[chook mother]

helllo,
 I am new to this forum, have had my 3 girls since September all are laying well but one has developed an impacted crop, she has seen the vet who kept her in overnight and gave her liqiud parafin and some drug which I cant remember the name of,I brought her home yesterday afternoon she seems very hungry but her crop is full again the  as she is so bright in herself the vet is reluctant to operate straight away hoping that the problem will resolve itself not wanting to put the chicken through the stress of an operation, as she seems very hungry what do you suggest I feed her that is sloppy so that she may be able to digest it, I will speak to the vet again tomorrow I have given her live yogurt and chopped tomatoes and a little mash mixed with yogurt and warm water. Any advice would be appreciated as she is a lovely friendly chicken.

[joyfull]

is it just full of food or is it impacted again? It should feel full in the evening and empty in the morning. Oh and hello and welcome 

[chook mother]

It  had some food in it this morning and has just got harder and harder during the day she seems very hungry and I am worried that not enough food is getting through her droppings were normalish first thing but have got watery.

[dizzylizzie]

Hi, and welcome. Crops are supposed to fill up as the day wears on. The more they have in it, the harder it feels, however if the crop is inpacted you need to give the hen a very small amount of oil via a syringe (bout 5ml) then massage her crop gently to break up and soften what ever is in there. Hope fully by the morning it will be empty, or nearly empty. Has she had anything to eat today?, do they have access to food overnight? Do they have access to grit? What do you think has caused the problem(mine had eaten string) some hens get it from eating staw/hay/long grass. Im my experiance of a crop problem , the bird has not wanted to feed and really isnt vey bright, which is why im wondering if she still has problems with it. You know her best, try her with the olive oil and massage and see how she is in the morning

[wildwitchy]

Get some white maggotts from a fishing shop- they eat the rubbish in her crop.

[chook mother]

Thanks for your advice, I have tried oil and massage , then when that didnt work I took her to the vet who gave her liquid parrafin, She has also had maggots and live yogurt, she seems ravenously hungry and was wormed about 2 weeks ago, the vet said it wasnt a typical crop impaction as she seems so bright she has been seen eating thin pieces of her staw bedding so is now on shavings, I am really worried that she is starving to death,I will check her at 7.30 when I let them out.

[chook mother]

Have just let chickens out, Marans crop is still full not solid but very full she isnt interested much in the warm mash I put out but did eat mashed banana and milk, she had done some droppings in the night but there was a big very wet patch under the perch, I am so worried about her but she still seems very bright? Please does anyone have any suggestions , I am going to ring the vet again later but they seem reluctant to operate as she is so perky and prefer to do it as a last resort because of the risk with the anaesthetic

[dizzylizzie]

Hi, try with a little warm olive oil again. Sqwirt it carefully into her beak using a syringe, and massage her crop firmly but gently for a good few mins.If the worst comes to the worst and you decide to operate, try not to worry, lots of chickens have had this done and come through the other end ...

[chook mother]

Thanks for the advice, she has eaten some porrage which was quite sloppy and so its easier to massage her crop as its softer  now she has also eaten some tomatoe chopped small and with the skin taken off her dropping look like she has not had enough to eat after looking at the poo pictures but she is happily scratching around in the sunshine their run is bark chippings so no access at the moment to any long grass.I feel a little better about her now. Fingers crossed.

[beulah59]

I would recommend the maggots .... feed her some twice a day for up to two weeks and the impaction will slowly break down. I'm having to force feed them to one of my hens just now ... the only one who doesn't actually like maggots  ... using some tweezers. It's been a week now and the impaction is much smaller.

Most hens love maggots ... and they are so much cheaper than mealworms!

[chook mother]

I had started to feed maggots but my vet thought they would do more harm than good? now confused!

[wildwitchy]

If you go to a fishing shop & ask for a pint of maggots the white sort only in a week of giving your girl she will be better.

If you keep maggotts in the fridge they dont move around so much.

If you think about what chickens eat in the wild - they eat worms, bugs,grubs,slugs. What difference is maggotts? The white ones are sterilised I was told by the fishing shop man.

[beulah59]

I had to use red! It's all he had ... but it seems to have done the job and the other hens love them too 

[chook mother]

Thanks for the help with the maggots its not something I am used to dealing with, will get some more tomorrow.

[wildwitchy]

Be brave, I used to petrifed of maggotts from a child right up untill I had to buy them for the girls. I don't touch them, just put them in a bowl & put it down for them! They're still horrible things! lol.