Omlet Smart Autodoor - New in box

[Nature Chick]

Morning

Hattie had an operation on Wednesday afternoon to empty her crop, she was perky afterwards and is in our utility room for monitoring!

She was very bright yesterday and ate some marmite yoghurt with mash and some scrambled egg. I didn't see her drink but the water has gone down.

This morning I was very disappointed to see that her crop was still full (and liquidy).

Am I expecting too much too soon?

Has anyone had a hen have this op? How soon did they improve?

This morning she is doing something strange with her neck - almost like she is trying to empty her crop - has anyone seen this before? Should I massage her crop to help it go down?

I think I read somewhere you can put a bandage around their crop to help it empty - anyone tried this?

We are going back to the vets tomorrow morning but any advice from you knowledgable people would be great!!!

Thanks

S

Edited August 17, 2010 by Guest

[Egluntyne]

I'd give the vet a ring today and describe the symptoms.

 

Marmite yoghurt?

[Nature Chick]

Marmite yoghurt?

 

Well, I have heard people say that marmite is good for hens who need a boost and that natural yoghurt is good for getting their crops back to normal so I mixed some marmite into the yoghurt - looks lovely but haven't tried it myself!

She seems to have stopped the weird neck thing........

Thanks

S

[Eggy Bread]

Margo had to have the contents of her crop surgically removed back in may. Her recovery was quite slow and I was syringing liquids into her for at least a week. I took her back to the vets a couple of times the following week as she still looked poorly. Vet prescribed a pain killer which helped a lot. We were also massaging her crop daily to help her. Main problem is once the crop has stretched it usually stays that way. She did recover fairly well but had to be pts a couple of weeks ago due to being egg bound.

[Jools]

I have experienced this, or rather one of my chooks did. Unfortunately it wasn't a happy ending. Fingers crossed yours is better.

[majuka]

How is Hattie doing this morning?

[clucky chicken]

Hi Nature Chick

 

Yes I have had experience of this - my Polly had the same operation back in March - Twice in fact! Once to empty her crop and once because the stitches didn't stay put, and the wound opened up again!

She is absolutely fine now - we went through a tense month wondering if she would be ok, but she was pretty robust and very matter of fact about the op, our problem was trying to stop her picking the stitches out! To cut a long story short she coped really well, and is still going strong today, and went back to laying eggs after a couple of weeks.

As long as you keep her seperate from any other chickens, so she doiesn't get pecked, keep her warm, and make sure she is eating and drinking well, she should recover well, you could try massaging her crop, but I'm no vet so I would just keep taking her back to the vet and ask his advice. My vets were really unhelpful actually, so we were flying blind most of the time, but we just kept a really close eye on her and she lived with us in our dining room for a month in a large dog cage. We reintroduced her slowly back into the flock and she is now top of the pecking order, none the worse for her ordeal!

 

Good luck - hope it all turns out well - if you want to chat anytime - PM me and I'll try to help

 

Regards

Lynne

[Nature Chick]

Thank you all so much for your replies - I have been decorating the house and seeing to Hattie over the weekend so I haven't checked this post.

Took Hattie back to the vets on Friday and he said that giving her yoghurt wasn't a good idea as it was too soft for the crop to deal with. So he made her sick it all up (poor Hattie!) and gave her a jab of antibiotics. He also gave us some pro-biotic powder to put in her water to help balance the crop's good bacteria etc. So she was in all morning Saturday with just grit and pellets and her special water and was very bright - so much so that we then made a little pen for her next to the other girls but put weed matting down so that she couldn't get any grass or anything she wasn't supposed to.

 

Sunday she didn't have such a good day and was a bit fluffed up and fed up but we put her back outside for some fresh air. I was really upset this morning as her crop isn't emptying over night. I did massage it gently for a few minutes and I think that helped. I am at work today so fingers crossed she is having a better day today - she certainly seemed brighter this morning. Maybe it will take a bit longer for the crop to start emptying on its own and I will have to persevere with massaging it in the evening and morning to help it along. Luckily she has left her stitches alone and the vet was really pleased how well she had healed.

 

Thanks again to all of you for your advice - we will keep at it and I will keep you posted as to our progress - I think my wobble this morning was also frustration as she has been under the weather for a month now so I have had a month of sleepless nights and 2 weeks of incorrect vet treatment under my belt - I was hoping so much that after the op she would bounce back. Well we are not giving up on her yet so we will continue with the TLC!

 

Thanks

S

[Nature Chick]

She did recover fairly well but had to be pts a couple of weeks ago due to being egg bound.

 

Hi Eggy Bread, thanks for your message and so sorry to hear about your little one *hug*.

S

[Eggy Bread]

Thanks Nature Chick, it was really tough loosing her as she was one of our original pair.

I hope Hattie gets better soon, I know Margo had good and bad days, one minute she'd be all fluffed up in a corner looking really sad but then two seconds later she'd have sprinted across the garden after some tasty looking bug!

[Nature Chick]

Hello

Very upset - I have just spoken to my husband who is at home and Hattie is looking poorly again.

He is very frustrated as over the last month we have spent about £250 on vets bills to try and save her and her crop isn't emptying. I don't suppose it is the vets fault that nothing has worked but we don't know what to do next. We just can't afford any more operations but don't know whether she is going to get better. One minute she is sprightly and clucking away - the next she is lying down all puffed up. I don't want her to suffer but I don't want to have her PTS if there is any hope.

I am feeling guilty that I have spent all that money and she isn't better and I feel guilty that I can't afford any more treatment.

