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|  | Impacted Crop
« Thread Started on Jul 11, 2005, 10:27am » | |
These threads consists of information on
1. Impacted Crop
2. Sour Crop
3. Thrush
4. Pendulous Crop
5. Canker that causes Sour Crop
6. Picture of where the crop is located on a bird
7. Picture of what a crop tube looks like
8. Picture of how to insert a crop tube
To help you get to where you need to go easier this is the Number post that the information is located on
Page 1
#0 - Impacted or Sour Crop Information
#1 - Crop Bound hens or also known as Impacted Crop
#2 - First treatment - Day one for thread #1
#3 - Copper Sulfate Medication - How to make up - This is for Sour Crop or Canker outbreaks, can also be used as a preventative
#4 - Operating on the bird - Page 1 of 2 - This is for an Impacted Crop, when the bird is unable to expel the impaction or it has become too large to be expelled
Page 2
#5 - Operating on a bird - Page 2 of 2
#6 - Thrush, also known as Sour Crop - information
#7 - Thrush, also known as Sour Crop - more information
#8 - Sour Crop & Canker Infomation
#9 - Copper Sulfate medication / How to make it up - Treats Sour Crop and Canker outbreaks and also used as a preventative
Page 3
#10 - Picture of - Where the crop is located on a chicken
#10 - Picture of - What a crop tube looks like
#10 - Picture of - How to insert a crop tube into a bird
All of these things are inter related, they are not the same but they may look the same when your bird displays sysmptoms... it has all been put into one thread so you can assess which problem your bird has by the symptoms being diplayed
Treatments are also given here
Some other names these ailaments go by are
Candida Albicans, Crop Mycosis, Muguet, Oidica, Candidiiasis, Oidiomycosis, Stomatitis
*******
Impacted or Sour crop Forum information
· Posted by: Velvet_Sparrow (My Page) on Wed, Jun 23, 04 at 20:54
If it IS an impacted crop and not what is called "sour crop" in which the bird has gotten a hold of moldy or bad food, here are some suggestions--I got this info off of another chicken forum I am a member of, hope it helps:
Impacted Crop
By Alan Stanford, Ph.D.
Brown Egg Blue Egg
I Relied Upon Glenda L Heywood National Poultry News and
the The Chicken Health Handbook by Gail Damerow
Copied with Alan's permission From:
http://www.browneggblueegg.com/ImpactedCrop.html
Impacted crops are not caused by your birds needing more grit.
Grit is indeed necessary for birds that eat other than commercial feed; they need grit when they eat scratch grains, greens, and when they free range.
Birds use grit in their gizzards to grind food; but the gizzard is far "downstream" from the crop.
The crop is a kind of foyer into which all the food packs before moving into the digestive system.
Things that cause impacted crops are anything a bird eats that is too big to move into the digestive system.
Some of these too big things are whole grain (especially for small birds), grapes, and greens.
When free ranging birds eat greens they rip off small pieces and these pieces pass freely out of the crop.
One way I caused impacted crops in our flock was letting the flock out on once long, freshly mown grass.
They have no problem with long unmown grass because they can rip off little pieces.
Long strands of fresh cut grass pile up in the gizzard and can't get out.
You need to flush and empty an impacted crop.
You can use an eyedropper, a syringe without a needle, or a child’s ear syringe.
Be sure to put the dropper or syringe all the way back in the bird’s mouth.
There is a hole at the base of the tongue that leads to the bird’s lungs.
You must be way past that or you will damage your bird, actually you will drown her as the liquid will go into her lungs instead of her crop.
First Treatment
You can start by putting an eyedropper full of vegetable oil into the crop and then massaging the crop.
This will soften the impaction.
Put the dropper all the way back in the bird's mouth and slowly push out the oil. Any vegetable oil is good: olive oil, corn oil, or canola oil.
Mix
1/2-cup baking soda
1 pint of warm water
Fill the syringe and insert it as far as you can into the mouth of the chicken.
If you can get hold of some soft plastic tube to put on the end of the syringe to insert that into the crop it would be a lot better for your bird and for you when you put the liquid into her.. .I use the plastic (15 cm long) they use on coat hangers on the hook part from a craft shop
Have someone hold the bird upright in front of you.
Slowly and very gently fill the crop, do not over fill and get liquid into that hole at the base of the tongue.
Gently press up under the chicken’s breast and slide your hand up to the crop. This makes the bird open its mouth and the impacted mess will come out the bird's mouth. Push the contents up and out of the crop and out of the mouth.
You can face the bird toward the ground to help empty the crop.
Repeat this gentle stroking pressure until nothing comes up.
If there the crop is not empty, flush it again until it is empty.
Once the crop is empty, give another dropper of oil.
Coop the bird away from other birds so it can rest.
Provide about a cup of water with 1 teaspoon Terramycin dissolved in it.
Give no feed.
Second Day
If the bird is droopy on the next day, put molasses in the bird’s water for about four hours (1/4 cup per gallon of water). (half a teaspoon for a litre of water)
Remove the molasses water after four hours and give the bird fresh Terramycin water.
