2.5 year Pendulous Crop turned nonexistent?!?!?!

[Acefit411]

I noticed yesterday my 2.5 year old hen who has had pendulous crop for two years, didn't have a swinging crop when she ran to me.

She has lost a lot of her feathers during this molt, looks a smidge thinner, feels lighter, but otherwise eating and drinking.... I did catch her resting a lot yesterday, puffed up and all.

I picked her up this morning before letter them all out for the day, felt the crop, it was soft, and almost nonexistent for her!!!

What is happening?
Is the crop working better or is she starving?

I did notice a small runny nostril on her this morning...

What should I be on the look out for?

 

[chooks4life]

I'd feel her breast on the perch at night. If those muscles are going, then she's wasting. But good to bear in mind that the moult can also impact both her weight and her appetite.

It's also possible she's managed it herself. I've generally found chooks to be quite quick on the uptake regarding consequences of eating certain things; they will often choose softer, smaller foods when necessary, seek out the correct diet for their condition as much as possible, stuff like that.

There are some plants, and nutrients, that will also restore elasticity and strength to ligaments, connective tissues, membranes, etc, she may have been getting into such things. Just off the top of my head, higher levels of sulfur, copper, vitamin E, vitamin A, and actually quite a few others can and often do have such drastic restorative impacts on a weakly body.

Sometimes, loose muscle/tendon tone or similar can happen almost immediately in response to something the animal is sensitive to, and it fixes up again almost as quickly when the offending dietary item is removed.

Whenever health changes in animals, I review their diet for the last month at least, as well as their environment, and try to spot all changes, because most of the time, that's wherein the cause lies.

Best wishes.

 

[Acefit411]

Thank you chooks4life!

I think the only thing I have noticed as far as her diet would be is that I have allowed my hens to break down the garden. I planted tomatos, kale, eggplant, zucchini, peppers, Swiss chard, parsley and mint. I also switched their layer feed from crumbles to pellet.

She is the top hen, and my roosters favorite!

She has a big appetite - I watched her eat all day, but her crop is not nearly (if not flat), as the other hens. Strange to look at .....

If it is "wasting" what can I do???????

Any and all help is greatly appreciated

 

[Acefit411]

I might add the feed switch was 3 weeks ago and the garden take over has been about the same.

 

[chooks4life]

Thank you chooks4life!

I think the only thing I have noticed as far as her diet would be is that I have allowed my hens to break down the garden. I planted tomatos, kale, eggplant, zucchini, peppers, Swiss chard, parsley and mint.

I also switched their layer feed from crumbles to pellet.

She is the top hen, and my roosters favorite!

She has a big appetite - I watched her eat all day, but her crop is not nearly (if not flat), as the other hens. Strange to look at .....

If it is "wasting" what can I do???????

Any and all help is greatly appreciated

If it's wasting there would probably be a good chance that there is some internal blockage preventing either sufficient intake or correct assimilation. If it's in her crop the problem is fairly easily fixed, but if it's in her stomach or elsewhere internally it'd be harder to fix. It all depends what's wrong, but if she's eating well and looks alright, chances are she will be fine. But good to keep an eye on her. I'd feel her crop carefully to see if it's got anything hard or just a wad of packed material in it.
Best wishes.

 

[Acefit411]

Thank you again, she is one of my original hens.... She's always been as tough as nails. I hope that she will be okay

 

[chooks4life]

Thank you again, she is one of my original hens.... She's always been as tough as nails. I hope that she will be okay

Good luck, I hope she will be fine. I've got some old originals too and it's always a little bit like the end of an era to lose them, when you had them for so many years and they were pets as much as livestock.

Best wishes.

 

[Acefit411]

Thanks again for listening .... I find this family of chicken owners the most supportive.

My hen pebbles is plugging along, I haven't had to intervene yet.... I get teased by my family for over managing my flock. I often wonder - LOL

Anyway, I consider myself still new to raising chickens (only 2.5 years in), so when something comes up that I know is off about any of them, I tend to obsess a bit. Don't get me wrong - I have had my issues with impacted crop, sour crop, crop surgery, gizzard surgery, frost bite (Roosters comb), hawk attack (a successful save), and internal egg laying problems. So after learning all that - what else could there be ?!?!? LOL, I would rather never have to find out, but I know it's inevetable I will have to learn more ....

On to another day enjoying my little gems that bring me such joy

Thank you
~ A

 

[chooks4life]

Ah yes, there's always more to learn, hopefully not the hard way!

For what it's worth, if you were 'over-managing' the flock, they'd be dropping like flies. There's no weaker bird or animal than one that is overprotected. Sounds counter-logical perhaps but that's always been what I've seen.

Best wishes.