Vet put my hen with sour crop on antibiotics… should I/can I also give her monistat?

[ChickInnMama]

No, you must never try to stuff more into a full crop.

It's a bad sign that the solution isn't emptying from her crop. It means she has a solid blockage in her track somewhere. The Epsom salt solution should gently stimulate the intestines to move any contents through, and the liquid follows to flush it completely down and out.

When the crop won't even drain liquid, it's a big problem. I'm going to have you do something that we don't usually recommend because it's risky. But the liquid in her crop is more of a danger for aspiration if it overflows in her airway.

Follow my instructions carefully.

1. Place the hen on the ground in between your feet while you are squatting.
2. Hold her by the shoulders and tilt her forward at a 45 degree angle. Do not squeeze the crop. This will allow gravity to pull some of the solution out of her crop.

This is for all who read this. Under no circumstances should you ever hold a chicken upside down to empty their crop.

Stop the Epsom salt flush for now. Let's see if the remaining solution in the crop can somehow go down enough to do some good.

I just went out and followed your directions, nothing came out. It feels maybe a little smaller than it did around 11:15 (it’s now 2:20 my time). I did that as soon as I got home just now. It’s not like it’s almost normal, but not overflowing anymore… So should I check her again in a few hours and if it’s smaller do another flush? Or just stop it for now? If it’s a blockage would the molasses flush work? I know you said that was only for a block from an impacted crop, but just wondering… Thanks so much!

 

[azygous]

Molasses also stimulates the intestines to move material, but it lacks the flushing quality. But why don't you give it a try? It's one teaspoon molasses in one-fourth cup water. You can tube it all into her crop. Then we'll see what happens with it.

 

[FAVEROLLES LOVER]

Thank you! I’ve done that in the past and I even tried it when my first hen was sick but I think she was too far gone at that point. I’ll try it again soon… do you use your regular feed? We give our girls crumbles, they won’t eat pellets for some reason. And when I ferment feed I use an organic scratch mix that I get from the feed store. Is that what you use for fermentation? Scratch? Thanks so much!!

Yes I use Organic feed maybe 2-3 times a week. They won't eat it after its fermented over 3 days. Very sour taste ( I tried a bit on my finger to find out why but I was right). Very sour. 2 days fermented was their choice it has just a tang to it. It bubbles on top so I know their is probiotics fermenting but day 3 no way will they touch it. I use crumble layer it also works with an occasional lower price feed when in a pinch. They really love it. I don't do too much scratch especially with corn in it i prefer grains with soldier worms seems easier on the crop. They are not free ranged never were but have all they need and more. Big coup and long runs on each side. Good luck

 

[ChickInnMama]

She swallowed the tube when my son pulled the syringe out to refill it we’re trying to get her into the vet but both exotics are in surgery this morning… at this point I may try crop surgery myself, because she’s going to die anyway if the vet can’t see her and they can’t do surgery and I don’t want to pay the crazy price that would be. I can’t believe this happened

 

[azygous]

OMG!

 

[azygous]

How long did you make the tube? I've never heard of such a thing happening. Either the tube was cut too short, should have been nine or ten inches, or it was thin and too flexible.

Crop surgery should be done. It's relatively simple and low risk. Here are my instructions.

Supplies to assemble:

A helper
Vetericyn wound spray
Betadine or alcohol
Saline wound flush
Sharp, sterilized cutting tool such as a one-sided razor blade or Xacto knife.
Sterile gauze
Tube of super glue
Latex gloves
Bath towel
Scissors to cut away feathers from incision site

Surgery:
-Wrap hen securely in a bath towel confining wings and feet, but leaving the crop exposed. No anesthesia is required. No pain meds.
-Have your helper hold the hen on her back on a hard surface or table.
-Locate the spot where the lump is most concentrated.
-Trim her feathers away so just skin is exposed.
-Prep the site with Betadine or alcohol to remove external bacteria.

Make a one inch incision in the skin. Do not cut any deeper than the outer layer. This will expose the crop sack.

Next, cut a one-inch opening into the crop sack, slightly offset to the outer cut. This is very important. You should be able to see the obstruction, grass or maybe something else that shouldn't be in there.

Putting slight pressure on the crop, push the obstruction toward the opening and pull it out. Continue until you can't get anything else out of it.

Irrigate the inside of the crop with a generous amount of saline until the saline comes out clean.

Dry the incisions by patting with sterile gauze. First apply super glue to the edges of the inner incision. Hold the tissue together until it bonds, about one minute. If it doesn't hold, apply more glue and continue to hold it until it bonds.