The molasses water will flush soured food from the bird’s digestive system.
Follow Up Treatment
If the crop impacts again, repeat the flush.
Continue the Terramycin for 7 days to avoid secondary infection.
After 24 hours, give only soft food for a week or so.
This lets the inflamed and irritated crop recover and prevents another impaction.
The soft diet can include crumbles and chopped hard-boiled or microwaved eggs. You can feed bread if it is soaked in milk or buttermilk.
Buttermilk is especially good because active culture buttermilk has good bacteria in it that help the bird’s digestion.
Be sure to also give the bird some beneficial bacteria.
They keep digestion going correctly and fight disease by crowding out disease bacteria.
You can just mix 1-2 teaspoons per bird of ACTIVE culture yogurt with a small amount of food and give this as the only food until they eat it. You can also buy lactobacillus at health food stores, pharmacies, Wal-Mart, and Lake's Unlimited 800-634-2473.
Give no grains, no large pellets, ONLY soaked bread, and no grass or greens because these can cause another impaction.
Feed only things that almost fall apart when wet.
Tins of baby apple puree is also good
Glenda Heywood likes to feed this for the week
1 slice wheat bread
1/2-cup buttermilk
3 tablespoons active culture yoghurt with no artificial sweetener
Baby food (or unsweetened) `apple sauce (as Barb recommends below).
Adding oil to the food will help avoid another impaction. Cod liver or wheat germ oil are good because they provide vitamins A, D, and E. Only add about 2% of the feed’s weight.
Adding oil to the food will help avoid another impaction.
Cod liver or wheat germ oils are good because they provide vitamins A, D, and E.
Only add about 2% of the feed’s weight.
Only about a teaspoon for one bird is enough… too much can overdose and be harmful
Barb Silcott's Preventative and Followup Treatment
"If you have a bird that continually comes up with an impacted crop, once you've emptied the crop and start making your soft feed for it, add some baby food type applesauce. (Unsweetened regular applesauce should be as good.) The applesauce helps get the crop emptied a little quicker and is also acidic which helps with the bacteria problem."
"This works for sour crop, too. In fact, when we're hand-feeding parrots, we always add some baby food applesauce to the formula to prevent sour crop. Works great! With all the parrots I've hand-fed over the years, I've never had a case of sour crop. I specify baby food applesauce because it doesn't have any added sugar which just aggravates the problems."
Crop Problems and Pendulous Crop
· Posted by: Velvet_Sparrow (My Page) on Wed, Jun 23, 04 at 20:57
If the bird has a problem with what is called "pendulous crop", in which the crop appears engorged and is hanging out from the birds' body like a baseball this might help also. The info below I also copied from the other chicken site so it includes one person's personal anecdote:
Pendulous crop sometimes results from impacted crop but sometimes it's
spontaneous or from a fungal infection. When the food can't pass
through the crop, it gets more and more full. Eventually the crop loses a lot
of muscle tone and it won't push the food through the gizzard. If not
caught, the bird will just starve to death. It's really hard to keep a
bird alive after developing this.
If you catch it early on, it can possibly be treated with anti-fungal
agents or freeing the impaction. There is a surgical treatment for more
advanced cases but 1) it's extremely difficult to find someone who
knows how to do this; 2) it's VERY expensive to have it done; and 3) it
only is effective in about 50% of cases.
I lost our first one, Amazon, after an incredible fight but I didn't
know what was wrong for so long. It was my inexperience that killed him
really. Puff has it too. I massage his crop every day for half an hour
to make sure some food is going through. You have to make sure the crop
empties. He has fast days so I can monitor that the crop is actually
functioning. An alternative to fast days is to milk the crop... squeeze
it and make it all come up out his mouth, it being a little dangerous
that they will aspirate the stuff... or empty it with a tube and syringe.
You'd not believe how nasty the stuff is in there! I was syringing...
but I find fast days are easier on both of us!!!
He's a little underweight but he's happy and has normal stools. I give
him only softened foods and monitor how much he's eating so the crop
never gets over extended more than it is. He's a major sweetie pie and
tolerates everything I have to do to him so well.
It is also possibly genetic and you shouldn't let birds who have it
breed. Studies are being done on it. It's a lot more common in waterfowl
than in poultry but you do see it in poultry and in other avians as
well.
RE: clogged crop?
· Posted by: iloveroosters zone4-5, NH (My Page) on Fri, Jun 25, 04 at 11:20
Thanks for the suggestions. Now she's thinking it could be a sour crop. She thought the chicken was better the other day, now she's acting sick again.
