Little roo with giant mega huge crop, worry?

[navajas]

Hey folks,

I have a little GLW roo with a crop that must be 50% of his weight. I'm a little paranoid because my friend had a pullet with a compacted crop one time. He's around 10ish days old eating Scratch and Peck starter.

I'll try to attach a pic below.

Thanks in advance!


navajas

 

[junebuggena]

Do you have grit available to him? Scratch and Peck isn't processed pellets so they need grit to digest it properly.

 

[Jensownzoo]

As long as he's acting okay, I would recheck it in the morning before he has breakfast. If it's still really full then there is a problem. Empty and he's just a bit of a glutton!

 

[navajas]

No grit. I actually wondered about that given Scratch and Peck consistency. I'll buy some tomorrow morning. Er... Easter. Hmm. Well, we'll see.

Worst case scenario, can I massage it or something or is he just screwed?

navajas

 

[Jensownzoo]

The grit will only help if the food can pass into the gizzard. If it isn't leaving the crop, you can try hanging him upside down and massaging outwards to help him regurgitate it.

 

[junebuggena]

If you don't have grit on hand, then you can dig up a piece of sod with soil and put it in the brooder for him to peck at. He needs something at least. Basically, what's going on is that the food isn't getting ground up in the gizzard, so it can't move on to the intestines. The gizzard fills, but the chick isn't getting nutrients, so he eats more, filling up the crop. The soil may help get things moving.

 

[Ducks4us]

edited because i posted same thing about getting dirt outside for grit as the person above me just wrote!

 

[Jensownzoo]

Ah-ha, that makes a lot of sense junebuggena!

 

[navajas]

Well, Happy Easter folks!

My little rooster still has a full crop this morning. I fixated on it all night complete with disturbing dreams. Because that's the kind of dude I am. :-/

Anyway, I have him isolated in the brooder from the hens. It's his bachelor pad. His crop is definitely not "hard", and I can massage it and feel the gunk scoot around, but it IS still ****** big. It might be ever so marginally smaller than last night, but all the other birds were totally empty. (I had removed the feeder last night to see what was up.) He's behavior in his bachelor pad is not abnormal yet. So here's some questions:

1) He can't possibly starve with a full crop, right? (Well, specifically, IF food was moving through his crop to his gizzard, THEN he couldn't go hungry with a full crop.) So, unless he's blocked up, he's fine with water.

2) How long would it normally take for a crop to empty?

3) My plan now is to watch him for a bit. If his crop doesn't empty I have an eye dropper and some mineral oil which I've heard is a decent final effort. (I'm not slicing him open.) Is this a good idea.

Regardless I'll be going to get some chick grit this morning.


Thanks for your time and expertise.

 

[junebuggena]

Well, Happy Easter folks!

My little rooster still has a full crop this morning. I fixated on it all night complete with disturbing dreams. Because that's the kind of dude I am. :-/

Anyway, I have him isolated in the brooder from the hens. It's his bachelor pad. His crop is definitely not "hard", and I can massage it and feel the gunk scoot around, but it IS still ****** big. It might be ever so marginally smaller than last night, but all the other birds were totally empty. (I had removed the feeder last night to see what was up.) He's behavior in his bachelor pad is not abnormal yet. So here's some questions:

1) He can't possibly starve with a full crop, right? (Well, specifically, IF food was moving through his crop to his gizzard, THEN he couldn't go hungry with a full crop.) So, unless he's blocked up, he's fine with water.

2) How long would it normally take for a crop to empty?

3) My plan now is to watch him for a bit. If his crop doesn't empty I have an eye dropper and some mineral oil which I've heard is a decent final effort. (I'm not slicing him open.) Is this a good idea.

Regardless I'll be going to get some chick grit this morning.


Thanks for your time and expertise.

It should take about 12 hours for a normal crop to empty. Yes, they can starve, even with a full crop, if things aren't moving through the digestive track normally.