2 week old chick, possible crop issues

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chicken headed

chicken headed

Hatching
9 Years
Apr 9, 2010
4
0
7
my chicken's neck/breast area is swollen on the right side. it looks sorta like it might be an abscess but after reading the internet maybe it looks like crop trouble.

she's 2 weeks old, been inside and outside, eats chicken feed only (or whatever else is can squeeze down it's throat)

it seems to be in good spirits, not lethargic, and it doesn't react strongly to having the area handled. we tried putting oil down its throat with an eye dropped and massaging the area hoping for some fountain of brown to spew forth but no luck.

all suggestions would be very appreciated. thanks in advance!
 
I just posted this question not long ago (like yesterday!) and it is apparently quite normal for them. Does this chick look markedly different from your others?

Have you been able to monitor the problem over 24 hours? Is the bumb less noticeable first thing in the morning? Some of ours have much bigger bumps than the others but as I was told, if they are acting ok they are probably fine. I was quite worried too.

I think your little chick is fine though. I hope so, because if yours is in trouble so are mine! As I'm sure you know the crop just stores the food before it goes to the stomach so the more it eats the more is waiting there. It should go down first thing in the am as they have not been eating all night.
 
Grit and yogurt. I have sand available to my chicks immediately, just because they probably will eat something other than chick starter, and they need grit to grind it up. Fine sand is all you need, just put a handful in there and they will do the rest. I have a cardboard can box full of sand that is 1" deep in my brooder pen, under the light, and I toss some scratch in there for the Black Jersey Giants daily, just to make sure they get some grit.

Then start offering them yogurt, about as much as they can eat in ten minutes, then remove it. The cultures do them a lot of good and may prevent a number of problems down the road. If they ignore it at first, put a couple of mealworms in it....they won't ignore that!

JerseyGiants005.jpg


I also have been augmenting my chick scratch with a little bit of wild finch seeds. They are very small, usually smaller millet, flax and tiny sunflower seeds, and they are small enough for the soon to be pullets. They sure like it well enough, and as long as they have good "through put" (meaning big poop and lots of it...) feed 'em!

Once you have a source of grit established for them, get them going on chick scratch, mealworms, and fresh spinach leaves. Once they have some grit in their gizzard they can eat just about anything that doesn't eat them first, and you'll be amazed at how well they do. They know how to act and what they need to eat, so if you provide them nutritious food and the grit they need to digest it, they will do the rest.

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Last edited:
thanks very much for the replies and sorry for the double post.

it hasn't been a day yet, im not terribly worried but weve just lost another chick recently, so am a little paranoid i suppose.



will try the sand and other suggestions thanks so much! will report back good or bad news!

thanks again again!
 

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