dancing cloud Posted December 6, 2009 Share Posted December 6, 2009 (edited) My lovely Clover has an impacted/bound crop (not sure of the difference) and I need your advice re what to do. She is definitely not co-operating with the syringing olive oil routine - it needs two hands to hold the beak open and one to syringe and there is just me, so we're both well covered but not much has gone in. I have held her upside down on my knee and am now suitably dowsed in hen-sick and she had a poo on me too for good measure, but I'll wash. Although quite a lot of brown fluid came out, I can still feel a hard lump just below her throat. At the moment she's warm in the kitchen, but very hunched and sleepy and not looking forward to being turned upside down and made to be sick again! Massage alone does not seem to be working. Any and all advice welcome, thank you. Edited December 7, 2009 by Guest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted December 6, 2009 Share Posted December 6, 2009 Send your OH to the angling shop to buy a pint of undyed maggots and feed them to her, as many as she will take, every couple of hours. They will munch their way through the blockage and will help things to get going again. I would persevere with syringing water into her, because the muscular contractions going on in the crop will continue to squeeze the moisture out of the plug and will make the matter worse. I would massage the crop every hour if you can, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 6, 2009 Share Posted December 6, 2009 well, personally I'd take her to the vet but some people try live white maggots which are supposed to eat through any organic blockage. I believe fishing shops sell them but apparently you have to ask for WHITE (uncoloured) maggots. sorry to question/doubt you but are you 100% positive it's an impacted crop? I know some people have confused the hen's breast bone for a lump in the crop before now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancing cloud Posted December 6, 2009 Author Share Posted December 6, 2009 Thank you Egluntyne. Haven't got an OH, but will dig out the phone book and see if I can find an angling shop open on a Sunday. At the moment I'm getting oil in only by covering grape quarters in it as the bread bits were spat out. She may be a poorly hen, but she's still getting what she likes, little monkey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted December 6, 2009 Share Posted December 6, 2009 Found this - I dont know that it will tell you any more than you know but it does say dont make the hen sick (I think thats done more for sour crop) I have seem maggot vending machines about, not sure if there is a website that will give their locations but worth thinking about Good luck The crop and crop problems: The crop is a pouch at the bottom of the chickens neck. Its part of the digestive system and is used for temporary food storage. In the wild it lets a bird snatch what food it can, fly away at the approach of danger, and digest its meal later at its leisure. So the crop will change in size depending on how much food it has in it. To check if your chicken has a crop problem, feel your chicken’s crop 1st thing in the morning before she has had anything to eat. Normally their crops should be empty then, with all the food having passed through into the rest of their digestive system overnight. If you can feel a lump then something is not right. Blocked or impacted crop: If the lump is hard, then it is called impacted or blocked crop. This can happen when they have eaten long, tough, fiborous grass, or something simillar, and it has got into a tangled mass that is too large to pass further down. I have also heard of a foreign body casuing a simillar problem, but this is very rare. Treatment for a blocked crop is adding a lubricant and massaging the crop to try to help break up the blockage the contents so it can pass out of the chicken’s crop and on down into the digestive system. Oil from the kitchen is good option as a first aid measure, but I prefer not to use it for more than a day or two, as it will probably overload the birds liver if used longer term. Another option is liquid parafin (from chemists or vets) which, AFAIK, does not go through the liver and is simply expelled out the other end of the digestive system. My vet advised me to use 2-3ml of lubricant twice a day, and massage the crop quite firmly for a few minutes afterwards. Use a syringe to give the lubricant, being careful to put the syringe past the hole at the back of the chicken’s tounge. This hole leads to the lungs and if anything other than air gets down there this can lead to serious (often fatal) problems. I found it easier to get further into the chickens mouth with a narrow 1ml syringe than a larger one. Avoid, if you can, letting the chicken eat anything which might add to the impaction during this time (eg more grass). Feeding soft, high nutrient food is good, as the impaction has probably reduced the amount of food the chicken has been eating the past few days and it could probably do with the extra nutrition. If this treatment is not reducing the size of the lump, or has not resolved the situation after a week, or the chicken’s health is deteriorating in any other way, then the only other treatment is to take the chicken to the vet for an operation to open up the crop and empty the contents. This is not a cheap option, and there is quite a high risk of infection afterwards because of all the bacteria in the crop, but it was successful for my chicken Tilly. DO NOT try to make a chicken sick if you think it has a blocked crop (some books and websites recommend this). If the blockage is too big to go down, it is too big to come up!