Stuck Impaction, please help!

[-Clementine-]

Impaction has not passed, still feeling soft. It is not any smaller than yesterday either. Lots of poop in his crate, all of them scattered in small amounts, no grass/hay in them.

 

[azygous]

It may be time for crop surgery. Grass often will not pass out of an impacted crop due to it being such a stringy mass. There's a reason grass makes such great baskets and even fabric - it's indestructible.

Are you willing to consider the surgery? You can think about it and do it tomorrow. You will need time to prepare and gather the supplies, and conscript your surgical assistant. I will have a video for you to watch, as well.

 

[-Clementine-]

It may be time for crop surgery. Grass often will not pass out of an impacted crop due to it being such a stringy mass. There's a reason grass makes such great baskets and even fabric - it's indestructible.

Are you willing to consider the surgery? You can think about it and do it tomorrow. You will need time to prepare and gather the supplies, and conscript your surgical assistant. I will have a video for you to watch, as well.

I will think about it, thank you. I will try the molasses flush as well to see if that helps

 

[-Clementine-]

Sage's crop is not doing any better. I have decided to go ahead and do the surgery. What are the supplies needed?

 

[azygous]

Supplies to assemble:

A helper
Vetericyn wound spray
Betadine or alcohol
Saline wound flush
Sharp, sterilized cutting tool such as a one-sided razor blade or Xacto knife.
Sterile gauze
Tube of super glue
Latex gloves
Bath towel
Scissors to cut away feathers from incision site
Long tweezers or slender ice tongs to help pull out impacted material

Surgery:
-Wrap hen securely in a bath towel confining wings and feet, but leaving the crop exposed. No anesthesia is required. No pain meds.
-Have your helper hold the hen on her back on a hard surface or table.
-Locate the spot where the lump is most concentrated.
-Trim her feathers away so just skin is exposed.
-Prep the site with Betadine or alcohol to remove external bacteria.

Make a one inch incision in the skin. Do not cut any deeper than the outer layer. This will expose the crop sack.

Next, cut a one-inch opening into the crop sack, slightly offset to the outer cut. This is very important. You should be able to see the obstruction, grass or maybe something else that shouldn't be in there.

Putting slight pressure on the crop, push the obstruction toward the opening and pull it out. Continue until you can't get anything else out of it.

Irrigate the inside of the crop with a generous amount of saline until the saline comes out clean.

Dry the incisions by patting with sterile gauze. First apply super glue to the edges of the inner incision. Hold the tissue together until it bonds, about one minute. If it doesn't hold, apply more glue and continue to hold it until it bonds.

Glue the outer incision as you just did the inner one. Spray the incision liberally with Vetericyn. This promotes the tissue to grow together and heal. Do this twice a day for the next two days.

Feed only soft food such as yogurt, soft boiled egg, apple sauce, or gruel made from mixing water into her feed until it's soupy for the week following surgery. Give her a dose of Nutri-drench each day for five days.

 

[azygous]

 

[BigBlueHen53]

@azygous is Da Bomb.
Good luck with the surgery. Please keep us posted. We are rootin' for you and your chicken!

 

[-Clementine-]

I do not have all the supplies to do the surgery. Waiting on the saline, knife, and glue, so we will be continuing with molasses and massaging till everything comes.

 

[-Clementine-]

The surgery was successful! Sage did very well, and I believe doing the surgery was the right thing to do; the impaction was very large, and all the eggs we fed him did not pass, so his crop was filled with half grass and half eggs.

He is looking perkier than he was last night, and is eating the applesauce I fed him. I believe he is on the road to recovery!

 

[azygous]

You are awesome! That rooster is so lucky to have you.