EMERGENCY! HENS WITH BIG SQUISHY CROPS, LOSING WEIGHT

[cuteychickens15]

It's 23:35 here in the UK but I will upload some photos tomorrow. We have 4 hens and a rooster. I've only felt two of the hens crops recently but 3 of them seem to have low down crops, bigger and squishier than normal. They are noticeable by looking at them.

We give them a bowl of layers pellets and they also eat grass, occasionally I give them treats like bread(last few days), sunflower seeds (last time was about 6 weeks ago).

I did order a dog cage to keep the rooster in for a day or two because about 2 months ago, he didn't seem to have a lot in his crop, he didn't want to eat and I wanted to know if he was pooping but I think that problem has gone now, anyway, I did order a cage but I was told by my dad to send it back (i'm 18, my chickens, live with my parents) so I don't think that would be an option to keep hens in a cage to keep an eye on them.

I really don't know what to do. I see all sorts of things online. For example, giving them paraffin oil - someone was talking about how wonderful it was for sour crop but someone else (or maybe them, can't remember) posted that it can cause inhalation of the paraffin oil so be careful. I don't want to risk that. I've heard bicarbonate of soda but was told that that can be dangerous if inhaled.

 

[MissChick@dee]

Okay STOP!!!! With the bread. Not to make you feel bad but it is not good for them. You don’t have a huge number of chickens so that’s a plus. Before you go to bed tonight take away ALL the food(leave water). They’ll be okay. I’m thinking it may be as simple of an answer as too much bread. We’ll talk more about appropriate treats. This could be a very simple thing. Before you give them any pellets in the morning FEEL each ones crop. Ok? It’s important to do. They NEED grit to digest their food. They peck the tiny rocks and pebbles in the dirt. If you only have grass you can buy grit cheap. Do these things and I believe we’ll fix this. TTYL

 

[cuteychickens15]

Okay STOP!!!! With the bread. Not to make you feel bad but it is not good for them. You don’t have a huge number of chickens so that’s a plus. Before you go to bed tonight take away ALL the food(leave water). They’ll be okay. I’m thinking it may be as simple of an answer as too much bread. We’ll talk more about appropriate treats. This could be a very simple thing. Before you give them any pellets in the morning FEEL each ones crop. Ok? It’s important to do. They NEED grit to digest their food. They peck the tiny rocks and pebbles in the dirt. If you only have grass you can buy grit cheap. Do these things and I believe we’ll fix this. TTYL

Sorry, haven't logged in for a while and only just saw your post. Been trying to figure out a crop bra because I heard it lifts up the food to help it digest (its sagging down and big, in multiple chickens). I will stop feeding the bread, feel the crops and I do have grit, I put it in a little tray near their food but do they know what it is? I've only really started giving it to them ?

Thankyou

 

[cuteychickens15]

I am thinking about making a crop bra for the each of the hens by cutting of the ends of socks and putting them around where their crops are to lift them up so they can have their food empty into their gizzards. I heard that they have holes in the top of their crop, leading to their lungs so I am worried if using a crop bra/sock would possibly cause water to go into the lungs?

I stopped feeding the bread and i'm gonna make sure they have grit from now on.

 

[MissChick@dee]

Do you have pics of where you keep your chickens? If all have this problem I need to know what you feed them on a daily basis. You might want to spend sometime reading on line about their digestive system and needs. My chickens crop gets larger after they’ve eaten and at night esp. they are bigger because they load up before bed time. Do any of them have stinky breath. Pics of them would be of great help too. It’s hard to tell without being able to see what your talking about.

 

[MissChick@dee]

It could be something in their respiratory system too. Do they Wezz when they breathe ? Is there any discharge coming out of their noses or mouths again pics would be of great help.

 

[cuteychickens15]

I feed them all layers pellets. 5 Hens and a Rooster. These are pictures of some different hens I have just taken photos of.

Thanks for your help <3

 

[MissChick@dee]

Okay thanks for the pic’s. I don’t know if they get out of their enclosure or not but from looking they don’t have much natural grit (small pebbles & rocks) if there was some in the enclosure to begin with, it’s gone, I see just fine dirt. Be sure to keep giving them grit it doesn’t have to be in a bowl throw handfuls out every couple days. Your hens could use oyster shell too that you can keep in a bowl next to the feeder. They NEED grit to digest their food and the oyster shell helps with calcium for egg shells to keep your hens healthy.
Their eyes look clear. Their nostrils look clear. Their crops do look big. Here’s how you can test for poor crop clearness.
Tonight pull up ALL their food. In the morning FEEL each chickens crops.
When you’ve done that let me know.

 

[MissChick@dee]

What kind of people food are you giving them. And how much of it?