Sour or impacted crop

[Lyranonamous]

Our girl, Lizzie, that I thought was struggling with the low temperatures actually has impacted or sour crop. When bringing her inside to check her over some liquid came out of her, so I turned her over and a massive amount of (very smelly) dark brown liquid came out. I did this a few more times for a few seconds each and continued getting a horrible liquid (with pieces of grass which seems impossible at this time of year)
Anyway now I'm reading she could have aspirated, so maybe I should not have done this, but at the moment she seems OK, although she has not settled into her crate-she is standing and is unbalanced. She also has one very swollen foot which seems odd to me. I've not given her food or water. Should I wait a few hours before offering water?
I've been massaging her crop every 15 minutes and hoping to keep things moving. I read the post here about coconut oil and if that fails dulcolax. Does anyone know how much dulcolax to give a large hen (probably 5 lbs) and how often?

Thanks to everyone for the support I've had here for the last few years.

 

[Cragg Klefor]

If she has sour crop, she is going to need to stay hydrated. I would withhold feed - make sure she is drinking - dehydration will worsen the problem (but take the drink overnight), and check her crop in the morning and see how it is then.

If still full and squishy and her breath is smelling, the Dolculax dosage for sour crop is 1 cc three times a day. Use a syringe without the needle to draw up 1 cc and slowly, with the chickens head level, put it in her beak, she will swallow it herself. Keep up the massages and see how she does in a couple of days. If the cream seems to be helping, you can offer her wetted chicken feed, but nothing else for now. No grains etc as she will not be able to digest them with a crop issue.

Is she pooping? What does her poop look like?

EDIT: Apologies, I thought Dolculox was a vaginal cream... I was wrong. Dolculox is used for an impacted crop, but if it seems to be working (if she is pooping) perhaps it is what you need to be using!

 

[Cragg Klefor]

You mentioned a swollen foot... can you post a photo, or a few please?
Have you inspected her foot thoroughly for scratches/scrapes? Just to mention, a crop issue is most often a symptom of an underlying issue.
If you can post photos (of her poop also would be helpful) it will help people here access.

 

[rebrascora]

Often crop problems originate from a blockage lower down the digestive tract usually as a result of a reproductive disorder. I would check her abdomen for any bloat or swelling. Do this by cupping your hand between her legs and feeling for any fullness or possible heat. If you do this at roosting time, you can make a direct comparison to adjacent hens with very little disruption and get an idea of what normal feels like. If she has a lower gut problem then treating her crop is not going to help much and the problem will reoccur, so assessing which end of the chicken the problem is at is very relevant. A hen with abdominal swelling will often have soiled butt feathers and her poop may be mostly white urates if her gut is constricted. If you can come back to us with more info on that it would be helpful. I'm thinking this may be the problem since you mention she is a large hen... but I may be reading too much into that and she may just be a large breed.

 

[Eggcessive]

Be sure that you use doccusate sodium stool softener instead of the laxative when treating a crop disorder—there are many brands of stool softener, and using Dulcolax as a brand name can be harmful if the wrong product, the harsh laxative, is accidentally used.

 

[Lyranonamous]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I just saw them now and unfortunately had already given her some yogurt & egg.
Here is what happened so far.
I massaged her last night after the "vomiting". We put her in a box with shavings
She slept laying down with head under wing, and in the AM looked better, but was standing up in the box, instead of lying down.
She had pooped liquid during the night, it mixed with shavings so I don't know color but seemed to be brownish. Nothing was solid, and nothing white.
The bathroom smells terrible, and I also smell ammonia since last night.
I fed yogurt with some kefir powder mixed in via a dropper. She was somewhat interested in this. I massaged crop a little while feeding.
Crop still has stuff in it, but much less and mostly at the bottom and it's like liquid with some crunchy bits. Nothing solid.
After putting her back in the box she jumped out on her own and walked a bit, looking for food (pecking around) and had a little more yogurt by herself.
She pooped khaki or brown liquid poop (sorry no photos) as soon as she got out of box.
Since she seemed willing to eat I gave her a scrambled egg hoping to encourage another poop. I also put some grit in the bowl. She ate most of the egg-not sure about the grit.
Now she is resting.

I will get photos of her foot. Also her butt is caked with poop and has been for about a month-but it's been too cold to bathe her. I am going to try to get her rear end washed as best I can since she will be in the house anyway.

It's been rainy here for months and lately cold and rainy and now about 1-10 degrees and snowy.
I also noticed that some of the birds found a piece of pink styrofoam and had been pecking at it. She might have some of this lodged in her gut.

Thanks again to everyone. I will take whatever advice you can offer.

She is the only chicken I have left from my original group so she is about 61/2.

 

[Eggcessive]

She does need access to plenty of water all of the time. Some electrolytes with vitamins, or Poultry NutriDrench 2 ml daily would be good as well. During crop problems, I usually feed egg and plain yogurt with cultures (name brands only) and avoid any whole grains or seed. If you give stool softener, I would give one daily.

 

[Lyranonamous]

Often crop problems originate from a blockage lower down the digestive tract usually as a result of a reproductive disorder. I would check her abdomen for any bloat or swelling. Do this by cupping your hand between her legs and feeling for any fullness or possible heat. If you do this at roosting time, you can make a direct comparison to adjacent hens with very little disruption and get an idea of what normal feels like. If she has a lower gut problem then treating her crop is not going to help much and the problem will reoccur, so assessing which end of the chicken the problem is at is very relevant. A hen with abdominal swelling will often have soiled butt feathers and her poop may be mostly white urates if her gut is constricted. If you can come back to us with more info on that it would be helpful. I'm thinking this may be the problem since you mention she is a large hen... but I may be reading too much into that and she may just be a large breed.

Thanks for the detailed "how to"-I wouldn't have known to check for that.

 

[Lyranonamous]

Lizzie is probably not going to make it. We got much worse last night after "vomiting" again, and was really lethargic in the AM. We went to the vet and she got fluids and antibiotics and pain meds, but she has been going downhill since.
I will keep you posted but I do not think it will be good news.
Thanks everyone for your support.

 

[Lyranonamous]

Is there any kind way to end her suffering besides at the vet tomorrow?