Bantam healing after crop torn open from animal attack

[87nuggets]

Hi everyone! I wanted to post about our little bantam and hopefully offer some encouragement for others who have chickens with crop injuries. She had a bad injury almost 3 weeks ago and we were leaning towards putting her out of her misery, as we really didn't think she would survive and we thought it would be a long, slow death.
However, she was acting relatively normally, so we decided to give her a chance, and so far things are looking pretty good. Here's what happened:
We had set up a little enclosure in one corner of our run for our broody hens, and one evening our bantam, Mini, must have been sitting too close to the edge and an animal must have reached through and grabbed her (we have since put a board on that side so it can't happen again). The following day, we noticed she was acting a little off, and we discovered a gaping hole in her chest. We couldn't tell whether there were organs torn open or not, so we rinsed her off, put a bunch of Neosporin on her and wrapped her in gauze, gave her some electrolytes, and isolated her while we tried to figure out what to do. After two or three days, we removed the gauze to change it and assess the damage. Here's what we saw:

Poor Mini's crop had been torn open. If you look closely, you can see a piece of grass she had just eaten, coming back out through the hole in her crop. When we removed the gauze, there was food in it that had oozed out through the hole. But she was still pooping, so she must have been getting SOME food into her belly... So we decided to give her a chance. It seemed like the gauze had been holding things together a bit so that she could still get some food/water down, but it was also getting soaked and seemed unsanitary.

So we made her a little bra out of duct tape (the sticky side was covered with tape so it didn't stick to her) to hold her together without soaking up her food/water leakage. We peeked under the bra every couple of days without removing it and found that the food that leaked out was forming a plug. It didn't have any smells to suggest rotting food or infection, and she was acting normal, so we just kept checking on her every so often. At this point, she had rejoined the flock because with the duct tape bra, they weren't able to peck it off or reinjure her, and they weren't picking on her at all. We gave her the bra on June 15 and here she is today, 15 days later:

There were some balls of old, dried-up crop leakage inside the duct tape when we removed it. Most of the gash in her chest has healed up, and she still has that bit of dry stuff plugging the hole. I think I'll leave the bra off for a day or so and see if she's able to clean it off of herself. It's stuck pretty good and I don't want to pull at it, but I don't want the skin to fully heal over with it stuck inside her, either.
I'll update when it's all over, but right now it's looking promising

 

[Auntiejessi3]

Chickens are so resilient!

 

[MyHappyGirls]

Hi everyone! I wanted to post about our little bantam and hopefully offer some encouragement for others who have chickens with crop injuries. She had a bad injury almost 3 weeks ago and we were leaning towards putting her out of her misery, as we really didn't think she would survive and we thought it would be a long, slow death.
However, she was acting relatively normally, so we decided to give her a chance, and so far things are looking pretty good. Here's what happened:
We had set up a little enclosure in one corner of our run for our broody hens, and one evening our bantam, Mini, must have been sitting too close to the edge and an animal must have reached through and grabbed her (we have since put a board on that side so it can't happen again). The following day, we noticed she was acting a little off, and we discovered a gaping hole in her chest. We couldn't tell whether there were organs torn open or not, so we rinsed her off, put a bunch of Neosporin on her and wrapped her in gauze, gave her some electrolytes, and isolated her while we tried to figure out what to do. After two or three days, we removed the gauze to change it and assess the damage. Here's what we saw:View attachment 3561093View attachment 3561100View attachment 3561099
Poor Mini's crop had been torn open. If you look closely, you can see a piece of grass she had just eaten, coming back out through the hole in her crop. When we removed the gauze, there was food in it that had oozed out through the hole. But she was still pooping, so she must have been getting SOME food into her belly... So we decided to give her a chance. It seemed like the gauze had been holding things together a bit so that she could still get some food/water down, but it was also getting soaked and seemed unsanitary.View attachment 3561109
So we made her a little bra out of duct tape (the sticky side was covered with tape so it didn't stick to her) to hold her together without soaking up her food/water leakage. We peeked under the bra every couple of days without removing it and found that the food that leaked out was forming a plug. It didn't have any smells to suggest rotting food or infection, and she was acting normal, so we just kept checking on her every so often. At this point, she had rejoined the flock because with the duct tape bra, they weren't able to peck it off or reinjure her, and they weren't picking on her at all. We gave her the bra on June 15 and here she is today, 15 days later:
View attachment 3561115
There were some balls of old, dried-up crop leakage inside the duct tape when we removed it. Most of the gash in her chest has healed up, and she still has that bit of dry stuff plugging the hole. I think I'll leave the bra off for a day or so and see if she's able to clean it off of herself. It's stuck pretty good and I don't want to pull at it, but I don't want the skin to fully heal over with it stuck inside her, either.
I'll update when it's all over, but right now it's looking promising

Thanks for sharing your experience! It has given me some ideas and may help me help my hen!!!

