Three week old buff orphington -something is wrong-help a newbie???

[bethgranberg]

Hello-my 3 week old buff orphington is not well, she has a lump on her neck/breast and is all puffed up, gave some sugar water seems to have perked up a little-???Not eating but is drinking alot of water with some sugar) Also put her in quarantine from five other 3 weekers ..Poop looks ok...

 

[Glenda L Heywood]

it is probably something in the crop
what have they been eating?
grass corn or any thing else?
if it is grass she may have a wad of grass balled up in the crop that can't go thru the crop hole
you may have to flush her out

first use the flush
1/2 cup of baking soda
1 pint of warm water

Here is what I always did for the crop problem
I took the 1/2 cup of baking soda
and disolved in the pint of warm water and with a
childs ear syringe filled the syringe with the soda water mixture.
Now I held her out from me and slwoly put the syringe to the back of her mouth and squeezed the water solution into the crop.

Then with my fingers came up under the out side of the chest of the bird. Starting below the crop and brought my fingers up so as to expel the impacted sour feed and what ever.

I did this till the water was gone - three times. Then I took and put her in a cage
alone and fasted her from feed for 24 hrs.

Then the next day i mixed the milk and two slices of bread and 1/2 small container of yoguart. and fed her this.

The next morning when I went out to give her the
bread/milk/yoghurt mixture, her crop was completely empty for the first time

So then as I havd put the chicken on a fast
I still feed the bread/milk/yoguart mixture this twice a day for a week
then the bird could be put on crumbles
DO NOT feed it any whole grain for quit a while

Also give the bird
1 tbsp of ACV in pint of water
as the ACV will help the gut restoration for good gut flora

CROP SURGERY???
AT WORST SIDE you may have to do this: A
friend of BYC made this up for impacted crop surrgery
more professional than mine

Items Needed:

Betadine solution
Isopropyl Alcohol
Gauze Pads
Razor blade or Exacto-knife
Tweezers (surgical - if available, find at Vet Supply or Pet)
Hand Towel
Sutures or Heavy weight Thread
Sharpie sewing needle that will accommodate thread
Scissors
Antibiotic ointment
access to warm water, preferably a kitchen sprayer

To perform the surgery, a "surgeon" and "assistant" are needed. The assistant holds the bird, wrapped in a hand towel,from behind being sure to keep the wings secure and unflapping.

1. Approximately 1/3 of the way down the crop, located on the right the breast; push back the feathers and have the assistant hold the feathers away from the site. Place a few drops of betadine solution on a gauze pad and clean the dermis of the crop at the site of the incision.

2. Wipe the area with an alcohol pad. Allow to dry.

3. Holding the skin slightly spread, cut through the outer dermis with the cutting tool. The opening needs to be only 3/4" - 1" in length. (The incision that we made was more horizontal than vertical.) The skin is fairly tough, so you may have to apply several strokes. The tool will pass through the outer dermis and you might encounter adipose (fat) and then flesh before entering the crop.

4. Once the crop has been opened, material may start to be seen through the opening. Place the bird over the sink and massage the crop so that the contents move towards the opening. The surgeon can grab the contents and dispose in the sink. Once the material is removed, rise the site thoroughly with warm water. Additional material may come to the surface, massage the crop to feel if there are any additional contents. (Tweezers may be needed to remove blades of grass or in our case a cigarette filter.)

-Be careful not to tear the skin around the site with the massaging.

5. Rinse the site again. Pat dry with a gauze pad. Take a minimum of a dime size dose of antibiotic ointment and "pack" the site - lightly smearing the cream or ointment into the site.

6. Thread your needle, cutting a 12" section of doubled thread. Knot the end, leaving a 1/2" tail. Place 3-4 stitches through the dermis, catching the lining of the crop. End the stitches with a knot on the opposite end from which you started.

7. Allow the "patient" to recuperate isolated from the flock. Use newspaper for bedding, offer water and withhold grain. Offer plain yogurt 6-8 hours after. Yogurt and mash/grain can be offered on day 2. Water at all times.

8. Keep an eye on the incision, being sure that their is no tearing or redness. The stitches can be removed 7 days after surgery. Apply antibiotic ointment to the site.

We put our girl back with the flock on day 4, watching her closely.

I hope that this helps for future reference.

 

[bethgranberg]

wow thank you sooooomuch I am going to try the flush right now!!!
Let u know how it goes your the BEST

 

[bethgranberg]

Glenda, I cant tell you how thankful I am to you, as well as my 10 year old son who was devistated-she is doing much better today!!I did not get muchh sleep last night, she made it thru and is even eating the mix you told me-you are a wonderful person-I loveBCF!!
I hope I can pass on this info to someone else someday. I am going to start a file in my pc on everything I am learning especially what you told me.
Yes they have been eatin alot of grass-dandilions-should I be giving them ostershell-or some kind of grit in their feed-
THANK YOU THANK YOU