and Henrietta lived another year. I just wrote an article about it.

Just like with Lucy, you have to get her a little stable first. You can do subcutaneous fluids and emergency food, or just water down some ground feed and give it to her in a syringe. You can put 1/16 of the powder from the enzyme in the syringe. You don't have to be exact with it.

I appreciate what you are trying to do. I just am not going to force her, weighing the cost to her against the slim chance of any durable benefit. I wish she had had 6 years of great life, but she had 4 of great life, and 2 of enjoyable enough. Thank you, though.

 

[triciayoung]

I appreciate what you are trying to do. I just am not going to force her, weighing the cost to her against the slim chance of any durable benefit. I wish she had had 6 years of great life, but she had 4 of great life, and 2 of enjoyable enough. Thank you, though.

I am sorry to keep bantering, but on Christmas Eve, my grandson and I decided not to go to my mom's because frankly, Lucy was dying. We were sure of it. There is not a slim chance if this helps, it is a good chance. But I respect, but don't agree, if you have decided this is all that will be done for her. I would love to see a picture of her.

 

[cate1124]

I am sorry to keep bantering, but on Christmas Eve, my grandson and I decided not to go to my mom's because frankly, Lucy was dying. We were sure of it. There is not a slim chance if this helps, it is a good chance. But I respect, but don't agree, if you have decided this is all that will be done for her. I would love to see a picture of he

I am sorry to keep bantering, but on Christmas Eve, my grandson and I decided not to go to my mom's because frankly, Lucy was dying. We were sure of it. There is not a slim chanc if this helps, it is a good chance. But I respect, but don't agree, if you have decided this is all that will be done for her. I would love to see a picture of her.

I am sorry to keep bantering, but on Christmas Eve, my grandson and I decided not to go to my mom's because frankly, Lucy was dying. We were sure of it. There is not a slim chance if this helps, it is a good chance. But I respect, but don't agree, if you have decided this is all that will be done for her. I would love to see a picture of her., and when

I am sorry to keep bantering, but on Christmas Eve, my grandson and I decided not to go to my mom's because frankly, Lucy was dying. We were sure of it. There is not a slim chance if this helps, it is a good chance. But I respect, but don't agree, if you have decided this is all that will be done for her. I would love to see a picture of her.

I am sorry to keep bantering, but on Christmas Eve, my grandson and I decided not to go to my mom's because frankly, Lucy was dying. We were sure of it. There is not a slim chance if this helps, it is a good chance. But I respect, but don't agree, if you have decided this is all that will be done for her. I would love to see a picture of her.

 

[cate1124]

I am sorry to keep bantering, but on Christmas Eve, my grandson and I decided not to go to my mom's because frankly, Lucy was dying. We were sure of it. There is not a slim chance if this helps, it is a good chance. But I respect, but don't agree, if you have decided this is all that will be done for her. I would love to see a picture of her.

I will gently note that it is as common to prolong suffering as to resolve it with continuing efforts to save an animal's life, especially when the cause of serious illness is unknown but cancer is a definite possibility. It seems likely that Ev's crop issue is secondary to something we cannot cure.

I am so glad to have a knowledgeable poultry vet who knows me and my hens and shares my philosophy of care. We are not inclined to quit if we can constructively treat, but also not inclined to persevere without a reasonable chance of success, especially when it stresses the hen, who is already struggling.

We each make the best decisions we can; I'm glad we can respect that in each other.

 

[triciayoung]

I am sorry my posts keep reposting. This is a problem I have only had today.

I would just like to tell everyone here that you must be careful with veterinary care for chickens. Whether they are avian board-certified or not. My vet and my dear friend's vet's another rescue person, admit that their training was for commercial poultry, and they received no training for supportive care. The schools are only now starting to think about treating chickens that are part of someone's family. Therefore their first instinct is always going to be to tell you to euthanize because they don't know what to do next. Some are learning, my friend has a very good avian vet who after many mistakes with my friends chickens has learned from my friend who has been doing this for 30-years. Do your own research. Remember, I have a board-certified avian vet and a really caring person she is. But once, she made a decision that resulted in the death of one of my chickens - then, I caught on. Next, she told me one of my chickens had a month to live - but, I used other sources and she lived for another year, then, because I didn't know enough about EYP - I let her drain and it was the wrong decision and resulted in my beautiful loving hen dying, and lastly, she made a huge mistake with Lucy's care, but I sought other sources and didn't do what she said to do which would have resulted in a fatal aspiration. I still see her, and she is way more willing to learn now, and I get it...its not their fault, but they need to get the training for those of us that want supportive care instead of just euthanizing.