 

[87nuggets]

Hi everyone! I wanted to post about our little bantam and hopefully offer some encouragement for others who have chickens with crop injuries. She had a bad injury almost 3 weeks ago and we were leaning towards putting her out of her misery, as we really didn't think she would survive and we thought it would be a long, slow death.
However, she was acting relatively normally, so we decided to give her a chance, and so far things are looking pretty good. Here's what happened:
We had set up a little enclosure in one corner of our run for our broody hens, and one evening our bantam, Mini, must have been sitting too close to the edge and an animal must have reached through and grabbed her (we have since put a board on that side so it can't happen again). The following day, we noticed she was acting a little off, and we discovered a gaping hole in her chest. We couldn't tell whether there were organs torn open or not, so we rinsed her off, put a bunch of Neosporin on her and wrapped her in gauze, gave her some electrolytes, and isolated her while we tried to figure out what to do. After two or three days, we removed the gauze to change it and assess the damage. Here's what we saw:View attachment 3561093View attachment 3561100View attachment 3561099
Poor Mini's crop had been torn open. If you look closely, you can see a piece of grass she had just eaten, coming back out through the hole in her crop. When we removed the gauze, there was food in it that had oozed out through the hole. But she was still pooping, so she must have been getting SOME food into her belly... So we decided to give her a chance. It seemed like the gauze had been holding things together a bit so that she could still get some food/water down, but it was also getting soaked and seemed unsanitary.View attachment 3561109
So we made her a little bra out of duct tape (the sticky side was covered with tape so it didn't stick to her) to hold her together without soaking up her food/water leakage. We peeked under the bra every couple of days without removing it and found that the food that leaked out was forming a plug. It didn't have any smells to suggest rotting food or infection, and she was acting normal, so we just kept checking on her every so often. At this point, she had rejoined the flock because with the duct tape bra, they weren't able to peck it off or reinjure her, and they weren't picking on her at all. We gave her the bra on June 15 and here she is today, 15 days later:
View attachment 3561115
There were some balls of old, dried-up crop leakage inside the duct tape when we removed it. Most of the gash in her chest has healed up, and she still has that bit of dry stuff plugging the hole. I think I'll leave the bra off for a day or so and see if she's able to clean it off of herself. It's stuck pretty good and I don't want to pull at it, but I don't want the skin to fully heal over with it stuck inside her, either.
I'll update when it's all over, but right now it's looking promising

UPDATE:
I know it's been almost a year at this point, but Mini took several months to be completely free of her dried-food crop plug. It didn't seem to bother her at all, and eventually it was dangling by a thread, and either she or one of her coop-mates pecked it off. She had a bit of blood on her feathers when this happened, but she didn't seem bothered, and the hole was not re-opened. After a while, this was healed up, too, and now I can't tell her apart from our other little bantam. So she's all better it was probably about 4-5 months between the injury and the plug finally falling off and healing up.

 

[Eggcessive]

What a nice update, and so glad that she survived the crop injury. Your thread will help others.

 

[HeyLilDude]

UPDATE:
I know it's been almost a year at this point, but Mini took several months to be completely free of her dried-food crop plug. It didn't seem to bother her at all, and eventually it was dangling by a thread, and either she or one of her coop-mates pecked it off. She had a bit of blood on her feathers when this happened, but she didn't seem bothered, and the hole was not re-opened. After a while, this was healed up, too, and now I can't tell her apart from our other little bantam. So she's all better it was probably about 4-5 months between the injury and the plug finally falling off and healing up.