Picture of how to insert a crop tube
click here
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| | Re: Impacted Crop
« Reply #1 on Jul 11, 2005, 10:37am » | |
Crop bound hens
This is a very common disorder
The bird’s crop becomes packed with long fibres of dry grass and course feed, which forms into a round mass that can not leave the crop
Worst thing you can do for them if you are... it clogs up their crops.. when the hens eat grass themselves they peck and rip off small bits... but cut grass they gobble up a whole strand and it tends to tangle in grains or something or criss cross across the opening to the gizzard casuing a crop impaction
In theory, you can remove the mass by cutting open the crop, but it may not heal and you will have to cull the bird
A simpler method is to dose the bird with warm olive oil and massage the crop, or squeeze it, in the hope that the food will be regurgitated
A suffering bird can also be fed wet, soggy mash until it recovers (once you remove the obstruction)
A crop bound bird can starve to death unless treated
Do not be too hasty in judging a large baggy crop to be crop bound
Hens are big eaters and their crops should be quite full
Be sure to provide plenty of hard grit so that the feed can be ground up in the gizzard
Poultry swallow small stones to help them to digest their food, sometimes they eat one that is a little bit too large to go through the digestive tract, and it stays in the crop, it causes the crop to distend as it blocks the passage of food until it is moved by the chicken moving around
Sometimes they get a small pit of something that shouldn’t be in the crop obstructing the outlet to the gizzard, this could be a bit of string and grass has twined around it, it could be plastic, it could be anything
As I said hens eat small rock to help them chew up their good in their gizzard.. sometimes they eat one that is just too large to pass through the crop opening into the gizzard and it blocks them up... this can cause a condition called Pendulous crop or crop impaction if grasses wrap around the rock while in the crop
Sometimes this wrapping effect is by a grain of wheat and grasses wrapping around and around and around... I have remove one such mass from a hens crop and it was 5cm (2 in) round, it just kept on falling over the crop outlet to the gizzard and things would build up in the hens crop making is huge... then she would jerk her head around and it would move and food would pass through... then it would block again... this just kept on going on and on until I removed the lump... when they have this sort of impaction you CAN'T flush and try and remove it... it will choke the bird... you would know if the bird has one of these you would be able to feel it in the crop as a hard round lump... if its small enough then she would be able to cough it up... but if its just that bit too big then it will lodge in her neck when she tried to cough it up
Ok... with all that said here is a way you can help your bird(s), I would strongly suggest you make up a 'crop tube' this is a large syringe with 15 cm (6 in) of soft tubing attached to the outlet end to put the flush down the birds throat... at the end of this information is a web site... it is a picture showing you how to insert the crop tube... it refers to pigeons... but it is relevant for the chickens also
You could try washing the crop out – instructions are as follows
Crop tube diagrams
http://members.aol.com/duiven/medical/feedbaby.htm
This is a diagram of how to hold the head and insert the tube down the bird’s throat
Make sure you do not put it into the lungs, or you will drown the bird
What is a crop tube? How do you insert it?
They can be a bit of a pain to insert if the bird is a high-strung type.
I find it helps to sit the bird on an old towel (or something similar), and then wrap the whole bird in it, just leaving its head and neck poking out. Then you don't have to worry about controlling the flailing legs and wings!
I then hold the head in my left hand, in such a way that I can securely but softly open the beak and hold it open. Here is where you become very, very thankful that they don't have teeth!
Then look in the mouth, at the back of the throat. You'll see the big main throat-hole leading to the esophageus (which you'll be pushing the tube down). There is also a smaller hole fairly near where the tongue joins at the back of the mouth - that's the windpipe, and must be avoided - you obviously don't want to get the tube down there.... bearing that in mind, gently insert the tube, pushing it slowly down the throat.
I usually push it about 3 quarters of the way in. The chicken will not like this, and will try to struggle, so this is where the towel is most useful!
Once the tube is inserted, use the syringe to push the medicine (or water, or whatever is in the syringe chamber) down the tube and into the bird's crop
Larger syringes can be used if you are washing out the crop, but be careful not to put too much into the crop as you may end up bursting it
It may be better to only use the 6 cc syringes to do the job
If the picture of the crop tubes or the “how to insert the crop tube” does not show up on your computer go to this site and see the pictures relating to pigeons but they also relate to chicken
http://members.aol.com/duiven/medical/feedbaby.htm
Impacted Crop Information and Treatment
If it IS an impacted crop and not what is called "sour crop" in which the bird has gotten a hold of moldy or bad food or the hen has a canker in her throat, neck or crop region, here are some suggestions--I got this info off of another chicken forum I am a member of, hope it helps:
Impacted Crop
By Alan Stanford, Ph.D.
Brown Egg Blue Egg
I Relied Upon Glenda L Heywood National Poultry News and The Chicken Health Handbook by Gail Damerow
Copied with Alan's permission From: http://www.browneggblueegg.com/ImpactedCrop.html
Impacted crops are not caused by your birds needing more grit.
Grit is indeed necessary for birds that eat other than commercial feed; they need grit when they eat scratch grains, greens, and when they free range. Birds use grit in their gizzards to grind food; but the gizzard is far "downstream" from the crop. The crop is a kind of foyer into which all the food packs before moving into the digestive system.
Things that cause impacted crops are anything a bird eats that is too big to move into the digestive system. Some of these too big things are whole grain (especially for small birds), grapes, and greens. When free ranging birds eat greens they rip off small pieces and these pieces pass freely out of the crop.
