Bright red skin, no feathers

[Anon112]

Check crops first in the morning only, before they have eaten or drank anything, this is the only time the crop should be empty. During the day they will be full so it's impossible to judge the crop. Olive oil really isn't good for chickens, some plain unsweetened yogurt or probiotics are better. If she definitely has a full crop in the morning, some Acidified Copper Sulfate in the water for a week will clear up any slow or sour crops. The red skin over the crop has nothing to do with what's going on inside the crop.

Yikes, thank you for the warning on the olive oil. Thankfully I only gave her one dose so far, about 0.3mL this morning.

I'm going shopping tonight, so I'll pick her up some yogurt (I am non-dairy, so I never have it in the house!). I'm encouraged by her appetite, but I always freak out a bit when I encounter something I haven't seen before. I really appreciate the replies!

 

[Anon112]

I wanted to update this thread. After her skin not looking any better after two weeks had passed and her other feathers had grown back, I took her to the vet. I wish I'd taken her earlier, but her behavior (eating, drinking, roosting, energy, etc) has been very normal.

The vet was sort of perplexed. At first she thought that somehow there had been leakage from her crop which her body had "walled off" in the area behind the red skin. But after looking in the crop with a scope and trying to take a fluid sample from the part that was protruding a bit, her best guess is that she has a sort of hernia of the crop. We are treating with a medication that is supposed to help her crop drain a bit faster, and I am also getting her a crop bra. The intention is to help the hernia maybe heal on its own.

This is the main reason I regret not having gone to the vet earlier, because getting it diagnosed sooner would have meant an earlier chance to work with her body to naturally heal. We'll see how it goes.