I know I am a stranger @cate1124, but I don't have to take this time with you, in fact, you have not treated me kindly at all. This is not even your post. I am presenting facts. They may not be facts you want to hear because you have made a decision to let her die and no one will change your mind, but what I say is still a fact. Please do not hide behind your vet as an excuse to not try two $20 over the counter medications. Or use chicken "stress" as an excuse. I am sure she would vote to be stressed if there was a chance she may live. And please, don't tell me you will treat when there is a chance when first, you didn't even X-ray or ultrasound to see if it is cancer. And, if it is, you could get her an implant to stop the cancer from growing. Just say it as it is. I am looking out for your hen, not you.

 

[kpenn26]

If she is not impacted, coconut oil is not necessary.

Thank you. Her crop is so large and squishy that I truly don't know if there is an impaction. I can't feel one, but I suspect there may be something there. Just taking all the steps I can.

 

[kpenn26]

Just an update on Mrs. Weasley. She's had two days of Monistat dosing and very little food intake--only coconut oil and small amounts of scrambled egg to administer meds. And water with ACV. I dosed her with docusate sodium this afternoon. This evening when I picked her up to assess her and do crop massage, her crop was smaller. It's still large, but not near as big and squishy as it was. I hope that we are on the mend. I will post about her progress tomorrow.

 

[kpenn26]

I am so happy you are getting both. I fear the gurgling sounds you are hearing is the fermented gasses coming up and then some of it entering the air sacs. That's what it sounded like with Lucy. The simethicone will take care of that so you can focus on whether this is a digestive/malabsorption issue or not. Did you rule out reproductive disease?

Her lungs actually sound quite clear, thankfully! I am a nurse so I have a stethoscope on hand and listened to her. The gurgling seems to just be coming from her crop.
I just updated the post to say her crop has gone down in size. I think we are on the right track.
Can you share how you would rule out reproductive disease? I'll take all the advice I can get. I've been a chicken owner for a little over 3 years (Mrs Weasley is one of my original flock) and have learned so much. Most of the time I rely heavily on my nursing knowledge, but as we all know chickens are very different from humans.

 

[triciayoung]

Her lungs actually sound quite clear, thankfully! I am a nurse so I have a stethoscope on hand and listened to her. The gurgling seems to just be coming from her crop.
I just updated the post to say her crop has gone down in size. I think we are on the right track.
Can you share how you would rule out reproductive disease? I'll take all the advice I can get. I've been a chicken owner for a little over 3 years (Mrs Weasley is one of my original flock) and have learned so much. Most of the time I rely heavily on my nursing knowledge, but as we all know chickens are very different from humans.

Good evening: I just published a paper here - a case study of Henrietta, but I also wrote a paper about reproductive disease. It is going to be published in the Australian/New Zealand Veterinary associations publication. Perhaps elsewhere, but it is new. I will send you a PM of that paper, but I would also be happy to help you via phone, text, any way I can. That gurgling coming from her crop means she has the potential to get the gasses that will make her aspirate. It is just physics. The fermentation in the crop from anything being in there too long, bubbles and then comes up. The hen tries to manage it, but, if it is a lot of fluid, some goes down the trachea instead and you have aspiration. The gas drops stop the bubbling which stops the coming up - I don't want to say regurgitation because chickens don't regurgitate, but you know what I mean. So, simethicone is not really treating anything in the crop, it is just stopping the bubbling so that aspiration is not a risk. I will send the identification of reproductive diseases paper now.

 

[triciayoung]

Her lungs actually sound quite clear, thankfully! I am a nurse so I have a stethoscope on hand and listened to her. The gurgling seems to just be coming from her crop.
I just updated the post to say her crop has gone down in size. I think we are on the right track.
Can you share how you would rule out reproductive disease? I'll take all the advice I can get. I've been a chicken owner for a little over 3 years (Mrs Weasley is one of my original flock) and have learned so much. Most of the time I rely heavily on my nursing knowledge, but as we all know chickens are very different from humans.

Being a nurse is a great thing to have in your toolbox for your chickens.