Update (pg 11): Daisy's crop - successful surgery and now eating!

[AndreaS]

Don't forget the organic apple cider vinegar!

You've been doing such a good job!

 

[caralouise1974]

Well, a partial success - the crop isn't doughy any more, but it is quite squishy and full, so I think she's gone sour.

I'm petrified of having to make her regurgitate all this stuff, which I know is what you have to do with a sour crop. I hear too many times that hens have aspirated and died during the procedure. Do I really have to do it before I give her the yoghurt/nystatin to combate the bad bacteria?

I can't bear the thought that I might kill her.

 

[caralouise1974]

Right nystatin suspension ordered, will arrive in six days. In the meantime I will give natural yoghurt and ACV.

Please let this crop have gone down by the time I get home from work tonight...

 

[jjthink]

I hear you on this one. I've long prayed that my birds never develop a crop problem for that very reason. Maybe the vet can resolve if needed, so you don't have to....... but hopefully she'll get better without either!

JJ

 

[caralouise1974]

I'm going to try and keep her going until Thursday, when I could take her to the vet (I'm at work Mon-Weds). I might just quickly tip her upside down tonight and see if anything comes out, but as for a lengthy crop emptying, I just can't do it.

 

[AndreaS]

Good morning! (For me anyway)

Just finished doing my search on sour crop under the old experts user names......
Came up with a few things to keep in mind.

#1. Stop the scrambled egg with sour crop! I had no idea. It is not easily dissolved. They recommend instead to hard boil an egg, and mash the yolk really well. Then feed the yolk only.

#2. Its probably best to get all the toxic stuff out ASAP, before it makes her sicker. If you have a vet empty it, do not let them give you antibiotics after unless they are certain.. apparently, it is much more crucial to try and re-colonize the good bacteria, than to wipe everything out.

#3. You don't have to turn them upside down to get the contents out- you can try and massage them through the system, and the massage will also help them burp out gas.

I have really high hopes for Daisy! It seems like you caught this early enough, and since she is still.feeling somewhat okay..
...I just know she's going to make It. She has to!

Okay, here are a few links. The first one had a sad ending, but they didn't figure out until later in the thread that it was sour crop. You have to go through a few pages of posts to get to the good info.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=248715&p=1

And then this one has good info as well, although the OP never updated, so we don't know the outcome.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=199961&p=1

Hang in there Daisy!

 

[caralouise1974]

Oh Andrea, you are an angel! This stuff is so incredibly useful!

It does seem that I will have to get this gunk out of Daisy sooner rather than later. DH says she's doing okay today and still up and about, but I'm now thinking that I will have to keep her in a crate somewhere to prevent her eating any solid food once I have emptied her crop. We have no garage, no shed, and no spare room to put her in. I can't keep her in a cardboard box in our kitchen for two weeks - she's too lively! She'd wreak our house if we tried to bring her indoors, not to mention the fact that our 11 month old is now crawling and eating everything she finds on the floor, which would include chicken poo - yuk!

How do I prevent Daisy eating normal food if I don't have the ability to segregate her from the others? If she were sicker, it would be easier, but she's going to go crazy if I try and put her in a box for a fortnight.

I better think of a plan... fast...!

 

[AndreaS]

It's absolutely my pleasure to help. I don't have much experience myself, but I have developed a rather effective way of searching the archives on this forum. When I got my first chicks back in March, I had a weak one (emma, shes fine now) who I thought for certain wasn't going to make it. When I posted for help, the vague and contradictory information I found scared me. Of course, everyone means well, but there is a lot of misinformation out there.

When I read a really good, informed response, I write down the posters name and I search under their names when I have a question. The main names I search under are; threehorses, dlhunicorn, and Glenda L Heywood. No doubt there are several experts that I haven't discovered yet. I have a notebook full of posts and articles written by these three.

Threehorses (Nathalie) has several helpful articles on worming, giving injections to chickens, a great first aid kit list, and a really awesome approach to treating respiratory illnesses that I have used with success. She also truly seems to love her birds, and since I feel the same way.....I like her approaches. I wish these three ladies were still active on the forum so I could tell them how grateful I am for the wealth of information they have made available to us. You would not believe how many times I've read an old emergency post where Nathalie has responded with a long, thoughtful and extremely helpful post, only to have the OP never respond or update. Maybe that's why they don't hang out on here anymore. I don't know. But, fortunately their old posts are still available to search.

That was a bit of a ramble, sorry!

Do you have a large dog crate or could you borrow one from a friend? A lot of people use those to contain sick birds. Also, I think if you keep it dark she may be more likely to calm down. I do agree that it is crucial that you be able to restrict Her diet to easily dissolved foods only, which You can't do if she's outside.

When you search the forum, don't use the Google search. Use byc's search that is linked on the blue bar above your login info. You Can search by user name and keyword. Very helpful! Also, if you want links to any of the info I've found, let me know.

Keep us updated!

 

[caralouise1974]

Thanks again Angela, I'm amazed someone would go to such lengths to help a poor little chicken that they've never met!

I am certainly aware of the three posters you've mentioned, and would also add speckledhen and jjthink to the 'chicken genius' list! I have had some amazing support on this site from those two people, and so many others.

We have got Daisy in a dog crate now, in our downstairs toilet! I was all set to do the regurgitation stuff with her tonight, but when I got hold of her it was clear she'd been eating all day and the crop was squashy but also had food in it. So, I got a couple of mls of olive oil/ACV/children's vitamins/garlic down her beak and did another massage (lots of gurgling and silent burps but I'm not sure what else I expected really!). Then I put her in the crate with just water and some layer's crumbles.

It's so hard to know what to do next - the crop is obviously sour, but with some food still being inside it, I can't risk trying to empty the crop as she will choke. She's starting to lose weight now too, so I am scared to withold food completely.

My guess is that I will keep the supportive therapy up for a couple of days (maybe give some live yoghurt tomorrow) then end up taking her to the vet on Thursday for some professional help. (I will be stressing that I do not want any anaesthetic administered and that I already have the nystatin, so no need to prescribe it.)

Chickens - completely stressful!

 

[kathyinmo]

I read somewhere (I think Pine Grove posted it) to give tomatoe juice for impactions.