One way I caused impacted crops in our flock was letting the flock out on once long, freshly mown grass. They have no problem with long unmown grass because they can rip off little pieces. Long strands of fresh cut grass pile up in the gizzard and can't get out.
You need to flush and empty an impacted crop. You can use an eyedropper, a syringe without a needle, or a child’s ear syringe or a crop tube (I prefer to use the crop tube). Be sure to put the dropper or syringe all the way back in the bird’s mouth. There is a hole at the base of the tongue that leads to the bird’s lungs. You must be way past that or you will damage your bird.
I have put a diagram at the bottom of this document to show you how it is done and what a crop tube looks like
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| | Re: Impacted Crop
« Reply #2 on Jul 11, 2005, 10:40am » | |
First Treatment – Day one
You can start by putting an eyedropper full of vegetable oil into the crop and then massaging the crop, make sure it does not go into the airway or it will drown the bird. This will soften the impaction. Put the dropper all the way back in the bird's mouth and slowly push out the oil. Any vegetable oil is good: olive oil, corn oil, or canola oil.
Mix
1/2-cup baking soda
1 pint of warm water
Fill the syringe and insert it as far as you can into the mouth of the chicken. Have someone hold the bird upright in front of you. Slowly and very gently fill the crop, do not over fill and get liquid into that hole at the base of the tongue (it goes to the air-sacs of the bird). Gently press up under the chicken’s breast and slide your hand up to the crop. This makes the bird open its mouth and the impacted mess will come out the bird's mouth.
Push the contents up and out of the crop and out of the mouth. You can face the bird toward the ground to help empty the crop. Repeat this gentle stroking pressure until nothing comes up.
Make sure none of the impacted mess goes back down it may go into the air ways… so keeping the birds tipped forward while doing this process will be of benefit to the bird
If there the crop is not empty, flush it again until it is empty.
Once the crop is empty, give another dropper of oil.
Coop the bird away from other birds so it can rest. Provide about a cup of water with 1 teaspoon Terramycin dissolved in it. Give no feed.
Second Day
If the bird is droopy on the next day, put molasses in the bird’s water for about four hours (1/4 cup per gallon of water). Remove the molasses water after four hours and give the bird fresh Terramycin water.
The molasses water will flush soured food from the bird’s digestive system.
Follow Up Treatment
If the crop impacts again, repeat the flush.
Continue the Terramycin for 7 days to avoid secondary infection.
After 24 hours, give only soft food for a week or so. This lets the inflamed and irritated crop recover and prevents another impaction.
The soft diet can include crumbles and chopped hard-boiled or micro waved eggs. You can feed bread if it is soaked in milk or buttermilk. Buttermilk is especially good because active culture buttermilk has good bacteria in it that help the bird’s digestion.
Be sure to also give the bird some beneficial bacteria. They keep digestion going correctly and fight disease by crowding out disease bacteria. You can just mix 1-2 teaspoons per bird of ACTIVE culture yoghurt with a small amount of food and give this as the only food until they eat it.
You can also buy lactobacillus at health food stores
Give no grains, no large pellets, no not soaked bread, and no grass or greens because these can cause another impaction.
Feed only things that almost fall apart when wet.
Barb Silcott's Preventative and Follow-up Treatment
"If you have a bird that continually comes up with an impacted crop, once you've emptied the crop and start making your soft feed for it, add some baby food type applesauce. (Unsweetened regular applesauce should be as good.)
The applesauce helps get the crop emptied a little quicker and is also acidic which helps with the bacteria problem."
"This works for sour crop, too. In fact, when we're hand-feeding parrots, we always add some baby food applesauce to the formula to prevent sour crop. Works great! With all the parrots I've hand-fed over the years, I've never had a case of sour crop. I specify baby food applesauce because it doesn't have any added sugar which just aggravates the problems."
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| | Re: Impacted Crop
« Reply #3 on Jul 11, 2005, 10:45am » | |
Copper Sulfate Medication How to Make up
It is also a good preventative medication for Canker and Sour Crop
Used for treatment of: Canker, Roup, Trichomoniasis, Mold infection of the crop (Mycosis), Thrush, Candidiasis, Moniliasis, Sour crop
If you have a bird that is suffering form what you think is a crop impaction, then more than likely she also will have one of the above problems, the crop impaction symptoms could have been caused by a small canker in the crop this then causes a chain reaction of food rolling into a ball in the crop and the impaction occurs, in some cases what seems like crop impaction is the canker on the outlet to the gizzard stopping anything from passing through… You end up with a mushy crop
Use the solution as a "follow-up" treatment after flushing with Epsom salt solution
Epsom Salt Solution
0.45 kg (1 lb) Epsom Salt per 7 kg (15 lb) feed
-or-
0.45 kg (1 lb) Epsom Salt per 23 litre’s (5 gallons) water for 1 day
Give the Epson salt feed mixture as the sole feed source for a one-day period.
