I got questions about the crop.

[themoldypeach]

So I think I have a chick with cocci & she is separated & I will be starting her on the meds as soon as the farm supply store opens but in the mean time, I am paranoid about all my chicks now. We have 9 chicks, some orpingtons, marans, cochins; all around 4 wks old. Normally, I put them outside in their playpen in the morning and my daughter puts them in the brooder in the afternoons. But I took them out tonight to scour the brooder and noticed that everyone had a fluid sac on their chest. I panicked. We new mommies do that. I pounced on my laptop to check BYC and......I quickly found out that is the crop.
But my question (finally, right?) is this, should it feel like a like a little water ballon? Is this something associated with whatever is going on with my sick chick? It did not feel like it was full of food. It was squishy, like water.

 

[MrsBachbach]

Well, crops that feel like water balloons are not what you want to feel. Odd for four week old chicks. Were they on grass? Have you been giving them baby chick grit? If you don't have baby chick grit, get some. Especially if they have been on grass, hay, shavings etc. Chicks sometimes eat stuff they shouldn't and the grit will help grind it down for them to digest and pass through. It is a little strange that they all have crops like that. Before they get to food in the morning, check all their crops first thing in the morning and see if the swelling has gone down and disappeared. If it has, that is a good sign. If they are still watery and swollen, not a good sign. You may be dealing with some blocked digestive systems and/or sour crops. Sour crops can be dealt with, but sour crops because of a blockage in the crop or down the digestive line is not as easily dealt with and will cause the bird to starve to death.
So, just wait til morning and see what their crops are like. Maybe they just all had a good drink when you picked them up.