What is wrong with my chicken?

elcarchick

In the Brooder
May 12, 2015
34
5
29
Brevard, NC
Hi,

I got one of my leghorns inside today. She is molting and looks pretty shabby. When I started feeding her I saw her moving her neck side to side (like in the video), as if adjusting her crop. She has access to the outdoors with plenty of grass, bugs, sand and small rocks. I am not sure if it's crop impaction or something else. Her poop looks normal. She doesn't seem to show any other signs of distress. This is the first time I see any of my chickens doing this. What could this be? Another thing that started just recently - my chickens quit laying. I have several older hens that are molting now and that is expected. However, I also have a bunch of younger hens that are starting to lay. I have at least 10-12 young hens that have started laying, and I only get like 1-2 eggs a day. I've had some egg eating issues, but it doesn't seem to be the case this time. I do not find traces of broken eggs, and I almost never see my hens in the nest boxes. I am not sure if these two things are related.

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She is just moving food down her esophagus into her crop. By the color of her comb she appears to be in excellent condition. The shortening day length coupled with the molt is probably impacting your egg production.
 
Thanks sourland! I was worried. I've never seen her doing this before though I've fed her like this many times. Her appetite has not been affected, that's for sure :)
 
I saw in the video that she was swallowing some pretty big/dry chunks - all the more difficult to swallow.
 
That was canned tuna, pretty moist. I decided to give her some extra protein since she is molting. She was gobbling it down like crazy, so quite possible, that she needed to push it down a little lol.
 

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