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancing cloud Posted December 6, 2009 Author Share Posted December 6, 2009 Thanks Redwing, off to buy some mealworms since there are no angling shops open in this area on a Sunday afternoon. I can get maggots tomorrow, but I have to keep her going till then. As syringing didn't work (I couldn't hold her beak open by myself and syringe at the same time) I'm resorting to administering olive oil via small pieces of grape at the moment. I'll keep up the massage as well in the hope of getting the lump to shift. The things we do ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancing cloud Posted December 6, 2009 Author Share Posted December 6, 2009 Forgot to add, it definitely is a hard lump just beneath her throat and well above her breastbone. She's making gurgling and burping noises and stretching her neck as if to try and shift it too, so hopefully it will move through very soon. Off to the shops for soft squishy food Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurmurf Posted December 6, 2009 Share Posted December 6, 2009 just to give you some hope - we came through impacted crop, so it can get better! In our case we didn't use oil but did syringe Avipro about every hour or so and did lots of gentle massage on the crop. The avipro kept her hydrated and the massage shifted the blockage: it turned out the she'd eaten a mass of long grass that bunged her up (my daughter had the lovely job of gently removing the grass strands from the *ahem* other end. If you could wrap her very firmly in a towel (more firmly than you'd like to) and hold her between your knees, then you might be able to hold her head and beak with one hand and syringe with the other.... or could you get someone else to firmly hold her while you use the other two hands? I know that's how Egluntyne gets bumper bits on solo. the grapes are a good idea for getting liquid into her, and the oil will lubricate, so the massage itself will do a good deal. good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancing cloud Posted December 6, 2009 Author Share Posted December 6, 2009 Well I eventually managed to get a little olive oil into Clover using laurmurf's method - thank you for that - but I couldn't honestly be sure it went into her crop and not her lungs Clover's not got any better, didn't so much as look at the mealworms and waxworms I bought, and wouldn't even eat oil-covered grape quarters after a while. I kept massaging the lump and she did cough up nasty brown fluid a few times and pooed some more too, but no obvious improvement. Even the cats have been gentle with her and let her sit and sleep on my knee undisturbed. I've put her to bed with the other big girls, as they can keep her at least as warm and cosy as I can and, if she doesn't make it, I don't want her to die alone. Thank you everyone for your help and advice, and all positive vibes for Clover much appreciated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelsea Posted December 6, 2009 Share Posted December 6, 2009 Aww bless her, I really hope little Clover pulls through. Fingers, paws and wings crossed here for her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 6, 2009 Share Posted December 6, 2009 any little feathery girl that's under the weather has all the vibes I can send Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicken Shirl Posted December 6, 2009 Share Posted December 6, 2009 Everything crossed here in Tenerife for your little Clover Hope she pulls through. {{Hugs}}xx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandyhas3chucks Posted December 6, 2009 Share Posted December 6, 2009 fingers crosse for the morning for you. Can you get maggots tom. It really neds to be maggos as the wirk their way downwards naturally helping disperse the block.I got some in one on cucumber, another would eat stewed apples wih some Olive O in. fluid really is a big key. good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chook n Boo Mum Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 Dc, I hope she's still with us this morning I used just about every treatment mentioned here on Buffie when she had IC...twice !! Did you manage to loosen the lump yesterday with the small amounts of stuff you got into her? Some of it may have moved through over night I found the maggots really did work with Buffs........and very stewed apple mixed with yoghurt so it was smooth & easy to syringe & gave her some fairly good nutrients without any blocking effects. Sending you both lots of healing {{{{hugs}}}} Sha x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicken Shirl Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 Hope all is wll with you and your little hen this morning. Thinking of you. {{Hugs}} Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancing cloud Posted December 7, 2009 Author Share Posted December 7, 2009 So-so news at the moment. I took her to the vets this morning and he has given her baytril to see if it might help. Apparently I wasn't feeling in the right place and her crop isn't blocked , but he couldn't find what was wrong and she is clearly a very poorly little hen . She didn't even look at the mealworms or waxworms I bought her yesterday and by late afternoon had no interest in grapes either, so she has had no food or drink since yesterday. The vet has said if there is no improvement by this afternoon that she needs to go back and it will definitely be a one-way trip . Thank you for all your support and good wishes and please keep those wings, paws and fingers crossed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandyhas3chucks Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 the baytril often kicks in after 3 or 4 doses. (if you are lucky, fingers crossed) Perhaps you could syringe some water in carefully. I pint with tsp sugar added for energy. Might help see her through good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 I wonder if she's feeling rough from being made to be sick etc? I'd keep her inside in a warm, dark, quiet place with food and water and just let her rest for a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicken Shirl Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 I have a book on herbal remedies for chooks, and they often advise a fast for one day. I would do as Poet says and keep her inside with you in the warm with some nice food near her and see how she goes today, then see how she is in the morning after a few doses of antibiotic. They are tough little things. Thinking of you both Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancing cloud Posted December 7, 2009 Author Share Posted December 7, 2009 Sad update, Clover's gone . I came home at lunchtime and she was very barely still living, so I had to take her back to the vets to be put to sleep. I'll put a post about Clover on "chickens" as a way of celebrating her life and a very big thank you to all of you for your advice, support and good wishes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 very sad news Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicken Shirl Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 I'm so sorry. sad news indeed. {{{Hugs}}} RIP Clover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 Have locked this as another topic about Clover is running **here** Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
