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Hi

I've a poorly hen and would be grateful for some advice, please. The silly thing ate something about a week ago and it seems to have blocked her crop, which is now VERY distended. I've been giving her 5mls of olive oil each day as suggested in my Katie Thear book, in the hope that would help the obstruction to slip down but it is not working. I've massaged the crop (lots!). I've managed to get her to regurgitate a bit but she has only brought up liquid. She is very thin and has little energy, which is not very surprising, really. I've put her in a little run beside the big run with the others in and given her a little bit of yoghurt which I hoped might slip past the obstruction and give her a little bit of nourishment.

She is a Hebden Black that I got at the beginning of June at point of lay so she is still young. Her comb is still pretty red and fairly upright.

Any ideas, please?

Thanks

Jo

Jo wrote:Hi

I've a poorly hen and would be grateful for some advice, please. The silly thing ate something about a week ago and it seems to have blocked her crop, which is now VERY distended. I've been giving her 5mls of olive oil each day as suggested in my Katie Thear book, in the hope that would help the obstruction to slip down but it is not working. I've massaged the crop (lots!). I've managed to get her to regurgitate a bit but she has only brought up liquid. She is very thin and has little energy, which is not very surprising, really. I've put her in a little run beside the big run with the others in and given her a little bit of yoghurt which I hoped might slip past the obstruction and give her a little bit of nourishment.

She is a Hebden Black that I got at the beginning of June at point of lay so she is still young. Her comb is still pretty red and fairly upright.

Any ideas, please?

Thanks

Jo

That's about it, unless you want to pay a vet to open her crop up and remove the obstruction. Not cheap, there's a high risk of infection and the shock of the operation can kill the chicken.

Foodwise, she'll be needing soft, high-nturient food so layer's pellets made into mash with warm water should be fine.

Live yoghurt is the treatment for sour crop (a fungal infection). If the crop is distended but squishy and the chicken's breath stinks, then suspect sour crop instead of impaction. Two teaspoons a day (either the chicken eating it itself or a syringe) should do the job over a few days. If no improvement, over to the vet.

I've heard of people flushing the crop using baking powder and water syringed into the crop, but haven't tried this or seen it done.

Personally, I've managed to massage free impacted crops three times and with a fourth, I dispatched her after three days as her crop remained impacted.

Thanks, Stonehead.

Jo