Sour crop

[shell3]

ok ill stay on this thread lol
thanks for the links thats really interesting, the vet said i can try oil and such if i want to however its my decision and heres why- if the gizzard is blocked with a wood lump as i suspect it is then i give her oil ect to move it on the vet said its risky because if it enters the small intestine then it would likely tear the intestine! better that it either comes back up to the crop and out the way went in or that the gizzard manages to break it away eventually into managable fragments that the intestine can handle. if its not wood but something else then oil woyld be good. but... she had lots of liquid parafin before and that obviously didnt clear it anyway. so im reluctant to do a flush of some type in case it forces something through the gizzard into the intestine that is to big or sharp for the intestine to pass out safely!
its a hard call! im going to stick with what im doing for now and see what happens, see if anything appears in the crop that maybe i can vomit out. if not and the crop is getting no better then i may have to change tact, either she has a second endoscopy or we try a flush.
vet said he wont give her a general just for an xray as the gizzard appears as a tumour/solid mass on xray anyway and so wood wont be visable, metal of course would show. if she has second procedure then he'll do an exray while shes under.
i watched that youtube clip before but thought it looked a bit harsh, holding her legs like that but if it works.... you say you get more out but how about breathing? if they start gasping or something im not sure id feel in control of getting her up quick. do you squeeze the crop like he does? what worries me is that theres no update on there! how is his hen?did it recover? and i wonder if he's had sucess with doing that. of course its all trial cos ive never done any of the things ive done with her before and im willing to do about anything to save her if i can.

shes bright today and seems used to the crop bra now, wish id just left it on her the first time!!! shes eating pooping ect, still in the house for now. crop feels still enlarged and sqooshy but much smaller than yesterday, thank heavens, think the bra is helping. i have her in a parrot cage as its much more space and have lined the bottom with baby quilts so theres nothing she can eat (other than her own feathers!) ive given some oyster shell, just a few pieces and am adding two supplements to the mashed watered down food. one is a chicken food supplement(high calorie) and the other is vits mins and protein. im hoping to put some weight on her and think she will make the other decisions for me as ill have to wait and see how she gets on. xx

 

[pwand]

So the vet feels there is a piece of wood in her gizzard, can he feel it?

The hen died, its in the comment section, he says she is full of grass, doesn't sound like he opened her crop to remove it and she was probably like that for some time before it was noticed.

My hen didn't gasp, she gasp more doing it the other way try to catch her breath, I feel she's asperiating. I'm gentle as much as I can with her crop, and as quick as I can be. I initially was vomiting her that way in the beginning and learned how to do it the other way.

 

[shell3]

no he cant feel it .think gizzards quite deep in body but its hard anyway so dont think youd feel much. he susspects impacted gizzard. i susspect wood as thats what she had access to but i may be wrong of course.
shame his hen died thou clearly from impaction not the way he emptied her. interesting she gasps less. maybe they get their head in a more natural position that way. may be worth a try. thanks for tip
xx

 

[Bogtown Chick]

Shell. Sorry I've been away for a couple days. Kids, chickening with frostbite and running around have kept me away from BYC for a bit.

I am so sorry for all this hullabaloo and now a more complicated diagnosis for Bombie. egads. I'm wondering if what ever is affecting that gizzard will eventually clear itself. Do you give grit in small amounts yet or no grit at all? Wow. How does a gizzard get impacted?! I mean those organs are suppose to be able to handle just about anything that comes down the turn pike.

I feel so bad about this but I know you are prepared to help as much as you can. How are the girls getting along in the new coop?

 

[pwand]

Shell: with a thought with Empting her crop the other way, it's possible to injure there joints. Might not be a great idea when thinking about it.

I hope Bombie is felling better today. . Take care of yourself too, I know this is so hard. Trying to do the right thing.

 

[shell3]

hi bogtown i know what you mean im run ragged here!! lol
i was thinking of giving grit in small amounts today after vet said it might ware away, just wish i knew what the blockage was! what if its grit?!!! then i give more! ijdk!
she seems ok today getting in ok with the bra and nice and alert.
girls seem fine in new coop they now roost on the perch but i have put them a battery light out there til i can run electrics down there. if no light,they sleep on the floor!
pwand yeah i wont do it that way then ill stick with what i know crop hasnt been enlarged enough to empty yet and i cant feel anything solid in it so ill just carry on for now xx

 

[shell3]

OK plan for today- im gonna start grit, my thinking is if shes blocked with grit me giving tiny amount isnt going to make a lot of difference as shes not had grit for a while so if shes still blocked from ages ago then imgonna need to do oil and flushes to clear it. dont want to flush til i have tried to break down any large pieces so its logical to try and break down blockage before flushing.
so ill try grit in small amount for a few days and if no improvement them think about alka selzer flush. she is trying to pick up anything to eat so maybe she needs the grit! she was out in run day after procedure so should have found some grit out there as ive been throwing it out on the ground.
second thought- ive been giving her food every few hours to limit the amount she stuffs in, however if shes ever going back outside i need to get a handle on the food situation because if shes hungry then shes gonna stuff herself outside with constant access. of course the flock would all be back on mash but if i limit it i know she'll find crap to eat outside and stuff with that instead! ive removed all things i can that i dont want her to eat (no bedding , removed wood from floor ect) but of course they spend all day looking so im sure she will find something ive missed! so idea is to give her constant access to food today , soft mash of course, and hope the birdy bra stops her from over stuffing. see how she goes today and if all well then carry on with constant food for this week so i know shes not desperate to eat eat eat, before she goes back outside. then hopefully i can get her back with the flock. this is gonna be a long long process and may not end well, for that reason it would be nicer for her to be outside living a chicken life with the girls and then i can monitor her closely from there which allows me to fit everything in to my daily routine as more of a norm. so far im putting a lot on hold while i 'cure her' thinking its a short term arrangement but now it seems this is not a short term thing i need to get on with life while still giving her all she needs. this will be easier if shes outside and happy.
so thats the plan thou it may change as thing progress!! it helps to decide on some direction!

 

[Bogtown Chick]

Your plan sounds good and sensible. And moving forward toward. A more natural life for her which may reduce her stress and get her body on track for healing too.

I feel a sense of balance here for all involved. You're doing a heck of a job with her shell.

 

[shell3]

Bogtown,she messing with my plan!! lol
well gave big bowl of mash, hope was she'd eat, probly bit too much but then stop because of the pressure from the bra. then they'd be food left in ther that she'd eat when she made room for more and id keep topping up untill she got used to constant food and it became quite boring. however, she ate the lot! now she has diareah. ive still topped up food but just a tiny bit hoping she'll leave it alone but know its there. so far she had a bite and left it so it still may pan out. diareah is bad , i know but, might flush out some blockage?? theres no grit in the poo and when she'd eaten loads of grit before it was coming out in poo so maybe this is not grit. so will give her some grit now. if id given alka seltzer id expect diareah so maybe shes doing her own natural flush. we'll see. crop feels large but not to stretching point so i have to be careful about giving too much more food. ill have to wait for some amount of movement before topping that bowl up any more! shame id hoped this would work also leaving off supplements for today as have read too much of these can cause their own problems!

 

[Bogtown Chick]

I think you have a good feel to do-- what is right for her and her crop. I would say still not let her engorge. But like you said she needs to know her own self limits too. You'll probably. Need. To hand hold her a big on the amounts week or too. But I strongly believe animals pick up on our stress about things and take on their own from that too. And i think you have something with new approach to this. My two cents only of course. Full of fluff... lol.