Hello, I have a 2 week old Wyandotte with a hard crop, much harder than the other 3 chicks we have, the other 3 feel more mushy. She also smells a little foul and isn't growing as fast as the other chickies and is smaller in size. She's not lethargic and seems to be eating, drinking and pooping fine. Any thoughts or treatments on this poor gal? I'm a 1st time chick mama so any advice would be great
Try getting a little bit of olive oil into the chick. Then gently massage the crop in a circular and downward motion. This should quickly fix the problem if there is one. It won't hurt it if a hard crop is its default state.
give sand or small grit for littles if your feeding anything but chick starter that says it doesn't need grit
Be aware that bread will cause impacted crop even with adequate grit, even in adult chickens. I would never feed bread to baby chicks.