This feed can be used only if the birds are eating.
If the birds are not eating, use the water solution.
If the birds are unable to eat or drink by themselves, use individual treatment with:
1 teaspoon of Epsom Salt in 30 ml of water (1 fl oz water)
See Crop Tube and Insertion below - on how to administer this solution… Do not just pour it down the bird’s throat
Copper Sulfate Medication
Coper Sulfate measurements.. be exact
Use 1 gm (0.035 oz) of Copper Sulfate (bluestone) to 2 litres (3.52 pints) of water – be very careful about the measurements of the Copper Sulfate too much will kill your bird
Add 2 teaspoons of Apple Cider Vinegar
Mix in some Cranberry Juice to make it more palatable for the birds to drink and disguise the taste of the copper sulfate and vinegar
Give this medicated water as the sole source of drinking water for 4 to 7 days, in some cases you may need to extend this time until you feel that the disease outbreak is over
Do not use metal containers only plastic ones
Put the mixture out fresh each day
If you choose not to use the Copper Sulfate you can use
1. Nystatin at 220 ppm in the feed - For Fungal infections
2. Carnidazole (Spartrix) pills for 5 days - For bacterial infections
3. Metronidazole (Flagyl) injections or pills for 5 to 7 days - For bacterial infections
If you are unsure if your bird has a Fungal or Bacterial infection of her crop then give both medications at the same time with a broad spectrum Antibiotic such as Tylan soluable
This is just some extra information to help you better understand why you are doing what your doing
ASTRINGENT SOLUTION
This solution can be used to treat young birds that show non-typical disease symptoms of poor growth. The solution can also be given to birds suffering from respiratory diseases that produce a large amount of mucus exudate. This solution will help "cut through" the mucus and allow it to be expelled easier.
Two quarts of apple cider vinegar diluted into 100 gallons of water
(4 teaspoons/gallon)
The tannin in the apple cider vinegar aide in removing any mucus or coating from the mouth, throat, or intestinal tract. Nutrients and drugs are more readily absorbed. Offer this solution as the only drinking water source for two to three day intervals.
Poisoning in Poultry: Inorganic Sources
Copper: Copper sulfate in a single dose of >1 g is fatal. The signs are watery diarrhea and listlessness. A catarrhal gastroenteritis and burns or erosions in the lining of the gizzard, accompanied by a greenish, seromucous exudate throughout the intestinal tract, are found at necropsy.
When you mix the 1 g of Copper Sulfate with water it is diluted and not fatal, only if you try and give the CS on its own is it fatal.
CROP TUBE AND INSERTION
http://members.aol.com/duiven/medical/feedbaby.htm
This is a picture of a crop tube and how to insert it into your bird when giving the Epsom Salt solution… don’t pour it down the bird throat you will more than likely pour it into the lungs and drown the bird… it may take 24 to 48 hrs to die… not a pretty sight
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| | Re: Impacted Crop
« Reply #4 on Sept 15, 2005, 12:42am » | |
Operating on a bird Part 1 of 2
Impacted Crop – Surgical Procedure
By Sandra D. Chapple
I would also like to thank Bill Ludwig and Nora from the The Coop Forum for their help and guidance on this procedure http://www.the-coop.or/cgi-bin/UBB/ultimatebb.cgi
Only use surgery if the crop impaction is so bad that the chicken due to the size of the ball impacting the crop could never pass it out through the neck and mouth
Balls of this size are usually because the bird has not shown any signs that she was impacted, and it is only when she starts to lose weight and her crop is bulging that notice is taken, and action can then be taken to correct the problem
Operating is not your first option, don’t go into it lightly
Make sure you have everything ready that you might need, don’t get half way through and then think, gee I should have put some of this or that, you will have a bird with a hole in its chest that is relying on you to do the right thing and hopefully keep her alive
Making up the Straps for restraints
If your doing this procedure on your own or with someone you need to restrain the bird so it doesn’t flap its wings and thrash its legs about.
I made up a two restraints from old towelling, and put Velcro strapping to hold them together while on the bird.
The bird I had to work on was a standard size, you will have to make your larger strap to suit the size of your bird, this is only to give you a guide.
