URGENT - Crop problems with a picky eater

[needler]

Thanks for all the help. Hopefully in the next few days she'll be doing better. She still looks okay, her eyes are clear and she chirps at us. I'm going to keep trying what I can. Do you think canned diced tomatos would do rather than fresh? I have those on hand and would have to go into town for fresh.

BTW I'm in No. Idaho.

 

[artsyrobin]

ok, check this thread for your local folks,
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/91762/north-carolina

since she is drinking water, get her nutrition that way, add cumbles, raw egg, vitamins(generally i add some drops of polyvisol liquid vitamins without iron), maybe electrolytes- to get something into her- yeah chickens were hubby's idea, but i went full force into it- my girl took a couple weeks, another thought might be the antibiotics- but i'll check on it first....

 

[nnbreeder]

I know it sounds harsh but with-hold feed from like 3pm till the next morning to give the crop a chance to clear if it is going to. Another thing that you can do is to give a crop massage, use your thumb and forefinger and see if you can squish the crop contents around to help it break-up and maybe clear the opening to the gizzard.

Go ahead and keep water out for her at all times and she may drink water that is warm a lot better then just tap water.

Another thing is to smell her breath, if she has sour crop it will smell like rotten grain and have a foul oder to it. Her breath should be musky but not over powering.

I will check back in through the weekend but it will be late at night.

 

[Karhog]

Hi- It can take a while and be very frustrating! I am also battling with a chook that seems to have a crop problem and finding it a nightmare to get her interested in food.
All I can advise is carry on with massaging the crop- couple of minutes at a time and as hard as you dare (mine usually enjoys this!)- If crop feels at all squelchy or watery then tip chook upside down following the massage - Make sure you are holding her so she dosen't fall and only do it for a few seconds at a time as she will be unable to breathe in this position.
If a nasty yellow bile come out then contine again later in the day.
If not just carry on the massage-olive oil first, then rub
Also can you get hold of any live white maggotts? (bait or tackle shop best bet) They are absolutely fab at aiding woth both sour crop or helping to break down an impactation, let her eat as many as she will- or if necessary try and make her eat the equivalent to 1 tbps 3 times a day.
Try the chopped tomatoes again with a little olice oil on them - Mine will turn her beak up one day but change her mind the next day ...worth a go.
Good Luck!

 

[needler]

Well I think question is about to end on its own, not succesfully either. She is now lying on her side with her eyes closed. We've tried everything suggested here but to no avail. Her crop isn't hard and big any more so something else must be going on also. Yesterday we noticed she was beginning to stink. We thought it was her dirty backside so we washed it. But maybe we shouldn't have?

Maybe a bacterial infection? Could our massageing her crop and olive oil caused an infection to spread throughout her body? And since she wasn't on antibiotics and not eating she is just to weak to fight it off?

If we loose her we need to know what to do to avoid this in the future so any help is appreciated.

 

[waghmg]

I'm so sorry.....I feel for you and do know what it's like. I have to admit there are times I wish mine would just go to sleep and not wake up, that it might be a blessing. It's really hard to watch and you feel so helpless. You don't want them to suffer but you don't want to lose them either....If it doesn't end well, you have the comfort you did all you could do.

I'm still going through a lot w/my chick and don't know how it's going to end...I feel your pain...

 

[Karhog]

So sorry your girl has taken a turn for the worse.
Youur massaging the crop with olive oil would not have caused an infection- she is ovbiously poorly anyway.
If she has an infection, anti biotics are probably the only thing that would sort her out.
Keep her as hydrated (with sugar water) and comfortable as possible...you never know
Fingers crossed

 

[Country4ever]

I haven't read all the other replies, but here's mine.
When a chicken has a hard crop, you must give it olive oil (with a syringe) and massage the heck out of that thing, many times a day. You must break that clod up. And you must not feed it until you can break it up. Give water with electrolytes and vitamins. If you feed it with this obstruction, you'll just make it worse. I've had this happen before and I had to be very aggressive about massaging the crop. You can actually feel it start to break up. They don't mind the massaging.
Feel the lower abdomen too and make sure there isn't more problems lower down.
Sometimes they have a cancer lower down in the GI tract and things just won't move and there's not much you can do about it.
.

 

[needler]

Thanks for all the advice but we did loose her this morning. I really don't know what the root cause was but we do know she had a hard crop but got that broken up eventually. Maybe there was something else wrong that caused it to get impacted and by the time we got it broken up the major damage was done already. I don't really know how long it was hard because she only started showing symptoms this past weekend. Are chickens like dogs, when they finally show symptoms or pain it has been going on a long time? If we see something like this again would you recommend antibiotics in conjunction with the massage and food limiting?

I know they are supposed to be farm animals but she will be missed. = (

 

[waghmg]

I'm very sorry for your loss....

Obviously it wasn't from lack of your care or effort that she didn't make it...