# chicken crop surgery~pics~



## barnyardgal (Sep 21, 2009)

after opening hen up~









poor gal~this is what came out of her crop..









a whole pile of undigested/stinky/rotted food & grass...
so far she is doing ok,but will see how she is when morning gets here...


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## Oxankle (Jun 20, 2003)

I've had pigeons like that.

What did you use to knock her out? 

I've got scalpels, etc, in my cattle box, but I have no idea how to knock out a chicken. Thought I was going to learn a few weeks back, but it turned out I did not have to work on the hen I wanted to save---she got "all better" by herself.


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## Chixarecute (Nov 19, 2004)

Wow! What a little piggy. Was this surgery, or autopsy? How is the patient recovering?


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## Karen in Alabam (Jul 21, 2010)

Thats a lot of junk.

How did you even know to do surgery? So tools of choice, box cutter and pliers?


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## DamnearaFarm (Sep 27, 2007)

Wow, that's a LOT of crap.

How is she today?


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## barnyardgal (Sep 21, 2009)

Oxankle said:


> I've had pigeons like that.
> 
> What did you use to knock her out?
> 
> I've got scalpels, etc, in my cattle box, but I have no idea how to knock out a chicken. Thought I was going to learn a few weeks back, but it turned out I did not have to work on the hen I wanted to save---she got "all better" by herself.


This is the second surgery i have had to do on the chickens..I do not knock her out,just cover her head with a towel & she lays there the while time..once in a while she might move a little trying to get up but i was able to do the surgery by myself......


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## barnyardgal (Sep 21, 2009)

It is not the most sanitary conditions but all i had to work with...I had tried putting oil down her throat & massaging but no luck,to much 'junk in her truck',so either let her die or do surgery so i chose the surgery..I used all precautions as far as being sterile with alcohol/betadine....I used super glue & stitches to close her up...There was no way without surgery she would had lived..That stuff is NASTY smelling!!!

Checked her last night about 9 p.m. and she was doing fine,will try to get her to eat some applesauce/scrabbled eggs this morning...

You can google crop surgery/sour crop/u tube and it shows/explains everything to look for and try to do to save the hen.....

Hope this helps anyone who might encounter this sort of problem in the future....


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## mammabooh (Sep 1, 2004)

That's very cool! I'm impressed. I'd love to see pictures of what the surgery site looks like now.


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## sawman65 (Sep 8, 2011)

i have done this several times and yes it is the nastyest smell you well ever smell! i also used super glue and it worked like a charm. normaly i will just cull but if it is brood stock and cost a lot to replace its a go. i had one that i had to do twice and still compacted right back up i culled him. and when i did the autopsy i found a roofing nail head in the digestive tract. it cost me several years of breeding.


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

Interesting!

How do you use the super glue? Do you pinch the skin together or overlap it?

I'm surprised that she laid still enough to let you do the surgery.


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## WstTxLady (Mar 14, 2009)

I had a Polish Tophat that had to have a 3 in long piece of caulk trim taken out of her crop. The surgery went well but I had gotten to her too late & she passes couple days later. It amazes me all the junk they try to eat. I have a scalpel knife that has sanitary, sealed bladed that I used on mine.


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## CoonXpress (Sep 20, 2004)

How's the hen doing?


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## barnyardgal (Sep 21, 2009)

My little gal is doing fine~Thanks for asking...

yes, you pinch the skin together that you cut but don't bunch it up~~

yes,some of the nastiest smelling stuff you'll ever encounter~~~

I would take a pic but feathers are growing back & hard to tell surgery was done~~


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## Horseyrider (Aug 8, 2010)

I am so impressed! What signs was she showing that made you certain this was the path you needed to take?

I hope she'll continue to recover uneventfully. 

Great job, barnyardgal!


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## John Carter (Oct 6, 2004)

great thread....................learned a lot.
Had several with impacted crops and always tried the massage and vomit method ....Frankly I lost those after afew days.
Something new to consider


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## barnyardgal (Sep 21, 2009)

53convert said:


> great thread....................learned a lot.
> Had several with impacted crops and always tried the massage and vomit method ....Frankly I lost those after afew days.
> Something new to consider


If you know the chicken has an impacted crop,you have nothing to loose by doing the surgery as you know she will die anyways without the surgery...I tried the vomiting thing to & almost choked the hen as she had such a big wad in her crop...

The surgery is not complicated at all...you cover the chickens head up with a towel or put a sock over her head & she usually lays pretty still,once in a while she might try to move around..also i used needle nose pliers to keep from making the opening on her very big...can also use tweezers....make sure after getting all stuff out that you flush her crop out with water REAL good to get anything else out that might be in her crop...go back in with tweezers or what ever your using & see if she has more stuff that came loose from flushing her crop out......

Gather up all materials you will need first~~Got any questions,feel free to ask me.....:spinsmiley:


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## barnyardgal (Sep 21, 2009)

Horseyrider said:


> I am so impressed! What signs was she showing that made you certain this was the path you needed to take?
> 
> I hope she'll continue to recover uneventfully.
> 
> Great job, barnyardgal!


The signs i saw in the hen was a large crop & not eating & staying to herself..I put her in cage for a couple of days & she was still the same with a large crop,so thats when i decided to do the surgery as she was gonna die anyways.....

Good luck if you ever have to do a surgery,its not that complicated...Just time consuming if they have a full crop of nasty smelly stuff...Am gonna tell ya that stuff stinks to high heaven~!!!!


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## J.T.M. (Mar 2, 2008)

barnyardgal said:


> It is not the most sanitary conditions but all i had to work with...I had tried putting oil down her throat & massaging but no luck,to much 'junk in her truck',so either let her die or do surgery so i chose the surgery..I used all precautions as far as being sterile with alcohol/betadine....I used super glue & stitches to close her up...There was no way without surgery she would had lived..That stuff is NASTY smelling!!!
> 
> Checked her last night about 9 p.m. and she was doing fine,will try to get her to eat some applesauce/scrabbled eggs this morning...
> 
> ...


My hats off to you :cowboy: .....Great job.I feel I learned something today.......


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## John Carter (Oct 6, 2004)

barnyardgal said:


> If you know the chicken has an impacted crop,you have nothing to loose by doing the surgery as you know she will die anyways without the surgery...I tried the vomiting thing to & almost choked the hen as she had such a big wad in her crop...
> 
> The surgery is not complicated at all...you cover the chickens head up with a towel or put a sock over her head & she usually lays pretty still,once in a while she might try to move around..also i used needle nose pliers to keep from making the opening on her very big...can also use tweezers....make sure after getting all stuff out that you flush her crop out with water REAL good to get anything else out that might be in her crop...go back in with tweezers or what ever your using & see if she has more stuff that came loose from flushing her crop out......
> 
> Gather up all materials you will need first~~Got any questions,feel free to ask me.....:spinsmiley:


Oh yeah, just never considered this as a solution, Thank you.
Now cutting on a chicken doesnt faze me as I usually take the knife to their little rooster nuggets and have the kit for same............
Like I say, great post and opened a new door for me


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