Cut one pieces of soft material 10 cm x 25 cm (4 in x 10 in) hem the sides so it doesn’t fray, sew Velcro straps at each corner of the smaller end to join up when looped into a circle, leaving a space between the 10 cm for the legs to fit
For the legs cut a piece of soft materia l5 cm x 22 cm (2 in x 8 ½ in), hem sides so it doesn’t fray, sew a tag of Velcro coming away from the material on one side and the same length onto the fabric the other side, making sure they can be brought together to make a circle to go around the legs of the chicken without the Velcro touching the legs
The Velcro I placed on this was 10 cm long (4 in) this way it can be used for the smaller birds and the larger bird
Sew the Velcro onto the fabric
Requirements
Lots of guts….and don’t faint at the sight of blood
Bandage
Cotton balls
Cotton buds
Disinfectant (iodine) (Betadine is iodine)
Disposable gloves if you’re squeamish, the extra grip are best they won’t come off easily and slide around
Disposable plastic bag for crop impacted contents
Gauze or cotton squares used for face wipes
Newspaper to go over the plastic
Paper towel
Plastic for the work surface
Razor blade or scalpel (make sure it is clean and sterile if possible)
Rubbish bin
Scissors
Sterile water for the flush
Soft strap for restraint
Surgical tape or Bandaids
Suture material from the vets or use thin fishing line (may not be necessary but best to have it just in case)
Needle for sewing up (sterile)
Prior to starting
Isolate the bird prior to the operation, this way when you pick her up your not racing all over the back yard trying to catch her and blood is racing and heart pumping (hers I mean), she would bleed badly
If you think you will need to restrain her, have a friend to help you and/or make up a couple of soft straps to go around her body and her legs to keep her controlled, you sure wouldn’t want her getting up and racing off someplace half way through the operation
.
Start Collection of requirements
Collect all your requirements prior to getting the bird ready to start
Better to have more than you need rather than need something half way through the operation and can’t find it
Clean the area your going to be working on really well with disinfectant (vinegar is a good disinfectant, wipe over all benches)
Clean your hands really well prior to starting, and clean your nails also
Get Bird
Quietly pick the bird up ready to start
Put on your disposable gloves if you are going to be wearing them
Pluck away some of the outer feathers at the spot you are going to be cutting, so you can see what you will be doing
If you wet the feathers around the area with a little water and detergent they will not fly all over the place while your doing this procedure
Disinfect the skin where you are going to be cutting (iodine)
Lay the bird on its side to work on her
Cutting
The first incision in the skin should be made vertically; the outer skin will probably be quite thin due to the stretching that has taken place, so it should be easy to cut, don’t make the cut too big, the smaller the better for healing later on, but sometimes the skin is actually quite hard to get the first cut and you may be scared to put a bit of pressure, the sharper the instrument your working with the better
If you are able to discern the tissue grain go with that.
If possible, rotate the crop so that the second incision can be made as close to the top of the crop as possible. Again not too large, but large enough for you to remove the contents
Again, going with the grain. When you have made the first cut on the outer skin and you then proceed to cut open the crop there is what seems like a second skin under the outer skin, you have to cut through this before you actually reach the crop. You will definitely know when you have the crop opening
Try not to make each cut on top of each other, they may adhere to each other when healing, and you would need to reopen the bird to fix this
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| | Re: Impacted Crop
« Reply #5 on Sept 15, 2005, 12:43am » | |
Operating on a bird with an Impacted Crop
The crop may be a bit harder to cut through so make sure you have a something that is very sharp, a razor blade or scalpel would be excellent
These incisions should not need closing with stitching if they are small. But if the ball in the crop is large you won’t have any choices but to make it larger, if you find that you can’t get the contents out, make the incision larger, you don’t want to be going back in because you didn’t get all the contents out
Remove crop contents
You will now have to manually remove the contents of the crop, you may think that it will just ooze out, but it can be a hard ball, so no such luck, you will need to try and remove it bit by bit, remember if it is a large ball, don’t use any sharp instruments to remove it, the handle of a small child’s toothbrush would be ok, but be careful you don’t do any more damage to the crop or poke it through the crop in your eagerness to remove the impaction
I used my stainless steel tweezers that have a long handle and bent at the top from my overlocker, I could sterilize these and they were small enough to remove the bulky contents of the crop (no sharp edges), the rest I removed with my fingers
If you find that the contents is not coming out you may have to flush the crop to clean it out – make up a solution of ½ betadine (iodine) and ½ sterile water, make sure this doesn’t run up the inside neck tube, it may go into the lungs…. It will be very messy…. so have a nice thick towel under the hen to catch all the mess and some paper towel close by
If you find it impossible to remove the impaction with the small hole your going to have to make it larger, but by doing this your also going to have to sew her up instead of leaving the cut to heal on its own, so if at all possible try to remove the impaction with the smallest hole you can
Sewing up the bird:
go to your local vet and ask them for a needle and some thread, tell them what it is for you can get different gauges they will need to know what your going to use it for, or you can use a needle from the sewing kit (sterilized of course) and some thin fishing line, but if you need to sew up the crop it might be best to ask the vet for some thread that dissolves, it takes around 6 to 8 weeks to dissolve, but at least you don’t have to remove the stitches
You would only need one or two stitches to hold the crop together or the outer skin, don’t do a needle and thread designer set of stitches with many little ones, one that takes in a small amount of skin or two is all that will be necessary for the skin to heal together
By the way you sew up each opening separately not together
Move the outer skin around gently to make sure you haven’t accidentally sew it to the crop wall, you will need to manually move the outer skin several times a day to make sure it doesn’t start to adhere to the crop wall
Bleeding
Your bird may bleed for the first few minutes, but after that it usually comes to a near stop, but have some gauze or wipes handy to mop up and something to help stop the bleeding if it gets out of hand, a little bit of pressure helps to stop bleeding, but don’t go overboard pressing on an already extended crop in panic
Check the crop
It may be hard to tell when you have actually cleaned out the entire crop due to the small hole your working with, so just get out as much as you can, and work on it until you think you have it all, you can only do the best you can possibly do in this situation
The crop is very elastic, so it should bounce back and nearly close up once you have finished…. hopefully
After completing the operation:
Disinfect the work area again (iodine)
Put some gauze and bandage the area so the bird can’t peck at it and no dirt or other material can get into the wound
Put her into an isolation cage, put a towel down and check her droppings for blood, just in case something has gone amiss and she is bleeding internally, you may still have to put her down
Your bird will seem surprisingly alert after what she has just been through
You’re probably going to need a stiff drink to calm your nerves.
