# Overstuffed crop grrr



## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

So chipmunk is at the vet now and her crop is overstuffed and hard .. Waiting on xrays to see what else is going on.


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## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

And xrays show gizzard has stuffed with pebbles that look like oyster shell pieces i have in their pen. Wtf why is she gorging on oyster shells??? So she now is a house hen on meds to see if that helps as vet doesn't wan her in the cold as it could kill her


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## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

Sub q fluids given as she was dehydrated . Reglan and antibiotics also. 
I hope she makes it.


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## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

Vet said on xrays crop was full but ok, more worried about her gizzard filed with the oyster shel pieces. Said she might not make it


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

If her crop is working properly they should pass. This might be a warning that she's got crop issues that you'll have to deal with in the long term. 

I was surprised to see the Reglan. Did he explain why he thought it would work in the crop since its usually more for the lower GI tract?


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## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

He said after looking at the xrays her gizzard is stuffed with oyster shell pieces, said the Reglan is to get the oyster pieces to flow out .he said xrays showed her crop was ok just full, but not concerned with it. Her gizzard he is concerned with as the xrays show its packed with the pieces


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## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

I removed the oyster shells entirely from the pen area. I feel horrible that i put them there and she might die from eating them


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## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

She died i went to check on her after my friend left and she was dead


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Do not beat yourself up over this. You did what you could. This is where it becomes so difficult when dealing with birds since no one truly understands their medical issues when they crop up. The probability is very high that something was going on that caused her to attack the shell like she did. 

Its hard, I know how hard it is to lose one. And I'm sorry this did not have a better outcome.


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## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

Thanks Robin, i feel guilty cause i had the oyster shell pieces out, they have had access to them since last April, and when i got the 5 new ones they had access to it too. The xrays showed her gizzard was FULL of them, i have two hanging feeders with crumble in one( what she are at her old home) and another feeder with dry mash. They all had plenty of food and a huge waterer on a heated tray so the water never froze.

Yeah I'm definitely learning as i go along.. At least i tried to help her, i knew once the vet told me its usually too late once they show that they are sick that it could happen. 
Now I'm down to 12.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Don't remove the shell. Some years ago I was reading a paper on why some birds do what they do. While this had more to do with grit, it falls in to the same line of why. The paper said that birds that gorged on grit were more than likely lacking something in their diet, minerals. I say diet loosely. Just like us humans, sometimes we don't utilize what we ingest efficiently and end up depleted. They believe that birds that were gorging themselves with inappropriate things were trying to satisfy that lack. 

While there are tests for humans there really are not for the birds. Most of what we do is guess work. We know that if a bird has poor egg shell quality that more than likely they're lacking in calcium and we can do things to supplement them. We know if a bird goes way down from mites, we know to boost them with iron. Problem is, we don't know how to address other more vague issues. 

If the shell hadn't been there she might have gorged herself on bedding. It doesn't change things or answer what she might have been lacking or what might have been wrong. You can not and will not ever know what or why something happened to one and not the other. As time goes on, you'll be quick to spot things that are not quite right. But that takes time to learn since they are so efficient at hiding a problem.


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## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

Could it be the new food? I have new dry mash and the crumble out maybe she didnt get enough nutrition from the dry mash? But if that was the case wouldn't she eat the crumble?


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Unless you see something else going on with the flock, then I have to say that probably had nothing to do with it. It was something with her. She might have had a tumor some where that caused the gorging, her body may not have been utilizing the nutrition she was taking in and she was trying to make up for that.

How many people have you heard are D deficient? I'm one of those. I don't use sun screen, I live in the deep south and spend a lot of time outdoors. So much time the endocrinologist thought I was mix race. Yet, I'm D deficient. That's because my body is not utilizing the D I take in with my diet and with the large amount of sun exposure. That's what I mean about she might not have been able to absorb what she was taking in.

And then there's pica. No good explainable reason for it but people and animals are known to do it. 

I would just watch the flock. If you don't see anything there then its not the feed.


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## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

I'm still watching them from when Dora died too. They are all eating and drinking good,


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

I've had problems posting here today so let's give this a whirl once more.

Considering the issues, I would be more concerned about a contaminant. The soil they're housed on, spraying from any close farm. You had water issues, its possible something is being washed down to them. But Dora happened before the feed change so it is not the feed. 

Or if the two girls came from the same breeder there might be a genetic problem there in the line. I've run in to it and its hard to ferret out where its comes from.


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## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

Dora came from tractor supply with two other tetras and three RSL a year ago . Chipmunk who just died was a EE who i got from a couple down the shore in September with 2 bantam EE's and 2 silkies. 

The only issue i can think of is my neighbors pasture which is next to my property- they have horses, a goat and 25 chickens .. Its possible the water runs down their pasture to my yard even though i never see it . The only spot i do see the runoff is on the other side of my shed near the side of my house.. They also buried one of their horses on the hill in the pasture a year ago , which is in line with my coop/pen area.... 

The cow farm down the street might be a problem too only if the wind shifts up to our house.


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## Maryellen (Jan 21, 2015)

Our soil is crap, my development at one time was three cow farms, with the one around the corner the last one still standing. The dirt is almost clay like and very rocky every shovel is rocks and farm dirt


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