Hard, grainy crop in the morning on Buff Orpington. Advice please!

KatelynA

Hatching
7 Years
Mar 30, 2012
4
2
7
Hi, new BYC member here. My boyfriend and I are raising 3 chicks, a 6 week old RSL (Biggie), a 5 week BO (Buffy Ball), and a 5 week Barred Rock (Blackula). We still have them inside in a big cardboard box since it is cold outside, but we are planning on moving them outside soon. The girls have access to water and granules at all times, and we take them outside for about 20-30 minutes each day for grit and sunshine.

My concern is this:

The Buffy Ball LOVES treats. The other night she gorged herself and her crop was really full and grainy feeling, about the size of a ping-pong ball. As far as I can tell, it's normal for them to have full crops at night, so I wasn't too concerned. However, in the morning her crop was still very grainy and hard, but it had reduced to about the size of a marble. The next night we didn't give any of the girls treats and the BO's crop was not nearly as full before bed. It was still grainy and hard in the morning though, again about the size of a marble. The following night (last night), we gave the girls some beet greens coated in olive oil since I was concerned about the hardness and size of the BO's crop. This morning, the BO still had the hard, marble sized crop while the other two had no discernible crop at all.

Other than the hard crop, the BO seems normal. She isn't having any trouble breathing and there is no foul mucus/fluid coming out of her. She's growing at the same rate as the other two, and I think she's pooping okay, although with all three in one box it's hard to say.

My boyfriend thinks I'm anxious about nothing, that she's just a Fatty Crumbcakes and eats all the time. I think it's weird that she still has a hard crop first thing in the morning where the other girls' aren't hard at all.

Any thoughts or recommendations?
 
You might put a bit of sand in their box - they will pick at it and it will help digestion. But I would stop giving them treats. They should still be on chick starter feed only. Treats, even as adults, should be infrequent. Unless you see something else symptom wise, I wouldn't worry too much!
 
klmclain,

We stopped feeding her treats and this issue seemed to resolve itself. She's been outside now for a few weeks with free access to lots of grit, and although she still eats like a pig, the problem hasn't recurred.

Thanks again for your advice!
 

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