[Patricia W]

Look at it this way. You've given her a good life. If she is lying down all the time, she doesn't have the normal chicken quality of life. Sometimes it's kinder to pts - its a decision many of us have to make with loved animals. Never easy, but it has to be done.

 

Tricia

[Nature Chick]

Thanks Tricia - you are right, things got on top of me today and I lost focus a bit.

 

I have come home to a message from our vet to say that he had spoken to a Chicken Vet Specialist who thinks that Hattie has 'Crop stasis' as a result of egg peritonitis which has obviously cleared up. The treatment is tablets for a week to stimulate crop movement at £4.90 a course!

Just as we were losing hope we have another chance so she has had her first tablet just now so fingers crossed this will help.

thanks again for all your support

S

[hippy chick]

That sounds like good news

[Nature Chick]

Hi

Hattie has been on the Metoclopramide since Wednesday evening and seems to have gone down hill.

She has stopped eating and drinking and although there is now no food in her crop, it is full of fluid. I have smelt her breath but it doesn't smell bad. I have read that Metoclopramide can cause depression and lethargy so hopefully she is just suffering some side effects.

Just wondering about what to tempt her with to eat. She has mash and I have put her in her box with her friends today to try and cheer her up (husband at home today to keep an eye on them). I read somewhere that if the crop isn't emptying well it isn't a good idea to give high protein food but I was thinking about getting her some white maggots today.

Does anyone know if this fluid is normal or is it likely it is the start of sour crop?! I have been giving her probiotics in her water for 5 days to try and prevent that.......

I am going to email the vet but wondered if anyone here has experienced this.

I want to empty the fluid but my OH thinks we should wait to hear from the vet.

Thanks

S

[The Dogmother]

Personally I'd leave her crop as it is, feed her some Bokashi Bran, which is impregnated with probiotics and will help her crop to empty. See if you can get hold of some Nutridrops to perk her up.

 

It may be that she has a blockage in the valve at the bottom of the crop, or even in the gizzard and it is backing up into the crop.

 

TBH if she was mine and it had reached this stage, I'd have despatched her - not being unsympathetic, just pragmatic.

 

All the best and fingers crossed that the little one recovers.

[Nature Chick]

Hi Claret

Thanks for the advice - I do have some bokashi somewhere so I will dig it out......

......to be honest we have discussed having her PTS but she is so strong and bright it has made the decision mre difficult than in previous cases - seeing her depressed last night has made us decide that Sunday night we shall decide her fate. I have just heard from my husband that she is enjoying being back with her friends so at least her last few days will be spent in company if she doesn't recover.

TBH I have been searching the threads and it sounds like even if she does recover this could be a recurring problem and I wouldn't want her (or me) to go through all of this again. Lets hope the sun comes out so that she can sunbathe with her friends this weekend.

Thanks again

S

[angel 0406]

sorry to hear about your chicko my black rock rocky had this operation april just gone but sadly didnt make it i tried every thing but she got an infection after surgery if she dosent pick up just think of what a good life shes had with you

 

hope she picks up for you xx

[Nature Chick]

Hi everyone

I thought I would update you all on Hattie as you have all been so kind and helpful.

She perked up a bit once we put her back with her friends but on Saturday evening looked thoroughly miserable so we decided that on Monday we would say goodbye.

However, on Sunday we cleaned them out and moved them onto a fresh piece of grass and she got out into the garden with Mildred and started digging up an ants nest - she was still a bit slow but it was so nice to see her interested in things.

On Monday morning when I let them out I checked her crop and it was EMPTY!!!!!!

She was really bright and ran straight to the feeders and started clucking away at the pellets that were in there. When we got home from work she was still really bright - not fluffed up at all and tail bolt upright.

We are still cautious but I was over the moon this morning to find that her crop was empty again this morning! She barged out of the eglu first and once again started eating with gusto!

We are so pleased and just hope that she continues to do this well when her tablets stop tomorrow night but things are looking up and we have a very happy (but very thin) chicken!

Presuming that she continues to make good progress can anyone reccommend any food to help her gain weight or should we keep to pellets for the time being?

Obviously there may be a long term weakness and I have heard from other people that if they get egg peritonitis again it can cause crop problems again but we will cross that bridge if and when we get to it. For now though we are very happy

 

Thanks again for all your support

S

x

[MedusA]

That's really positive news about Hattie, Nature Chick.

 

I have been following this thread with interest as I also have a hen with crop problems. Ido hope Hattie continues to improve.

[clucky chicken]

Really brilliant news - so glad she's getting better - when Polly was recovering, we gave her mash porridge mixed with natural yogurt and sprinkled with a little avipro every morning for the first month - she loved it, and couldn't wait to get out of the box each morning for her treat - keep us updated on further good news! Well done you for sticking with it!

[The Dogmother]

That's fabulous news!

 

I'd normally recommend switching a recuperating hen to growers feed for a couple of weeks, but if she's with the others, then this won't be possible.

 

A good quality poultry tonic in the water will do all of them a power of good. Lots of people swear by Nutri Drops for boosting poorly hens.

[Nature Chick]

Thanks again for the advice!

I ordered some Nutri-drops yesterday so hopefully will have them tomorrow!

I can get small quantities of growers pellets from my local farm suppliers so may get a few and feed her separately although I think she is fed up with the fuss!

Thanks again

S

x

[scarlettohara]

I'm so pleased for you (only just read this) and fingers crossed she continues to do well

[hippy chick]

That's good news