*URGENT* NEED ADVICE

[Neeci84]

My hen has an impacted crop. I have researched this to death. So far I have had her isolated the past two days and only given her plain yogurt and boiled egg to eat. She has grit and water as well. I have tried coconut oil and massage twice, then tried stool softener. Nothing helps. I noticed it was sour too so I've been giving her yeast medicine. I had a vet come by today but I'm not extremely confident in her knowledge. She gave her a vitamin shot and something else. After that all my hens energy seem to go and she seemed less interested in eating or drinking. So now I'm also giving her a medicine from the vet that is supposed to speed up her digestion. There has been absolutely no change in the crop and im afraid shes losing interest in ingesting anything. Im so freaking stressed about this and just want to know any other tips anyone has... my chickies are very loved pets

 

[Sally PB]

Tagging someone for help.

@azygous Can you help here?

 

[azygous]

Impacted crops can sometimes be so clogged with cellulose material such as grass or straw or hay that no amount of oil or stool softener will soften the mass. Think about a toilet or sink clog that is made up of stuff that won't dissolve in water or even drain opener and the plumber needs to come and ream it out or take the plumbing apart.

So, crop surgery is the last resort in some cases. Please don't panic. We aren't there yet.

What do you think this hen had been eating before she began to show crop difficulties? Grass? Is her bedding straw? Has she been eating hay stems? Those are the usual culprits.

What does her crop feel like? Can you feel a hard, stringy mass? Or is her crop soft and spongy like a water balloon?

How much oil have you given her? Sometimes not enough oil is given. Have you given her any grit? If so, did she eat some very eagerly? What was the stool softener you gave her? How much?

 

[Neeci84]

Impacted crops can sometimes be so clogged with cellulose material such as grass or straw or hay that no amount of oil or stool softener will soften the mass. Think about a toilet or sink clog that is made up of stuff that won't dissolve in water or even drain opener and the plumber needs to come and ream it out or take the plumbing apart.

So, crop surgery is the last resort in some cases. Please don't panic. We aren't there yet.

What do you think this hen had been eating before she began to show crop difficulties? Grass? Is her bedding straw? Has she been eating hay stems? Those are the usual culprits.

What does her crop feel like? Can you feel a hard, stringy mass? Or is her crop soft and spongy like a water balloon?

How much oil have you given her? Sometimes not enough oil is given. Have you given her any grit? If so, did she eat some very eagerly? What was the stool softener you gave her? How much?

I'm almost positive its straw. Her crop felt full but somewhat squishy before I gave her the yeast medicine. Now its just hard. I only gave her coconut oil. A good amount and I massaged her crop as well. When that did nothing I gave her the stool softener (docusate sodium), waited 30 minutes and massaged again. She never seemed that interested in the grit but still definitely wanted to eat and run around. Now she seems more lethargic. She will still eat the egg and yogurt I give her. Im not sure how much water shes actually drinking either.

 

[azygous]

When you massaged the crop, could you feel you were making any progress getting the mass to break up? Or was it unrelenting?

 

[Neeci84]

When you massaged the crop, could you feel you were making any progress getting the mass to break up? Or was it unrelenting?

It would move around. Sometimes I thought it went down but all the sudden it would be right back. I can move the contents around fairly well. It just won't move on!

 

[ChicNmom]

I had a hen once that ate a straw and had a hard mass of it in her crop. I knew it was straw because undigested bits of it was in her poop. I had tried apple cider vinegar like I did in the past for other hens with crop issues but it wouldn't break up the mass. It was before I found this site with all the many ideas.

As a last ditch effort I gave her digestive enzymes. Then I would try to get a finger or two centered in the mass in her crop and try to break it up when massaging. I gradually got it all out of her. I really felt the enzymes made all the difference.

After reading here I would probably try a stool softener first.

**I used a massage technique called frictioning. I'm a massage therapist and it is just like it sounds. Get the fingers center mass . Dig in a little and make quick short back and forth motions. Maybe 20 to 30 seconds at a time.

 

[Neeci84]

I had a hen once that ate a straw and had a hard mass of it in her crop. I knew it was straw because undigested bits of it was in her poop. I had tried apple cider vinegar like I did in the past for other hens with crop issues but it wouldn't break up the mass. It was before I found this site with all the many ideas.

As a last ditch effort I gave her digestive enzymes. Then I would try to get a finger or two centered in the mass in her crop and try to break it up when massaging. I gradually got it all out of her. I really felt the enzymes made all the difference.

After reading here I would probably try a stool softener first.

What type of digestive enzymes?

 

[ChicNmom]

The one I have here is Mega Digestive Enzymes. It has a blend of various enzymes: pancreatin, trypsin, papian, bromelain, amylase, lipase, lysozyme, chymotrypsan.

I would think any blend would help.

Note that I added the way I massaged it to break it up in my last post

 

[Neeci84]

The one I have here is Mega Digestive Enzymes. It has a blend of various enzymes: pancreatin, trypsin, papian, bromelain, amylase, lipase, lysozyme, chymotrypsan.

I would think any blend would help.

Thank you!