Bird not eating with very full crop

You did the best you could with the information that you had chickenfan and you certainly shouldn't beat yourself up over your decision, it should be the case that taking a bird to the vets provides the best chance of survival and it is unfortunate that this isn't always the case, I'm sure as vets gain more experience of treating common chicken ailments this will improve. As Chris has said there is a good chance that your chicken wouldn't have made it either way. Just a quick addition about the water, if you don't want to syringe directly I always find a good way of getting a bird to take water is simply to dip the beak into some water, (not as high as the nostrils obviously) and wait until they swallow and in this way you can often get them to drink themselves.
 
I agree - syringing is potentially very dangerous as if the water goes down the wrong way the bird hasn't got the mechanism for coughing it up, so it can cause pneumonia. Yes it can be done - and may sometimes be necessary - but only in tiny quantities at a time, and well back in the bird's beak.
 
Thank you all for teaching me more about how to cope with this if it ever happened in future. I was getting on quite well with her lapping up yogurt mixed with olive oil, and she was drinking a lot of water with apple cider vinegar even without encouragement. I think I could have got her better as the weight loss seemed to be due to her not eating for a couple of days and she wasn't emaciated. There is so much to learn about poultry isn't there, especially when one can't turn to a vet. I'm immensely grateful to this forum and to the generous people who offer so much advice.
 
I think the main thing to learn, perhaps, is how to do your best to prevent it happening again - no access to long grass or anything that might block the crop, regular worming with Flubenvet, mixed grit always available, and a good plain diet, mainly layers pellets and suitable greens with a very small sprinkle of mixed corn between them all. Then, if on this regime your hens live to a ripe old age, a swift and merciful despatch if they go down with basically incurable conditions such as blockages, prolapse or suspected peritonitis, rather than drawing out their suffering with expensive and useless visits to the vet, or protracted home attempts to make them better. Sad, but I've decided to call time on any of mine that succumb. Trouble is, they just seem to keep going, long after I wish they would pack it in so I could get some more young ones instead of these pensioners!
 
Marigold!!!, I hope they aren't reading this on their wing held devices or you will be in for it.
 
I think the cause is the Fancy Feed mixed corn which has large bits of maize. I now have another three year old bird with impacted crop. This one has been wormed. She's not had any long grass. Its not quite such a large mass as the first bird, but is similar. It was warm and hard but after water, coconut milk yogurt (which doesn't go off easily), oil and massaging is a bit softer, but keeps the shape of what I put it into, a bit like playdough. In this bird I can also feel something a bit larger (about 1.5 cms across). For how long and how often should one massage? Is there a special technique? She is a lovely bird and is still bright and lively in herself.
 
What sort of grit are you giving them? Is it the special flint grit kind for chickens, or is it Flint mixed with oystershell, or is it just plain oystershell? The oystershell is just a calcium supplement and dissolves as they digest it, whereas the grit grinds up food in the gizzard. If they weren't having access to that, or if you were relying on them picking up enough suitable bits of gravel etc from the garden, they might be getting dugestive problems.
 
They are having 'mixed grit' which is gravelly stuff plus shells so I've ordered some flint.
 
I've also tried ordering some white maggots as these are supposed to chomp through whatever is in the crop.
 
I have today contacted the very kind British Hen Welfare Trust Vet (BHWT) about Grace, my second bird with impacted crop. She operates regularly for this under local anaesthetic, and says it is a minor procedure that they normally tolerate well, and is well-worth doing as birds recover much better. The crop skin is given local anaesthetic injection, she then makes a small hole to remove the blockage and flush out the crop. The bird can't feel anything so its only a bit difficult if the bird is fiesty and doesn't like being handled. She says giving a bird general anaesthetic for impacted crop is extremely dangerous as the bird is already dehydrated. This is why they drink so much when they have an impacted crop as the water is just not getting through (Grace certainly is drinking masses). The bird does best when operated on fairly soon, but I can't go until tomorrow. I can feel something like feathers, as well as a lump in her crop, and although she is passing a little bit of droppings, I'm not sure this is going to resolve naturally.
 
Our second hen with impaction hasn't cleared it Chickenfan. It's 5 weeks now and she still has the lump, although it is now about the size of a walnut -sure it is feathers. Her digestive system has cleared, so she is pooing normal size, but we are still giving her extra water to stop sour crop and keep her digestive system 'free'.

If you think it is feathers I'd go for the minor operation. Clearly the last vet was inexperienced. I have heard excellent reports of BHWT vets -after all treating chickens is what they do constantly.

Our first was grass impaction which we managed to clear. We are now trying Avipro Plus to see if the probiotics will attack the feathers in her crop as an operation her is completely impossible. The French don't treat sick chickens, they just go in the pot for the dog!
 
Hi Chris, It sounds as though you are giving wonderful care to your birds. I can't believe they could keep going 5 weeks with an impacted crop. I hope she manages to resolve it. I haven't heard of Avipro Plus which sounds good. I am taking Grace to BHWT Vet tomorrow.
 
Grace has had her op with the BHWT Vet. Its a 5-10 minute op and she has three stitches. Apparently she never became unrelaxed through the whole procedure and was even pecking at the thread they stitched her up with. Her crop was full of tangled grass (not particularly long) as well as a big lump she had managed to swallow. Vet has done hundreds of these operations and none of the chickens has ever gone on to develop Mareks. It can sometimes happen again if they have had it once. She was pretty horrified about the mess my small animal vet had made of the first hen. They should never be given gen anaesthetic for impacted crop because of the dehydration issues and any gen anaesthetic is risky for a bird.

Can you get undyed maggots, Chris? I shall certainly try this in future, should it recur in spite of flint grit. Apparently the dyed maggots are toxic to chickens and one needs to get white or pink (infant) ones. It would be a simple solution if it works.
 
Glad you have found a vet with chicken experience and it has all turned out well, you know I had never thought to look on the BHWT site for a list of vets used to dealing with chickens, good thinking :-)17
 
just ask for white (un-dyed) maggots Chickenfan. But make sure they are sterile, that is not fed on rotten meat, because otherwise that carries the risk of Botulism. I thought the coloured maggots just coloured the eggs- so blue, green and red yolks- ugh!!!

Hope Gace is fine. Sounds like she is in good hands and has best chance possible. What Mareks has to do with an impacted crop is a complete mystery to me. One is a virus? and one is a physical condition.
 
Thankyou Chris and Donosaw. So you haven't found maggots to be a cure for impacted crop, Chris? Apparently Mareks can cause digestive motility. Grace is bright and happy but is still drinking and excreting huge quantities of water so vet has suggested intensive probiotics to get her system back to normal.
 
We used to give maggots as a treat during the moult and didn't get any impactions -co-incidence I think. The theory is that they are alive in the crop and the movement breaks it up. But if you watch carefully most chickens will kill the maggot first, then swallow it. They only usually swallow them alive in a flock scrabble, or if they are piggy Orpingtons. How long they live for in the crop is a guess, but I would expect them to be smothered and die quickly.

We have one with watery poo because she isn't eating pellets. We've tried yoghurt and now we are awaiting delivery of Avipro Plus. We have fed her, but she won't eat on her own, just drinks -except tree grubs, hanging cabbage and grain. She had sour crop which is sorted. Before that she was broody but got shocked out of it by a thunderstorm. Since that shock she won't eat pellets.
 
Poor old girl getting out of her routine from a thunderstorm! I'm wondering about Avipro plus. It seems to be a probiotic/vitamin supplement for reptiles? Do you think they are different probiotics from human ones? You have obviously found it very good?
 
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