It would be a good idea to put her on a 5-day course of antibiotics just to make sure she has the best possible chance of survival
Also some multivitamins to keep up her stamina, she is more than likely pretty run down due to the impaction
And of course either Bacterial or Fungal or both medications... or the problem will happen all over again, and the next time the bird may not make it through the operation or recovery
Feeding after the operation
Only feed soft foods for 3 to 5 days – day 1 water and antibiotics and some vitamins – day 2 yoghurt, mashed banana, runny scrambled eggs, what ever you decide to feed her make sure it is water soluble so you don’t put any stress on the crop while it is healing, it should not extend or the sealing process may break down…. Feed often 8 feeds a day, but make them really small
Summary
Give antibiotics just to make sure nothing gets a hold or takes off in the germ line
Give water to drink, make sure it is fresh and clean every day
Put her into an area that is really clean, soft bedding, away from drafts, direct sun light and rain, if possible a nice warm place
Check the crop area for adhesion, do at least 3 checks in any 24 hrs, move the outer skin gently to make sure it has not started to heal onto the crop skin/wall, if you do notice any adhesion, you will have to go back cut her open, separate the skin from the crop and stitch up the two incisions separately again, to find if the two incision have adhered to each other all you have to do is move the skin around a small amount and if they have adhered to each other you won’t be able to move them easily
Well I hope all goes well and you and your bird survive the operation
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| | Re: Impacted Crop
« Reply #6 on Sept 15, 2005, 11:22pm » | |
Thrush
It is also called candidiasis, crop mycosis, moniliasis, muguet, oidica, oidiomycosis, sour crop, and stomatitis
It is very common
The upper digestive tract is the part affected
Incubation time is two to four weeks
In growing birds depression sets in, rough feathers, diarrhoea, distended sour crop, slow growth or weight loss
You can lose up to 5% of your flock with this, and it usually affects around 20% of your birds
It actually resembles, canker, capillary worms and pox (wet)
This is a yeast infection; it lives in the bowel of the chicken, when coccidiosis or antibiotics disrupt the normal flora, or if you are using growth promoters or other drugs
Droppings contaminating the drinking water spread it
Practice good sanitation and nutrition
Avoid parasites
Clean feeders and waterers regularly
Avoid crowding your flock
Avoid prolonged treatment of antibiotics and other drugs
Flush the infected birds with molasses, followed by ½ teaspoon copper sulfate (powdered bluestone) per gallon of drinking water every other day for 5 days, use a plastic water container not metal
A Product called - Probac can also treat this problem
If your poultry has sores in the mouth, clean the mouth out with antiseptic such as hydrogen peroxide and treat with nystatin
You need to catch this, or it will cause mouth and genital infections
Molasses Flush
1 pint molasses per 5 gallons water, given for no longer than 8 hours
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| | Re: Impacted Crop
« Reply #7 on Sept 15, 2005, 11:31pm » | |
Thrush or Sour Crop - CANDIDA ALBICANS
Young chicks and poults are most susceptible.
Common after use of antibiotics, or with unsanitary drinking facilities.
Clinical signs:
Depression and emaciation.
Malabsorption of feed occurs, so get secondary nutritional problems.
Necropsy:
Lesions most frequently found in the crop and consist of thickened mucosa and whitish, raised, circular ulcers.
Can also see these in the mouth and esophagus.
May also see hemorrhagic spots, necrotic debris, and pseudomembranes.
Diagnosis:
Culture or demonstration of tissue invasion on histology.
Treatment:
Copper sulfate in water (1:2,000) or nystatin in feed (220ppm).
Prevention:
Nystatin in the feed (110ppm) helps protect birds.
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| | Re: Impacted Crop
« Reply #8 on Sept 15, 2005, 11:37pm » | |
Sour crop
In pigeons/or other birds with sour crop, at least 90% have an internal canker nodule located at the base of the crop or within the glandular stomach(proventriculus).
As the nodule increases in size, it squashes the windpipe making breathing difficult and blocking the crop outlet.
This interferes with crop emptying, leading to bacterial infection of the crop and secondary starvation and dehydration due to the crop contents not being able to pass into the bird's system.
Usually by the time the bird is noticed to be unwell, the condition has passed the point where it will respond to treatment.
