The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: WoodlandsDevon on October 23, 2014, 10:39:54 pm
-
I've had a hen with quite a bad blockage in her crop, should I keep her of food?? What's the best cure?
Thanks
-
Give her 2ml of olive oil and massage the crop gently to break up the mass.
-
If the olive oil won't clear it keep her on a water only diet which you will have to administer by syringe WD. 15mL three times a day with a gentle massage after each. Hopefully it will break up and pass through. Problem is the blockage may be further down and it can take up to 4 weeks to clear, by which time they have lost half their body weight. Important they are kept moving about and not just left in a cage. We've recently successfully treated two. The blockage can start to go sour and the water controls that -letting them eat pellets makes it worse. If they are not pooing anything it can be a gizzard impaction which will be fatal. I've heard feeding them sterile live maggots will break up the impaction, but as they die in the crop I can't see that helping at all.
Have you any idea what the impaction is -grass, feathers or something else. Has she been wormed with Flubenvet recently, because the worms can be causing a blockage which has backed up to the crop. Our first case was worms with a cherry stone and the second was feathers eaten during her moult.
A BHWT vet can do a minor op to empty the crop. Done under local anaesthetic, because an inexperienced vet administering a general will kill her if she is dehydrated. Had a case of that last week on another forum.
Good luck with her. It may take a lot of time and patience and sometimes will not be successful.
-
If you administer olive oil and hold the hen's neck downwards and extended you can work the blockage back out of the beak. Do it in 30 second bursts as it will be very stressful for the bird. Once crop bound there's always a risk - I cull any bird that's had a problem of any sort and haven't seen it for some years.
-
Risky emptying a crop like that as a lump can jam and they will suffocate MF. I've been advised 15 seconds maximum, but have never tried it. I agree that birds prone should not be bred from, because I think it is inherited to some extent. We had two hens with crop issues and two of their three offspring are the same.
-
Maggots do work (unless the bird has swallowed a lego brick or something). You need the white ones, not the dyed ones, and they'll be alive in the crop for long enough to nibble on the blockage to help break it up. Just feed them a dozen or so at a time, a few times a day for several days. Gives them a nice protein boost, too. Do any massaging beforehand or you'll squash the maggots ;) They're available from tackle shops, they only cost us £1.55 for half a pint and I just take a plastic tub along.
Good luck :fc: