tinkkletoes Posted October 3, 2015 Share Posted October 3, 2015 morning all. my Black rock (3 years) who loves her food who now has had a pendulum crop for about a year & i have just about managed to keep under control, has finally managed to come a cropper to her over eating. a couple of nights ago she managed to rip open her crop just before bed time & just after the vets had closed !! so a trip to the emergency vets, full empty of Crop & stitched up. next day normal vets for full check & antibiotics.. so far so good. she now has a plastic cone around her head to stop picking at the stitches & only has been fed raw egg, chopped up melon & under vets advice mashed up pellets in water. & kept away from others. got her out this morning to hand feed & i notice that the crop is getting bigger fast even thou i am keeping the portions small. am i on a hiding to nothing in trying to make her better as she;s a greedy lady & loves her food. hence the problem we are now in. & i know we could be heading fast back to split stitches or just the crop giving way & splitting , impacted or sour crop . Has anyone had a favourable outcome of this situation. what makes it all so hard is she is still a very happy, lively lady & very bright eyed & perky. i don't want to put her down if i can help it, Can anyone help ??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beantree Posted October 3, 2015 Share Posted October 3, 2015 Presumably her poos are normal Tinkkletoes and the distended crop is not a result of a digestive impaction? I've heard of several hens having ops to remove solid stuff in the crop but have never heard of one splitting on its own. We have some really piggy birds as well (TNN's) and several times I have seen crops that looked as though they will split, but none ever have. Three years old is a good age for a Black Rock; none of ours made it that far as all succumbed to peritonitis. I can't see why she won't recover IF you can control her eating. Could it be she has a worm burden or poor digestive flora and she is eating so much to get the nutrients she needs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinkkletoes Posted October 3, 2015 Author Share Posted October 3, 2015 yes her Poo's are quite normal, with no runny bits.. my main concern is her appetite, and how i stop her over eating as she loves all her food.. i was treating her for impacted crop but didn't get to sort before she cut herself. i think she cut her crop because she has a high stepping action with her claws coming under her crop as she steps. never seem it in any other hens I've had. i was in the middle of worming all the girls so i believe worms were ok but as to her flora i think OK. just a very greedy girl with a stretched crop. at the moment she's in a cot in the garage being feed every couple of hours so i can make sure she doesn't over eat. even having a plastic cone on her is not stopping her wolf down the food. i just don't know how i'm going to stop her when she goes back in with the others. currently designing a crop bra / bib to hold crop up so i hope it empties and not give her more problems. what do you think about a bumper bit to slow her down ???? she's still got a lot a life left in her and only a couple of weeks ago she was laying eggs.. she's still very bright eyed & bushy tailed in all actions..... but i know this is her last chance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beantree Posted October 4, 2015 Share Posted October 4, 2015 The important thing is that she empties her crop overnight. I wouldn't feed her anything until her crop is completely empty, so just make water available. If she has food in her crop she doesn't need to eat. I wouldn't advise a Bumpa bit as it won't slow her down eating from a feeder at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted October 4, 2015 Share Posted October 4, 2015 Presumably her poos are normal Tinkletoes and the distended crop is not a result of a digestive impaction? That was my first concern on reading this thread. I would keep her on very little solid food at the moment, give her a small amount, and no more until her crop has emptied. Supplement this by adding some poultry tonic to the pellet mash, and keep her on strict rations. I have seen greedy hens practically eat themselves to death before; it's almost an obsession. I suggest that you keep her in a crate, in the run with restricted food and water until her crop is healed and her intake under control. Watch her closely when you let her back in the run to see if her appetite has been 're-programmed'. It may be that this never happens, but hopefully it may just mean that you take their food out after, say, 3pm and keep an eye on her crop to make sure that it is emptying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinkkletoes Posted October 5, 2015 Author Share Posted October 5, 2015 well she's still very alert & on watery mashed pellets with vitamin drops added and not a lot is given just a smallish amount in the morning & evening. her crop is still very loose, as not the greatest surgery was done her so doesn't always looks like it empties. the skin still stretches. she's very hungry as she downs the food quite fast. thou i do hand feed to try to slow the gulping down. her poo's are quite solid and about the right amount for intake. she is currently in a child's cot away from the others. as you say hopefully this will re-boot her thoughts on being a greedy girl, but i dont think it will. i know she's still not out of the woods, but i'm not giving up on her Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinkkletoes Posted October 18, 2015 Author Share Posted October 18, 2015 Update. Well Jessica my Black Rock is doing well. she got a check up at the Vets the next day & to stop her her picking at her stitches she had a plastic collar fitted, she was totally un-impressed. kept it on for 2 weeks & she spent most of the time trying to back out of it & i did feed her by hand to get her to eat a little at a time. to keep her in solitary she's been kept in the garage in a baby cot. hows that for up-cycling. i am now re-integrating her back into the flock in the afternoons after i know the rest have laid. i have made a tunic to put on her to keep her crop high so she doesn't over feed. ( well that's the idea) i'm hoping all this restricted food availability has made her not want to over eat & her stomach has shrunk. i do have pic's but i cant find how to put on this post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted October 18, 2015 Share Posted October 18, 2015 That's good news, fingers crossed that she is retrained into eating less. You will find instructions to post photos in the FAQ section of the forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
