[Mel]

Hi Everyone 

The chicken with the worst scaly legs in my other post also had the worst impacted crop I have ever seen,below are pictures of this poor girl and also a picture of the crop contents after operation.

This took us around an hour,the incision had to be an inch or so to get the contents out,the weight of the contents was 260 Grams!! what you see is in a half dozen fibre egg box bottom!

I think the people whom have these hens and look after them like this,should be exterminated!!

Hopefully she shall recover,shall keep you all updated!

[Miss Piggy]

Well done, I have never seen an impacted crop, let alone one like that. You must have saved it's life. Obviously neglected and not feed properly. Thank goodness you rescued them. The previous owner needs a  visit from the RSPCA. 

[Mel]

I am a member and am reporting the matter to it's fullest extent.I hope no one else has the same problem.she seems to be doing ok,sitting by the front door almost bolt upright-I suppose she is not used to feeling so light at the front poor girl. 

[doganjo]

As a matter of interest, how did you operate on here - no anaesthetic I presume, and did you stitch it back up afterwards?

[Mel]

I had rubbed it with alcohol and made a one inch incision to the centre of the crop.I had to get a finger in to get behind this due to being so matted,pulling with tweezers was taking a very long time.Once I had all of the contents out,I then flushed with saline and put a fine line of superglue down the incision and held it together. using this method as per another site,I have to refrain from feeding or water for 18 hours.

After this time,I can give water and soft food for a few days or so until she is completely healed

[Rosemary]

Obviously neglected and not feed properly.

I think that's a bit of a sweeping statement if it refers to an impacted crop  We've had two recently and our hens are neither neglected or not fed properly.

Both are fine now, fortunately without any surgical intervention.

[Mel]

Unfortunately this is true,you can't stop a hen from eating feathers and other things,though I must admit I do not normally have the problem,sour yes and only sometimes,the waste in this ones crop is rather unusual,I have just had another look at it,I am still amazed that all of this was in her!

By the way,she is up and walking around this morning,I shall be giving her some well mashed egg and soft treats at 10am.She kept me awake last night from lots of gurgling and spluttering but has stopped now,the incision has clotted on the outside,she seems ok so fingers crossed 

[Miss Piggy]

Hi, I acknowledge it may appear to be a sweeping statement but it was not intended as such. I was just referring to this particular poor hen which had obviously had  its scaly leg problem and its impacted crop problem neglected and the contents of the crop suggests it may have been short of healthy available food as there was an incredible amount of fibrous unhealthy looking matter in it. I recognise scaly leg mite and impacted crop is something any hen can develop but a good poultry keeper identifies early any problem and treats promptly. I have had poultry develop scaly leg mite but as yet fingers crossed have not had an impacted crop but recognise it is as something I need to be prepared for. 

[ellisr]

I got a cockeral from the RSPCA a couple of years ago with really bad scaly leg but I decided to take him and quarintine until it was clear as they didn't seem to be making any progress with him. It took 6 weeks of intensive therapy but I got him clear and back to a nice condition.

[littlelugs]

can i ask a question,
i had a chicken with an impacted crop and i spoke to my local vet regarding the operation to remove the impaction, he seemed amazed that non vetinary people were carrying out this operation and stated that he was pretty sure it is actually illegal for a person who is not a registered vet to perform this kind of procedure in the uk?
i am very confused as i was sure i had heard of this being carried out in the uk by ordinary smallholders/ poultry keepers. i no longer have the chicken but could someone clarify the uk law as it stands on this as i don't want to fall foul of an legalities should this ever crop up again (excuse the pun)
thanks

[Mel]

To be honest,I have no idea,there again,if you are competent enough surely you are not going to your local vets and broadcasting what you have done.Trouble is,the majority of smallholders and farmers cannot even begin to warrant the cost of taking a hen to a vet-it is costly and non productive and normally the hen would be culled.

You treat for scaly leg,you look after all of your animals,that is your responsibility,Now if it were say a pig-I would not even contemplate the matter,Chickens are very hardy especially when the all tend to bicker on a night and peck holes in each other.That is their nature. 

I had one chicken last year,she had got into the farm next door and tore her neck open-huge it were!I sewed it back up,the vet would charge £50.00 or more which is absolutely ridiculous.

I would also like to point out,that I have yet to see Any vet driving about in an old beat up crate like I do,they all have nice vehicles-That is because they are indeed Very Rich!Locally to me,they have Porsche's and large 4x4 which cost 60K..Then he probably would seem amazed-that nobody paid him to do it.

Just out of interest,how much did he quote you!

I also have to add that as a smallholder,it is Me whom makes the decisions regards all the flocks,I evaluate and I am my own GP.I medicate the animals,I look after them.This is part and parcel of becoming a smallholder-it is a learning curve for all of us,and is one of the reasons People like Dan make such a wonderful site so we can all share experiences.

There are a lot of long time keepers on this forum-I would sooner take their word than go to any vet 

[Penninehillbilly]

I had a buff orpington, the cockerel must have ripped her side open, under her wing, by the time I saw her, she'd been dust bathing, a huge 'pocket' was filled with soil, Over a couple of days I kept it washed out, (just boiled, cooled water), pulled the skin back in place (probably sprayed it with something), and hoped for the best, amazingly it never seemed to bother her, I eventually sold her with her sister, she's still doing well.
If something similar happened to a human, (not regarding the cockerel) can you imagine the trauma and hospital visits?