Deaths often occur due to the nodule growing through the stomach wall, leading to stomach contents leaking into the chest.
Alternatively, the nodule can damage the heart or large blood vessels within the chest, causing sudden and severe bleeding.
Such birds are often found dead on the floor with blood coming from the mouth. It is always worth attempting to treat valuable birds and I suggest :
• Manually empty the crop
• Give electrolytes in water
• Treat bird with Tylan soluable if they are drinking on a daily basis for 10 days
• Treat bird with Spartrix tablets or a Flagyl tablet or Flagyl syrup once daily
• Separate unwell bird from flock
This will treat not only the Sour crop but the canker as well
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| | Re: Impacted Crop
« Reply #9 on Sept 15, 2005, 11:46pm » | |
Copper Sulfate Medication How to Make up
Used for treatment of: Canker, Roup, Trichomoniasis, Mold infection of the crop (Mycosis), Thrush, Candidiasis, Moniliasis, Sour crop
If you have a bird that is suffering form what you think is a crop impaction, then more than likely she also will have one of the above problems
The crop impaction symptoms could have been caused by a small canker in the crop this then causes a chain reaction of food rolling into a ball in the crop and the impaction occurs
In some cases what seems like crop impaction is the canker on the outlet to the gizzard stopping anything from passing through… You end up with a mushy crop
Use the solution as a "follow-up" treatment after flushing with Epsom salt solution
Epsom Salt Solution
0.45 kg (1 lb) Epsom Salt per 7 kg (15 lb) feed
-or-
0.45 kg (1 lb) Epsom Salt per 23 litre’s (5 gallons) water for 1 day
Give the Epson salt feed mixture as the sole feed source for a one-day period.
This feed can be used only if the birds are eating.
If the birds are not eating, use the water solution.
If the birds are unable to eat or drink by themselves, use individual treatment with:
1 teaspoon of Epsom Salt in 30 ml of water (1 fl oz water)
See Crop Tube and Insertion below - on how to administer this solution… Do not just pour it down the bird’s throat
Copper Sulfate Medication
Use 1 gm (0.035 oz) of Copper Sulfate (bluestone) to 2 litres (3.52 pints) of water – be very careful about the measurements of the Copper Sulfate too much will kill your bird
Add 2 teaspoons of Apple Cider Vinegar
Mix in some Cranberry Juice to make it more palatable for the birds to drink and disguise the taste of the copper sulfate and vinegar
Give this medicated water as the sole source of drinking water for 4 to 7 days, in some cases you may need to extend this time until you feel that the disease outbreak is over
Do not use metal containers only plastic ones
Put the mixture out fresh each day
If you choose not to use the Copper Sulfate you can use
1. Nystatin at 220 ppm in the feed.
2. Carnidazole (Spartrix) pills for 5 days
3. Metronidazole (Flagyl) injections or pills for 5 to 7 days
This is just some extra information to help you better understand why you are doing what your doing
ASTRINGENT SOLUTION
This solution can be used to treat young birds that show non-typical disease symptoms of poor growth.
The solution can also be given to birds suffering from respiratory diseases that produce a large amount of mucus exudate.
This solution will help "cut through" the mucus and allow it to be expelled easier.
Two quarts of apple cider vinegar diluted into 100 gallons of water
(4 teaspoons/gallon)
The tannin in the apple cider vinegar aide in removing any mucus or coating from the mouth, throat, or intestinal tract.
Nutrients and drugs are more readily absorbed. Offer this solution as the only drinking water source for two to three day intervals.
Poisoning in Poultry: Inorganic Sources
Copper: Copper sulfate in a single dose of >1 g is fatal. The signs are watery diarrhea and listlessness.
A catarrhal gastroenteritis and burns or erosions in the lining of the gizzard, accompanied by a greenish, seromucous exudate throughout the intestinal tract, are found at necropsy.
When you mix the 1 g of Copper Sulfate with water it is diluted and not fatal, only if you try and give the CS on its own is it fatal.
CROP TUBE AND INSERTION
Crop tube diagrams
http://members.aol.com/duiven/medical/feedbaby.htm
This is a picture of a crop tube and how to insert it into your bird when giving the Epsom Salt solution… don’t pour it down the bird throat you will more than likely pour it into the lungs and drown the bird… it may take 24 to 48 hrs to die… not a pretty sight
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| | Re: Impacted Crop
« Reply #10 on Sept 15, 2005, 11:53pm » | |
These are pictures of
1. The crop of a chicken and where it is located
2. A picture of a crop tube, a syringe (no needle) and 15 cm of soft tubing attached
3. How to insert a crop tube and hold a chicken when using it
If you would like to see larger pictures.. just click on the image and it will open up in another window and be larger
![[image]](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v724/sammiboy/Disease%20and%20Afflictions/Thisiswherethecropislocatedonabird.jpg)
![[image]](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v724/sammiboy/Disease%20and%20Afflictions/croptube.jpg)
![[image]](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v724/sammiboy/Disease%20and%20Afflictions/feedingdiagram.jpg)
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