6-day old chick- enlarged crop

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HickChick Wannabe

HickChick Wannabe

In the Brooder
11 Years
May 8, 2008
72
0
39
North Ridgeville, Ohio
The batch of chicks I have were hatched last Sun. through Tues. and one of the 2 smallest (possibly hatched last and are from a slightly smaller breed than the others) has had a recurring, extremely enlarged crop. It does go down, slowly, but quickly fills up again. I'm trying to keep her separated and am moistening her chick feed, and giving yogurt and applesauce, which I've read were good for this. Anything else I should try? I just read about trying molasses. What does that do? She's still acting normal, but I'm not sure if that will last. Can she recover from this? I've been dealing with this since I first noticed it Friday morning.
 
I would do exactly what you are doing. Are you sure it isn't just normal gorging and digestion... kind of like puppy belly? I would have high hopes until it starts acting poorly. Good luck and maybe someone with some more knowledge on this will chime in.
 
I would sure like to think so, but out of 9 chicks, none of the rest are anything like this one. It gets so swollen, that you can see more bare skin than feathers around this huge bulge. One of the others swells more visibly, but nowhere near as much as this one, so I'm just monitoring that one.

Should I add some grit, in case there's something partially obstructing it?
 
I would try searching the thread history under "emergencies/diseases/Injuries and Cures" forum. Do this by selecting "search" up in the blue line. In the search space, say "enlarged crop" "chick" etc... try different wording and only search the emergencies/diseases forum to lessen the feedback.

Here is one I found and there are a whole bunch. It's a great tool to get to know and a lot easier than waiting three days for someone to understand what is going on. I hope this helps.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=165520
 
Thanks for following this and trying to help! I'm searching, as well, trying to see which way I can get answers faster, before I have to leave work. (Ironically, I have less time at home.) I haven't and don't plan to try antibiotics and she's on leaves for bedding. That worked well last year and with the other chicks, but perhaps she found something in them. So perhaps I should supply grit, in case she needs it to help break something down? I thought the grit worked in the gizzard and that it might even make things worse if things were stuck in the crop. Wasn't sure. Any thoughts on this? And if someone can tell me that a crop can swell that much, that you see more bare skin than feathers and that's not a problem, then I will stop worrying, because otherwise, she's still been fine.
 
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You've got the right combination of stuff. Is the yogurt plain, without fruit? You're just giving crumbles otherwise? No big solid foods?

I wonder if she doesn't have a slightly constricted opening between her crop and her 'stomach', the proventriculus?

The babyfood applesauce will help cleanse the proventriculus, crop, etc, and has a good pH for the digestive tract. The pectin in it also encourages the growth of the GOOD bacteria in the digestive tract, which help the tract go at a normal rate of speed and empty out withotu going too fast for nutrient absorbtion.

I used it extensively when I had an exotic bird that contracted a disease that caused the digestive tract to not work. The difference in before and after applesauce baby food was absolutely astounding! Really remarkable.

Regular applesauce will do fine, too. You might have better luck (and easier storage and cheapness) of the baby kind.

I'd also remove the leaves and use shavings. It's more absorbant. IMO. Pine or aspen shavings are better and easier to keep clean. It's possible she actually got a piece of leaf in there just enough to partially block but not entirely.

If you used 'grit" i'd only use the play sand. But if you want to try to break something down, I like organic apple cider vinegar in the water. One teaspoon per gallon of water. Organic because it still contains living bacteria that will help digest particles that the gizzard can't get. It also works in conjunction with the applesauce to cleanse, correct pH, etc. It is rich in potassium which can help with her energy. And of course, we all remember that vinegar cleanses things.

I've never seen a crop swell that much on a baby that wasn't a parrot, but at least it's emptying. It's just emptying too slow. It might be just something in the way she developed but let's hope that if it is, it adjusts and stretches out as she grows.
 
She seems to be improving. Her crop is still large, but possibly slightly less so, and definitely not as hard and full, even right after eating. I did add some "grit" last night (crushed gravel from our yard, only the very fine, plus some play sand- they appreciated the dust bath, as well!) She's as active as the others and otherwise just fine, so I'm hopeful!

So now do I need to watch for sour crop? The yogurt's plain, no fruit. She's still on moistened crumbles, applesauce (adult), and the yogurt. (And possibly the stray bug that accidently finds it's way in.
big_smile.png
) She also gets the OACV water, and there's plain water in there as well. How will I know when to take her off the yogurt/applesauce/OACV diet?

I'm not too concerned about the leaves. It's a large enough brooder for them that it's easy to keep clean, and I have a vast quantity of leaves, so there's no need to skimp. I just add a new layer every day. They're tough oak leaves, so there's really no more of a chance of confusing them with food than there would be with shavings. It's worked really well for the last year, for chicks and hens, it's free, and they're composting my leaves for me.
smile.png
I think I'll keep them on grit, though, just in case.
 
A chicken's food goes, as is, into the crop, where it is slowly funneled into a very small " stomach" for some digestive additives--then to the Gizzard, where it is 'chewed', that is, ground into material that can be digested as it moves into the intestines and so on. The Gizzard is best able to break down whole grains and other chunky bits that they eat when full of grit. Longest lasting grit is Granite, that lasts well. All other rock and stone is so much softer, that it wears down fast and that is why granite grit is best choice, works really well for best utilization of feeds. My baby chicks are given free choice and they choose it with pleasure, Chick grit is fine Granite, as soon as they are given anything besides Starter Crumbles. Their tiny gizzards are at optimum function at an early age. I first give my chicks some treats such as rolled oats, lettuce, vegie scraps at 2/3 weeks with a dish of free choice Chick grit. I get my chick grit at TSC.
 
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