Impacted Crop will not clear

[ChickenDadda]

Howdy folks, I would appreciate any insight or advice you could spare.

I noticed a week ago one of my 3 year old brahma hens had a full crop in the morning, so i went straight into doing what i could to clear it up.

I gave her tons of water, coconut oil to help lubricate, and massaged away.

I did this for several days and there was slow but gradual improvement.

Now yesterday it seemed as if she found some food again somehow but the crop is full and firm again until i give oil and more water to break it up to be squishy again.


I have tried to give a molasses wash to help push things forward and i dont think it did much.

Her poops are small, liquidy, and greenish. i see straw and feel straw and pellets in her crop when i try to break it up and massage it.


Im not sure what else i could be doing right now, is there a recipe to help dissolve everything in her crop? i have been also giving nutri drench as i realized i could feel her keel and this has potentially been a problem with her for awhile before i caught it.

any help and advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

 

[SmiYa0126]

Hi! Im so sorry! Is she still eating? Can you offer her cucumber and/or watermelon?

Is she molting by chance? Have you wormed her recently?

 

[ChickenDadda]

Hi! Im so sorry! Is she still eating? Can you offer her cucumber and/or watermelon?

Is she molting by chance? Have you wormed her recently?

Hi, she is starving, she is wanting to eat anything and everything but i have isolated her and will give her some egg yolks. she just finished her molt and i have not wormed her recently. I do have safeguard on hand but how would worms cause a crop impaction?

 

[SmiYa0126]

If there is a worm overload the food can't get through. How much room is there in her crop? If there is room, can you syringe fluids into her crop to loosen everything?

 

[ChickenDadda]

If there is a worm overload the food can't get through. How much room is there in her crop? If there is room, can you syringe fluids into her crop to loosen everything?

Yes, i have massaged and constantly give her water via syringe to help loosen the food in her crop. I am considering getting a stool softener, do you know any other treatments to an impacted crop?

 

[SmiYa0126]

Yes, i have massaged and constantly give her water via syringe to help loosen the food in her crop. I am considering getting a stool softener, do you know any other treatments to an impacted crop?

I used stool softener, coconut oil, cucumber and watermelon. I had a hen with a straw impacted crop, it took a month for it to clear.

 

[ChickenDadda]

I used stool softener, coconut oil, cucumber and watermelon. I had a hen with a straw impacted crop, it took a month for it to clear.

what kind of stool softener did you use? and what was her weight looking like throughout the month?

 

[SmiYa0126]

Dulcolax, she was a skeleton, I don't know how she made it. Going strong now into her fifth year with me. I did have a friend in with her, I had a hen that had been attacked by a hawk at the same time.

 

[Eggcessive]

Colace or doccusate sodium is the stool softener. @azygous is very good with crop problems. Hopefully, she will chime in, since you have tried a number of things. I would separate her inside a dog crate with food and water. Today, you may want to just give her water with some electrolytes and vitamins. Massage her crop several times a day to break up the impaction. Then offer some whole egg, and maybe a spoonful of feed in a lot of water later in if her crop has emptied some.

 

[ChicNmom]

I and a couple of other people here have had success adding digestive enzymes for straw and grass impactions. You want to find one that includes cellulase. It helps to break down tough fiber foods and reduce fermentation.

You may need to do more vigorous crop massage to break up the contents. Get 2 fingers into the center of the mass and rub side to side quickly. When that section loosens up then move to the next hard section.

If you can feel a ball of straw you can also very gently get ahold of it and pull it apart.

Several small massage sessions are better than a couple of long sessions.

It took almost a month for me to get the straw ball out of my hen as it was the size of a tennis ball.