2week old chicks impacted crops?!

[BethanyS]

While handling new chicks i noticed one had a funny smell when i held him close to my face.not rancid rotten but def abnormal. further reading i learned more about crops and noticed a few others have hard posably impacted crops! Reading eating grains or bedding can cause this :-( i am a bad mommy .i have been using straw bedding and when i shuffled around in the box found alto of seeds .i removed all of it and put down nothing but paper towel and water .i may just be freaking out cause they have been eating chick started all day.


How long should it take for crops to epty? I know you're not supposed to feed an adult chicken with an impacted crop. I don't want to starve them just want to be sure that they're not having problems? If they do I'm getting all this mixed information some people sayings for oil down their throats or feed them sand and massage crops. others say do nothing give them water and wait...

 

[Kim95037]

How long has the smell been there? They should go down overnight. I thought one of my chicks had an impacted crop, I massaged it and gave her a little bit of olive oil and that seemed to do the trick. But I may have been freaking out too. Its amazing how much food they can stuff in there. The massage and oil seems to be the most common thing people do. I dont know about the sand. You should only give them chick grit if they are eating anything besides chick crumbles and I forget how long you should feed them ONLY crumble. I always get carried away and want to give everyone snacks right away but Ive learned to be more strict and stick to just crumble when they are really young. You should post this in the Emergency Thread and do a search on chick with impacted crop.

 

[fried green eggs]

Do they have a pasty butt ? if so, you will need to soak bottom in warm water and gently clean with paper towel. I would get some chick grit and give it to them free choice. You can also add a tablespoon of cider vinegar to their water for a day or two. Don't beat yourself up we have all made mistakes when learning.

 

[Kim95037]

I think Fried Green Eggs is right ,the chick grit probably is a good idea especially if they had acess to seeds.

 

[BethanyS]

I noticed this smell yesterday afternoon. butts are clean poops are normal. they seem happy and healthy otherwise. I actually think their crops have went down already. Got raw vinegar in the water thanks. The smelly beak one concerns me the most...would they show breathing problems before a smell rose from repertory issues?

 

[Kim95037]

I think you could have a sour crop or a smelly beak without having breathing problems. Hopefully they will be ok by tomorrow. Having the smell only is a good thing! I lost a bunch of chicks to infectious bronchitis, that was heartbreaking. I think you'll be fine.

 

[BethanyS]

Will they be okay to go all night without food?

 

[Kim95037]

They should be fine, it might be a good idea to help them empty out their crop. Thats what I did when I suspected one was impacted. Just make sure they have access to water. Let me know how it turns out. Best wishes!

 

[BethanyS]

Thanks so much

 

[BethanyS]

Woke up this morning too hungry chicks with empty crops they are tweetn n eatn on their organic chick starter now .Smelly even smells better I'm still going to keep a close eye on him lol I'll be sniffing my chicks daily.