Glue the outer incision as you just did the inner one. Spray the incision liberally with Vetericyn. This promotes the tissue to grow together and heal. Do this twice a day for the next two days.

Feed only soft food such as yogurt, soft boiled egg, apple sauce, or gruel made from mixing water into her feed until it's soupy for the week following surgery. Give her a dose of Nutri-drench each day for five days.

 

[ChickInnMama]

How long did you make the tube? I've never heard of such a thing happening. Either the tube was cut too short, should have been nine or ten inches, or it was thin and too flexible.

Crop surgery should be done. It's relatively simple and low risk. Here are my instructions.

Supplies to assemble:

A helper
Vetericyn wound spray
Betadine or alcohol
Saline wound flush
Sharp, sterilized cutting tool such as a one-sided razor blade or Xacto knife.
Sterile gauze
Tube of super glue
Latex gloves
Bath towel
Scissors to cut away feathers from incision site

Surgery:
-Wrap hen securely in a bath towel confining wings and feet, but leaving the crop exposed. No anesthesia is required. No pain meds.
-Have your helper hold the hen on her back on a hard surface or table.
-Locate the spot where the lump is most concentrated.
-Trim her feathers away so just skin is exposed.
-Prep the site with Betadine or alcohol to remove external bacteria.

Make a one inch incision in the skin. Do not cut any deeper than the outer layer. This will expose the crop sack.

Next, cut a one-inch opening into the crop sack, slightly offset to the outer cut. This is very important. You should be able to see the obstruction, grass or maybe something else that shouldn't be in there.

Putting slight pressure on the crop, push the obstruction toward the opening and pull it out. Continue until you can't get anything else out of it.

Irrigate the inside of the crop with a generous amount of saline until the saline comes out clean.

Dry the incisions by patting with sterile gauze. First apply super glue to the edges of the inner incision. Hold the tissue together until it bonds, about one minute. If it doesn't hold, apply more glue and continue to hold it until it bonds.

Glue the outer incision as you just did the inner one. Spray the incision liberally with Vetericyn. This promotes the tissue to grow together and heal. Do this twice a day for the next two days.

Feed only soft food such as yogurt, soft boiled egg, apple sauce, or gruel made from mixing water into her feed until it's soupy for the week following surgery. Give her a dose of Nutri-drench each day for five days.

It was just already a cut size in the kit I bought I realize now that it was definitely too short… my husband doesn’t want to do the surgery he is worried that it won’t work and she will suffer more. So if I can’t talk him into it we will have to wait and see if our vet can get her in and we will have them euthanize her so she isn’t suffering. She’s already in bad shape, she just sits around the last few days, she isn’t doing much and I can tell she just doesn’t feel good. If I can talk someone in my family into helping me I’ll try it, but so far everyone is saying they can’t handle it. thank you for all your help! This is our favorite little hen, but at some point I realize you just have to call it and do what’s best for them.

 

[ChickInnMama]

We took her to the vet and they put her to sleep… best decision for her but such a hard call to make. Thank you for all your help as we tried to get her crop to empty, we did all we could, even before she swallowed the tube she wasn’t pooping much (I checked again this morning), her breath smelled like poop (so my guess is she had rotted food in there) and she was just standing around. When I picked her up to massage her crop this morning, before we did a last ditch effort with the molasses, she was making this pittiful sound and I told my husband that I thought she might be in pain now. So we decided to let her go, we felt like we’d just end up back at the vet soon and having to make that decision even if they removed the tube and our vet agreed. Thank you again!

 

[FAVEROLLES LOVER]

We took her to the vet and they put her to sleep… best decision for her but such a hard call to make. Thank you for all your help as we tried to get her crop to empty, we did all we could, even before she swallowed the tube she wasn’t pooping much (I checked again this morning), her breath smelled like poop (so my guess is she had rotted food in there) and she was just standing around. When I picked her up to massage her crop this morning, before we did a last ditch effort with the molasses, she was making this pittiful sound and I told my husband that I thought she might be in pain now. So we decided to let her go, we felt like we’d just end up back at the vet soon and having to make that decision even if they removed the tube and our vet agreed. Thank you again!

So very sorry for your loss. You did your best I also had one with a sour crop a couple years ago and I tried everything I could. She had a very large chunk of straw I pulled out of her mouth when I messaged her crop never saw anything so big I actually had to pull it out of her mouth. She lasted about a month and I had to put her down because the others were bullying her when it started up again. I think she had other problems because she perked up for awhile and then went down hill and looked like she was in pain. You get a gut feeling when its time to do the right thing. No more pain is what my heart told me. So sorry again.