4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[Jen&Rog]

I've had a run of bad luck with the girls lately and was wondering if anyone had any new ideas for helping Tipsy, a very thin ex-batt whose hard crop is not shifting.

 

We tried olive oil on Thursday (will give it another try early next week); I've given her a bit of Katalax (paraffin product for cat hairballs) and keep massaging it as often as possible.

 

Because she's so thin she must keep eating, but all she likes is sweetcorn and apples! Is there anything I should avoid which might add to the compaction? Or anything that is particularly good? Avipro is definitely doing her good. She's been off the grass for a week too.

 

I'm desperate not to lose this one; any help would be very gratefully received!

Edited November 9, 2008 by Guest

[jade&mike]

i have never needed to try it but i know of others who hace solved this problem by feeding live maggots to the chicken, they can clear the blockage for you.

you cant get them from any angling shop and it is adviced you use the non dyed ones.

before you try this method, you should know you may have to feed them to her for a couple of weeks before the problem is solved but you can keep them fresh and alive in your fridge (the maggots, not your chicken). i hope this helps you.

[Egluntyne]

Undyed maggots will definitely help.

 

So will home made unsweetened apple sauce which will help dissolve the fibrous plug, and keep the PH in the crop at the correct level.

[sandyhas3chucks]

High is it because it's what maggots do?

I mean why don't live mealworms do the same.

[alih]

yes it's true maggots will eat through the plug. Worked for me - you can order direct from wormsdirect - the white ones are delivered to your door!!! Keep going with a handful (not literally) a day for a week or so and that shoudl help.

[Jen&Rog]

Have ordered a pint of maggots (do I have nothing better to do on a Saturday night?! ) and in the mean time will try the apple sauce.. thanks so much for the suggestions, I'll keep persevering.

[alih]

let us know how she gets on?

[Jen&Rog]

Bless her - she had a very hearty appetite this morning and dare I say the crop seemed smaller - 'only' the size of a walnut. Tomorrow's breakfast will be a large dollop of apple sauce. Am hoping she manages to digest all the food she scoffed today - that'll certainly show if her crop is still working, fingers crossed...

[sandyhas3chucks]

does she pooh still or does this stop too?

[sandyhas3chucks]

how rude of me sorry glad she seems to be improving, I wonder if the odd fresh apple helps prevent it?

[Jen&Rog]

Oh dear, her crop was not as small as I hoped this morning, and she turned her beak up at my apple sauce. Oh well I must be patient with this one.

 

Her droppings aren't great to be honest, very watery, greenish white, some sandy brown stuff which I hope is the layers pellets getting through.

[Egluntyne]

I would take her to the vet if there is no improvement.

[sandyhas3chucks]

I would take her to the vet if there is no improvement.

yup me too

[alih]

me too - one of my chooks went downhill very quickly because of a crop problem.

[Louisdog]

If you take her to the vet they may be able to pull the impaction out using tweezers down her throat, failing that they can operate (expensive though!)

[Jen&Rog]

Thanks for all your replies, it means a lot. I'm getting to the point where I'd like her operated on now - the vet said he's never done it before but is happy to give it a try. I'm just waiting to hear how much it'll cost and we'll decide our plan of action.

 

The only other thing with this particular chook is that she gave up laying eggs within about a month of us getting her, so part of me thinks she's a poorly girl who's not long for this world. On the other hand, it may be her blocked crop that's stopped her getting the nutrition she needs for egg production.

 

Oh well, I've spent a fortune on a special hen before, and I don't think it'll be the last time!!

 

I'll keep you posted on her progress.

[alih]

Jenand Rog, this happened to my girl too - she began laying as usual then stopped after only a few eggs when her crop problem started. She also lost her red comb and it became small like a baby's again. Although the vet had initially told me she just had a large crop and not to worry, I had to have her put down a few weeks ago because her crop had just got plugged with more stuff and she was starving. The vet did a pm and told me that even if we had got to the blockage sooner it would have necessitated an operation (which I couldn't afford frankly). The blockage began with a piece of wire being guzzled (lord knows where from) but she was very perky until the last few days. I now know that the lack of eggs was due to lack of nutrition. But it was 3 months from beginning of problem to her being so poorly. I am not trying to alarm you, just wanted you to know that the non-laying and the crop prob were definitely linked in my case. Hope you can do something for your girl - let us know how it goes?

[Louisdog]

My pekin had the op, it was a tiny incision and they pulled a massive impaction out, she was so emaciated and the vet said the crop may not shrink back down or it may not function properly again. She recouperated in a rabbit cage inside and within a few days she was gaining weight and her crop was nice and small and it was empty every morning with lots of droppings overnight and guess what, she laid an egg! She laid us an egg evry other day after that.

 

The story doesn't end happily unfortunately as she had something of a fetish for eating long grass and the problem recurred so I had her put to sleep

 

But her recovery from the op was certainly really great, hope yours goes well if you decide to go ahead.

 

Oh and IIRC it was about £80.

 

Cheers

Alex

[Jen&Rog]

Interesting to read your replies, thanks again. Alih - I was following your thread because I was going through the same with another hen who, sadly, was so painfully thin and had given up eating I just couldn't do anything for her. I don't know how it happened so quickly.

 

So I'm keen to get her little mate fixed and I'm happy to see Alex that your pekin got through the op OK. My vet said £90-£100 and reckoned a 50:50 chance she'd pull though - great She does love grass too so would probably have to keep off for the rest of her days. Need to think about what's best for the lovely little thing.

[Louisdog]

We were told it was not grass per se that was a prob, just long co"Ooops, word censored!" grass. I started mowing the area inside the chicken run every week so the grass was short but she still found some long co"Ooops, word censored!" bits

 

The op itself seemed quite minor, small incision etc, so yours may do well on it. But it's a lot of money to spend on a chicken - people kept telling me I could buy a few new ones for the same price! She was only 2 so I thought I'd give her the chance. The vet could have operated again when it recurred but I couldn't justify another £80 especially less than three months after the first op, also not great for her either.

 

Let us know how you get on. Has your vet tried the tweezers method?

 

Cheers

Alex

[Hen Watch]

Henny had crop problems too in the summer. I bought live white maggots from worms direct (who were very good by the way) and then more maggots from the fishing tackle shop. I also gave her loads of live bio yoghurt (and even some Actimel drinks) mixed in with pellets and warm water to make a sludge which she could digest better.

 

It took a while for it to pass and she is ok now. But her crop is stretched and sometimes becomes saggy at the end of the day (which I assume is due to loss of muscle tone).

[Jen&Rog]

I'm speaking to the vet again tomorrow (I'm building up quite a relationship with this one ) so will see how he feels about the tweezer approach, otherwise I think I'll book her in for Thursday.

[Louisdog]

Best of luck with it. When I say tweezer they were big blunt long things btw not like plucking eyebrows with.

[Egluntyne]

I'm sure I've mentioned this before but my friend's hen had an impaction and it turned out that she had swallowed a cable tie which had caused vegetation to wrap itself round it and form a solid ball.

 

It seems that they are not discerning diners.

[Jen&Rog]

OK I've just booked her in with the vet tomorrow, will ask if they can try the tweezer method first otherwise she's under the knife. Poor little girl, I hope I'm doing the right thing.