DonyaQuick
Songster
I have a roughly 1.5yr old barred rock rooster. I think his crop is moving things through since he's pooping, but it seems much slower than it should be since it wasn't emptied all the way last night - which is the only reason I know there's something up with his crop vs other stress issues. He is currently lethargic but drinking a lot and will readily eat anything sugary or protein-rich, like sugar water, berries, and bug treats. He will also chug his regular feed if I offer it by hand. His poop is often watery because he's drinking a lot, but otherwise he definitely has solid, normal-looking material in it. I've seen some normal cecal and regular poops although they're smaller than normal. His comb and wattles look fine. I think the progression of events that led to this was an instance of my hens attacking him (I think they thought he was attacking me at the time; he wasn't), after which he was reluctant to eat out of feeders if they were nearby and then I suspect he binged on a bunch of dandelions that he got access to. I don't see any obvious sign of injury from the hens aside from a few bent feathers and it doesn't seem like sour crop (yet) - crop is firm, breath is ok. I got him to eat some unrefined coconut oil this morning. I've done periodic crop massages. I have him in the house right now so the hens don't badger him and he pretty much just wants to just stand in place and occasionally drink. I can't tell how much of the lethargic behavior I'm seeing is stress from the social upheaval vs malnutrition from the crop issue. I'm also not sure if I should continue keeping him isolated vs. keep him with the ladies - I don't know which is the less stressful thing to do for him in this situation.
Although I don't think it's directly related, I lost a hen earlier this year to a combination of sour crop and what was probably cancer, although her condition was much worse much faster and it was probably a tumor that caused her crop issues. I don't see anything like that in my rooster and his poop looks a lot more normal than hers did. Still, seeing crop issues again in a different bird is freaking me out a bit.
EDIT: I forgot to add my rooster is also molting and has been molting for a while. It's a soft molt that started well before the incident with the hens.
Edit #2: this is his most recent poop if it helps determine anything else that could be wrong.
Although I don't think it's directly related, I lost a hen earlier this year to a combination of sour crop and what was probably cancer, although her condition was much worse much faster and it was probably a tumor that caused her crop issues. I don't see anything like that in my rooster and his poop looks a lot more normal than hers did. Still, seeing crop issues again in a different bird is freaking me out a bit.
EDIT: I forgot to add my rooster is also molting and has been molting for a while. It's a soft molt that started well before the incident with the hens.
Edit #2: this is his most recent poop if it helps determine anything else that could be wrong.
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