Author Topic: Hen has large crop issue - Any suggestions would be appreciated.  (Read 29716 times)

greeneggsandham

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Hen has large crop issue - Any suggestions would be appreciated.
« Reply #30 on: January 07, 2012, 03:52:06 PM »
I would keep a little AVC in her water for a couple of days.  It does help with digestion.  That small ball shouldn\'t be too much of a problem with her crop, but you never know.  Could be some of it is down in her proventriculus which could be slowing the emptying of the crop.  When she gets back on a regular diet you will know whether that mass is going to be an issue or not.
Sharon
Hubby rues the day he brought the chicks home...

Sharon Yorks

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Hen has large crop issue - Any suggestions would be appreciated.
« Reply #31 on: January 09, 2012, 07:53:31 PM »
I\'m really not sure what\'s going on with Ruby and/or what I \"should\" be doing at this point. The golf ball size lump is still there and was real hard this morning and felt like it had no room to move around and was stuck against her. She\'s acting a little quiet, but still moving around and pooping. I did notice her stopping several times to move her head and neck in an S shape, trying to move the lump. Yesterday, was about the same. I put a half of a crumbled up hard boiled egg in front of her. She acts like she wants to eat, and does a little, but soon loses interest. I even tossed her a few Cheerios. She ran toward them and ate a few, but then quit and left the rest. If any of my birds turns away a Cheerio, there\'s something wrong! I considered the fact that penning her by herself may be bothering her since she paces the fence when she sees her sisters. So, right or wrong, this is what I did...

I put Tonya & Tucker in with her last night and gave them all a couple of handfuls of their normal food. With a little competition, she did grab a little before turning away. I also seen her take 12 sips of water with ACV in it, which made me feel better. This morning, the weather was nice so I opened the little door and let them out in a 5x12 (no grass). An hour or so later, I dripped a little liquified Nutri-Cal in her mouth, waiting for Teresa to come over this evening so we could tube her again. About 3:00pm while Teresa was on her way, I put Ruby in the garage, sat on the inside step, and her and my blue healer took turns waiting for me to toss them a piece of bread. She ate a few real small pieces, then walked away and left the rest. I had a dog crate with shavings sitting in the corner and she actually went inside and fluffed up the shavings. I thought maybe she was going to finally lay another egg, but she didn\'t. She then casually toured the garage, pooped a couple of times, then came to see what I was doing. I don\'t know what she\'s pooping, since she\'s not really eating, but it seems fairly normal. And the only reason I offered her normal food was because she doesn\'t appear to be clogged up and I don\'t want her to lose energy by starving her.

When Teresa got here, we tubed in 2 and a half tsp of watered-down Nutri-Cal in her. It filled her crop up a little and made it much easier to massage. I made a judgement call on the amount of liquid and think I made the right call. I left the liquid in her (since sour crop is no longer an issue) and at least I know she won\'t get dehydrated and has nutrition. I\'m hoping the mass eventually breaks up and dissolves. I\'m just not sure why she has lost her appetite. Maybe her throat is sore from tubing. She holds very still and I enter it slow and pull it out slow. That\'s where were at now and that\'s all I know (guessing) to do.

Sharon

Below is a picture of Tonya and her bodyguard while she was in quarantine after the fair last year. We spotted coyotes nearby several times so someone had to stand guard. ;)
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Sharon Yorks

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Hen has large crop issue - Any suggestions would be appreciated.
« Reply #32 on: January 10, 2012, 08:33:31 PM »
Ruby is doing good. Her energy has picked up and she is eating better. Still pooping normal, too. I really think putting her back in with the others helped a lot. Teresa and I tubed her again today with 2 & 1/2 tsp of watered-down Nutri-Cal. I think adding water and massaging it is helping to break up the lump and keeping her hydrated with vitamins. The lump is going down slowly, but at least it\'s going down. I\'m anticipating a full recovery by the weekend. I\'ll post an update on Monday.  --Sharon
Sharon Yorks
Mark 11:23

(Don't tell God how big your problem is, tell your problem how big your God is!)

Sharon Yorks

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Hen has large crop issue - Any suggestions would be appreciated.
« Reply #33 on: January 16, 2012, 03:22:39 PM »
Just a quick final update: Ruby’s lump is almost totally gone. It was so small this morning I had to check her sister to make sure I had the right bird. Big lesson learned: Keep grit in front of them at all times. I’m guessing that’s what started all of this in the first place. I would never want to go through it again, but I definitely learned a lot about what to do for sour crop and an impacted crop. It’s great to know that surgery is not always necessary. I’m thinking that the flushing and vomiting for sour crop, and the tubing of watered-down Nutri-cal and massaging (along with a little ACV & grit) for the impaction, was the key. Thanks to all for your concern and support. What a great forum!
Sharon Yorks
Mark 11:23

(Don't tell God how big your problem is, tell your problem how big your God is!)

John

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Hen has large crop issue - Any suggestions would be appreciated.
« Reply #34 on: January 16, 2012, 03:50:38 PM »
Quote
Keep grit in front of them at all times.

Good advice.
Also remember chickens don\'t have teeth to bite off long pieces of food.  When they eat grass in the lawn they can pull it to break off pieces to swallow, but once my brother lost many young pheasants that he feed long strands of grass that he picked for them.  Mowed grass is generally short enough, but tall grass picked by hand and given the birds can be a problem to swallow and digest.  Be careful that well meaning kids don\'t try to feed your birds things they shouldn\'t.