inflated crop

mark 1 · November 16, 2008

Ive got a pigeon whos crop is filling with air and staying inflated, could it have a ruptured crop?? any ideas???

ALF · November 16, 2008

PUT A NEEDLE OVER A HOT FLAME FOR A FEW SECONDS AND THEN USE IT TO PUNCTURE THE CROP AND SQUEEZE THE AIR OUT GENTLY

kirky · November 16, 2008

oldyellow had one same few weeks back, i told him to punture crop as i have done it before, but he left it for a couple of days and it went back to normal.

November 16, 2008

i believe this is caused by a disfunction in the difference between the food flow and the air flow...the air goes into the food crop instead of the air pipe. try live yoghurt as there could be a slight infection in the throat.

but do as stated in other posts, needle into crop but only just enter the inflated crop and not in deeply...you will see a difference immediatly.

Webmaster · November 16, 2008

I had this in a young bird a few years back - ruptured air sack. Do the needle method as described above, but not into the crop, its a layer just between the skin and the crop, and get the air out. Try and keep the bird from flying, because it stops the rupture from healing, and it may inflate again - if it does repeat the needle thing.

I had to use the needle twice with the young blue cock I had it with, he was confined to the loft for a week or so and then was back to normal

If anyone has Colin Walkers book to hand, its described much better in there

mark 1 · November 16, 2008

thanks very much everyone

November 16, 2008

To treat these birds, it is important to remove the air that has accumulated under the skin. If the air pressure continues to build up, this pressure can relay back onto the lungs and the birds can have trouble breathing and sometimes smother. To remove the air, a hypodermic needle and syringe are used. The tip of the needle is put just through the skin at the point where the skin is tightest with the air underneath it. While sucking with the syringe, air is drawn out through the needle. This usually needs to be done morning and night. This not only makes the bird more comfortable but allows the airsac to collapse back into position so that the tear comes into apposition and is then given a chance to heal. Small tears may heal in 1-3 days. More severe tears may take up to 3 weeks. I have only ever had one or two birds that never healed. In addition to removing the air morning and night , it is important that the bird is confined. It must not do any exercise that would make it short of breath or pant as this tends to reopen the healing tear in the airsac. I usually use an 18-gauge needle and a 20-ml syringe. These can be obtained from a pharmacy or a veterinarian. Where an associtated respiratory infection is suspected, antibiotics are given, usually Vibravet 50 mg, half tablet once daily for 5 days.