Crop just "stopped"?

[tulie13]

Could my chicken's crop simply have stopped working due to the previous impaction and sour problem? I found this on another forum while poking around:

If the crop has stopped working, she likely has a crop infection. She will need to get on either baytril (if it's bacterial) or nystatin (if it's a fungal infection) or both.

I can't seem to feel anything large in it, but she still has problems even getting liquids to go down. I have to "squish" them down her, and I can hear a noise as they go into her stomach. So I'm thinking still a blockage at the base of the crop that I am able to squirt liquids past by squishing on her crop, but what if it has just "stopped"?

How long does it take a normal crop to empty after a chicken has filled up with LIQUID? I know they usually pack it with feed in the afternoon and digest all night, usually to be empty in the morning. But wouldn't liquid go down much faster if that's all there is in there?

I need to decide on whether to try surgery or not. We can't keep her on a liquid diet indefinitely, squirting oil down her throat is a 2-person job and I'm going to have to start traveling for work next week.

She is perky, seemingly healthy, but BORED in her box, and just cannot seem to eat solid food and have it go down normally. Her crop is pretty much continually blown up with liquid after she drinks and it just SITS there.

Could it be "infected"? And would this damage the function of it? Should I try antibiotics? Antifungal? She is still gassy and having diarrhea, but some of that could be just from having no FOOD, only liquids. Other than that, she's a healthy-seeming chicken, alert, lively, but small and having poor balance from being so "front-heavy" with her darn full crop.

 

[dlhunicorn]

Yes it can and that is called "crop stasis"
Here is a link to articles on crop problems including stasis... have a good read through them and note what you believe is applicable in your situation...
http://dlhunicorn.conforums.com/index.cgi?board=emergencies&action=display&num=1161893898

 

[tulie13]

A couple of the links don't work - I'd really like to see a picture of the "crop bra"!

This morning her crop is not "full" but it is not flat either. It feels like a big deflated water balloon on her chest, and is sort of loosely hanging down. There are a few pieces of grit/small stones in it still after 6 days of being in the house, flushing the crop, pouring olive oil down her, expelling a big THING with a flush, more oil, etc. The stones are VERY SMALL, and I think they SHOULD pass except I think they are physically hanging down below the crop exit. They obviously won't go UP to the exit, and I'm still not sure there isn't something blocking the exit to a degree (see my other post on post-crop-surgery antibiotics).

I think her crop is extremely "saggy" at this point, and food may just end up sitting in the lower part and not being able to go down, even if there isn't a blockage in the way.

Could it be "stretched" from all the action, and if so, will this possibly resolve if we keep her on a liquid diet for a couple more days? We have Olive Oil, Omega Fatty Acid + Vit E Oil, and we also have some Dextrose/Amino Acid solution. So she should get her fat and "protein", as well as some sugar/carbs. Not too sure of the balance being good, but we aren't omitting a major food group...

 

[dlhunicorn]

It would be most helpful if you could pm me with the links that do not work (when you have more time of course > links change over time and I will need to update them) there should be a link to the bra photo...

> that is what you need. (I am on my way out the door but I will try to remember to go look for it if it isnt there)
When a vet does surgery for this they will often need to reduce the crop (cut the overstretched portion) as the musculature often does not recover after having been stretched out of shape for so long but this may not be the case with your bird.
As long as she is not foraging or eating greens or grains then she will not need the grit. Keep her on a moist diet of pellets or crumbles (no grains etc) and concentrate the nutrition of that with baby parrot/bird formula (is powder you get at petstore and you mix with water > mix that to a prridgy consistency and then mix that in with her feed. It may take some time to get the crop back to functioning and that bra might be necessary until then.

 

[dlhunicorn]

http://www.avianweb.com/slowcrop.html
(this is geared towards baby parrots however much of the info is applicable to poultry > scroll down and see the illustration for a simple crop bra) ...I would not tie but instead use vet wrap (it must not be so restrictive that the bird has problems brething) and use the fasteners for a bandage (the "grip" ones) instead of tying it off)
The following image/pattern is more work but less constricting than the H pattern above

 

[LynneP]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=7693-sick-hen

After a crisis it can take a while to get the heavily muscled crop to return to its normal shape and therefore, function. Your hen probably needs some exercise now and this will assist in repositioning the tissue and in healing. She may need Baytril and this would be a logical step before considering surgery which has rather a low success rate dur to lack of healing at the incision site. A normal crop empties overnight as you mention, assuming she has food. She may be overcompensating by drinking too much because she is hungry. I would be tempted to see if she can eat her regular rations softened with water. This is one of the few times to avoid yogurt even though it would be tempting, because it sounds like she may have some fermentation issues in her crop/gut yet. The yogurt might make it worse though it is normally a very good food for a sick hen. But if she will eat diced tomatoes and/or cuke or some watermelon, the acidic contents and the plant enzymes should help her.

 

[tulie13]

Quote:
What about Sulmet? Will that help if there is an infection? I don't want to do surgery but this is getting to where we can't do much more for her.

She is still gassy, and her crop keeps filling with air in addition to the large quantities of liquid she will drink if we allow her to.