Hi! First of all thank you for this post. In my mind I was sure my rooster would never make it through his torn open crop and I was dreading having to put him out of his misery (I've never had to do that before)!! But when I saw your post, you gave me hope, so thank you. It's been 4 days and I have him indoors with no bandage. I have cleaned him twice in an Epsom salt bath and 2, 3x's per day put Underwoods horse spray on his wound (it works wonders on the horses open wound). His food / water does fall out his front but there is poop too, so some must be going through. I do worry he may be starving to death if nutrients aren't getting through but he's still here so ... I was curious if you would do anything different and what types of food you were feeding him. I feel like what I'm feeding him may 'rot' or is too 'wet' to form a plug if I used a bra??? I do have an always full dish of wheat, cracked corn, sunflower seeds and mealworms for him. His snacks are scrambled eggs twice a day, ground elk burger once a day and his favorite, spaghetti noodles (but chopped up smaller than usual). His water has electrolytes. Keep in mind a lot of this is falling out the front, but I don't think all of it is. I'm concerned about putting a 'bra' on him and attracting flies, bacteria etc based on what I said earlier but at some point I plan on doing that. My situation with his free ranging is a little different. It sounds like you let her roam about with the others. My guy is a young guy (5 months) and the established hens were still getting used to him so up until this point they had been chasing / pecking at him so I don't want to introduce him back in to that environment .. at least not until I think he's on the mend enough to run away from them without tearing open the injury (assuming it heals). I feel like I'm justifying keeping him indoors with no bra for sake of cleanliness and safety. I imagine I'll figure out when that changes! Any suggestions or tips that I haven't thought of would be helpful. Even if they contradict what I'm doing! I'm all ears. Once again thank you so much for the post and the hope you gave me. I'm amazed he's made it this far honestly.

 

[Teganmarie]

Hi there, just looking for some advice. I have a chicken who has a crop wound and I have been tube feeding her because she also has an eye wound and is essentially blind so she won't eat from a dish or my hand. The wound is leaking and it smells... Like stomach acid, sour, like someone threw up.
Should I be concerned???

 

[HeyLilDude]

So sorry to hear about your poor chicken! I can only tell you what I did with my rooster & may it give you some ideas and some hope. I had Underwoods horse spray on hand and used it immediately after giving him an epsom salt bath to hopefully cleanse the wound & assess. He stunk to high heaven .. like rotting meat and clear fluid was dripping from his wound and I could see his 'organs'? Or whatever .. basically it was tore all open. (Yes, I'd be concerned if there is a smell .. it could be the beginning of rot or infection). Please visit their website and see the testimonies for open wounds and how it works. I would recommend using that. It is all I used - with no bandages - because it was impossible to hold him without wrapping my hands around him and putting pressure on the wound (I didn't want to aggravate it or make it worse). After he soaked (epsom salt bath) and it was clean, I just coated/sprayed it all over in and around his wound & made sure there was complete coverage. It will inhibit bacteria, infection, maggots, etc. I did it 3 times a day for the first week (he was indoors in a crib with a sheet over the top), 2x's week the 2nd week (he was outside in a small covered open pen, then I'd bring him in at night), then that wild guy escaped week 3 and ran up on the 2nd story deck and flew off of it across the yard and joined his sisters haha so I figured, damn, that guy is tough and must be ok. I let him stay outside with everyone after that but I'd spray his wound before bedtime and in the morning. By week 3 it was once a day. He was good to go week 4 and someone who had been waiting to buy him picked him up week 5 just to make sure he was good! He started to crow again week 3. Also, just to add how bad his wound was ... It was open so food and water was falling out the front but he was pooping so I figured something is getting through! I fed him scrambled eggs often (with his normal food) because they were soft and I figured they'd pass through easily but half would fall out his chest !! (or more) but he'd just re-eat it ..yeah kind of gross but whatever. Also the protein value in them to help his wound heal I felt was important. Week 3 I gave him spaghetti (his favorite treat) and it would hang out the front of his hole haha. But like the person above said, eventually a food plug formed. I can't say when even spraying and checking his wound it got hard to tell. Maybe week 3 or 4?. I just assumed as long as I kept the wound wet with Underwoods so maggots or infection didn't set in that was all that mattered. I don't know if any of that helps you but that is literally all I used and maybe some electrolytes in his water... I can't remember? I never did put a bib on like the other person, the Underwoods somewhat served that purpose. So it might be a case of each situation is different and what will work best for you! Let me know if you would like to know anything else. Oh my goodness he was so tough and resilient, it was amazing. https://www.underwoodhorsemedicine.com/ It's on other feed store sites & Amazon too but I go through Underwoods site. Maybe it's even at your local feed store? Also you're supposed to sprinkle baking soda to form a crust but I couldn't shake it upwards towards his wound to get it to stick - or through his feathers. I tried the first few days & made a mess. I eventually gave up & never ended up using the baking soda & it ended up being fine. TLC and keeping the would clean should do the trick!