Impacted Crop "Dulcolax"

[Loona]

Hi,
Marsha (Olga's mom) here looking at the site for treatment of Impacted Crop.

I went straight to this article featured on the website:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...d-sour-crops-prevention-and-treatments.67194/

I saw that Dulcolax was a form of treatment. I went to Walgreen's website to see if they had the tablet form, but I noticed that Dulcolax does not have the active ingredients Docusate Sodium as the article suggested. So one of the two is wrong.

Dulcolax's active ingredient is Bisacodyl
Colace on the other hand is Docusate Sodium as the article suggests.

So can somebody confirm what it is that's used to help an impacted crop? Thank you so much!

Yes, unfortunately Olga has an impacted crop. I have no idea how long this has been going on either She began to molt 3 weeks ago. Everyday it looked like somebody had a pillow fight in the house, LOL. Soon after I began to notice some watery poops. I've noticed when my other hens molt, they have a tendency to get a poopy butt. I pay extra attn to their needs, and it resolves on its own. It seems the process of molt just throws their immune system off a bit? So I didn't worry too much about the watery poop. Her morning poop (the initial one when she arises) was still big and firm. But after a week or so I noticed she was squatting while walking, so I got some electrolytes and that problem seem to resolve. Then I noticed she was pecking abnormally at her food. Just pushing it around. I thought Oh here we go again w/this feed. Seems the feed I use has had an inconsistency problem for the past few months. I called the Mfr (New Country Organics) and they said nothing had changed, but I seriously went through two 40lb bags and none of the chickens seemed too enthused. Later bags improved. But then I thought, well the other hens are doing ok and they are eating their food. But on Sunday I put some sunflowers down and she didn't even want to touch them, so I felt her crop and Yikes, hard like a ball of clay. I scoured the site here and found that tubing water and massaging is very helpful. So I took away all food sources and began doing this all day and night. Nothing. But it did feel ever so slightly smaller. Then I administered the baking soda/cinn/ginger/lemon and that seemed to break it down somewhat. I did this method because it has the "doughy" feel. I need to do this again today but I need to wait for family to get home to help (2 person job). Since I couldn't do that, I made the Epsom Salt solution and that is her drinking water for the day. She is drinking. I've been massaging it, and it seems to be going down, but this ball is remaining once fluids are digesting. I was then going to try the Dulcolax and looking online to see who has the tablets, CVS or Walgreens. It was there that I noticed Dulcolax is not Docusate Sodium, its Bisacodyl. So I really need to know which is the active ingredient that's used.

Up until this episode, Olga has been doing really well. She's a real pleasure in the house. Now quickly she's lost weight, molting and impacted crop and I'm afraid this could get really bad if I don't intervene w/a good remedy for her. Thank you!

 

[coach723]

Colace is fine. The active ingredient Bisacodyl is a stimulant laxative, and that is NOT what you want to use. Docusate Sodium is a stool softener, the correct thing to use. If the crop massages were helping I would continue those. Using the epsom salt flush or the Colace can be dehydrating, which can exacerbate the problem so you need to make sure that fluid intake is really good. I have found the herbal mixture to be helpful for the doughy crop with massage, but it needs to be done 3 X a day. I wish you luck, but know that slow or doughy crops and impacted crops are sometimes the result of something gone wrong farther down the digestive tract, in the gizzard or even past it, and may or may not be able to be resolved depending on the cause and where it is. All you can do is try.

 

[Loona]

Colace is fine. The active ingredient Bisacodyl is a stimulant laxative, and that is NOT what you want to use. Docusate Sodium is a stool softener, the correct thing to use. If the crop massages were helping I would continue those. Using the epsom salt flush or the Colace can be dehydrating, which can exacerbate the problem so you need to make sure that fluid intake is really good. I have found the herbal mixture to be helpful for the doughy crop with massage, but it needs to be done 3 X a day. I wish you luck, but know that slow or doughy crops and impacted crops are sometimes the result of something gone wrong farther down the digestive tract, in the gizzard or even past it, and may or may not be able to be resolved depending on the cause and where it is. All you can do is try.

Thank you. : \ I guess it is prudent that the website edit the article. It's passed around frequently to those w/problems w/crop.

OK, so I think I'll take away the Epsom salt water solution and replace w/fresh water.
I'm expecting a family member any time now. So I will tube some water, perhaps the electrolyte mix and in a couple hours do the baking soda/cinn/ginger/lemon mixture. That did seem to break it down. It was smaller this morning after doing that last night at 10pm, but it's still big enough to keep worrying about and helping.

How can one tell if there is a problem going on down into the gizzard and intestines/colon? Her poop is watery. The only firm poop I've seen out of her is her morning poop, and then yesterday after I tubed her some food formula, she made a turd that looked normal. So that food must've passed the 'dough ball', albeit is it liquified. She is def losing weight. : \

 

[coach723]

If she is having any normal poops then that is good, something is passing anyway.
Having slow or doughy crops can be frustrating, and often times it's not known what the issue is until necropsy (sorry!). If you have a vet that sees birds an xray may help, but again it may not, it just depends on what it is and where it is. If the bird ingested something that is slowing things down then you can only do what you are doing to see if it will eventually pass. I would only feed water soluble foods for now, things that will dissolve in water. If it has another cause, like disease, then it can be very hard to tell. Tumors, internal laying, salpingitis, parasites, to name a few, can all be causes of things slowing down or stopping. If you can get a fecal float test done, that may help narrow it down. Changing feed can sometimes help, some birds just have a harder time digesting some ingredients, and that's an easy try. All of my issues like this have been disease based, so maybe some others will chime in with other ideas. Best of Luck.

 

[Loona]

I've just given her some Exact and powdered pellets mixed w/water. Tube fed it and I'm waiting to see what kind of poop comes out again. If it is the normal looking poop then this liquified food is by-passing that doughy ball and digesting. If it is, that is a better sign that things further down are somewhat OK. I've located a vet that will put something in to separate the trachea and then 'irrigate' the crop. I asked if this was just tubing water and was told it is similar but more forceful. Have you heard of this? This ball is the gummy type. It's malleable as in I can squeeze it into a shape. Later I will do another baking soda treatment. It did seem to break it up a bit where I could feel some grain in there. I'm feeling so depressed about it. I've had such high hopes for her, this spring making her a new pen. She was attacked last summer by a fox, and survived, but she has a disability. She gets around great but once in a while she falls down. She's been living in the house with us and it a real delight. Was doing great until she started molting. :\ Thank you for your help.