One of my 3 day old silkies has an engorged crop. It has been like this for the past 24 hours. She is smaller than the other chicks. Right now, she is fairly active but she seems to tire quicker than the others.
We just lost another small one yesterday who had stopped eating and drinking. I don't know if the first one had an impacted crop but it was not noticeable like this one.
I have studied the posts about offering bread soaked in olive oil. I didn't have the olive oil but I used vegetable oil instead. I haven't separated her from the other chicks so they ate the bread too. I have massaged her crop to no avail.
Last night about 11:00, I removed the feeder dishes thinking that her crop would at least go down somewhat. No change. I probably should have separated her but I was afraid I'd stress her too much. When the first small chick was having problems I separated her from the rest and put this chick in with her for company. This chick tried to jump out of the box and raised such a fuss that I put her back in with the other 8.
When I came into the room about 4:45 this morning the temperature was 88. I moved the light closer to increase the warmth then put the feeders back in the box. As soon as I did, all the silkies went into a feeding frenzy. Very few of them drank any water afterward so that scared me. I was afraid that they would have the dried crumbles in their crops with nothing to help moisten it up so I removed the feeders again. It's been about an hour now and I have placed a paper plate with Gro Gel on it to give them some hydration. The small chick pecked around on the gel and also got a drink of water.
She and most of the others are sleeping right now.
Should I just keep trying to massage her crop, separate her from the others, or both ? And should I put the feeders back into the box with them since they have eaten some Gro Gel now and some have gotten a drink.? My husband just massaged the chicks crop and said it is still soft. When he set her down in the box she went over and pecked at a couple of the other chicks then lay down with them.
I've only found a few posts about impacted crop in baby chicks but I'll keep searching. If there is a link to this particular issue I'd appreciate having it.
I'm really becoming discouraged and I don't want to harm any of them by my ignorance.
I hope my post makes sense. I haven't slept much since the first chick became ill.
Thank you for any help you might offer.
We just lost another small one yesterday who had stopped eating and drinking. I don't know if the first one had an impacted crop but it was not noticeable like this one.
I have studied the posts about offering bread soaked in olive oil. I didn't have the olive oil but I used vegetable oil instead. I haven't separated her from the other chicks so they ate the bread too. I have massaged her crop to no avail.
Last night about 11:00, I removed the feeder dishes thinking that her crop would at least go down somewhat. No change. I probably should have separated her but I was afraid I'd stress her too much. When the first small chick was having problems I separated her from the rest and put this chick in with her for company. This chick tried to jump out of the box and raised such a fuss that I put her back in with the other 8.
When I came into the room about 4:45 this morning the temperature was 88. I moved the light closer to increase the warmth then put the feeders back in the box. As soon as I did, all the silkies went into a feeding frenzy. Very few of them drank any water afterward so that scared me. I was afraid that they would have the dried crumbles in their crops with nothing to help moisten it up so I removed the feeders again. It's been about an hour now and I have placed a paper plate with Gro Gel on it to give them some hydration. The small chick pecked around on the gel and also got a drink of water.
She and most of the others are sleeping right now.
Should I just keep trying to massage her crop, separate her from the others, or both ? And should I put the feeders back into the box with them since they have eaten some Gro Gel now and some have gotten a drink.? My husband just massaged the chicks crop and said it is still soft. When he set her down in the box she went over and pecked at a couple of the other chicks then lay down with them.
I've only found a few posts about impacted crop in baby chicks but I'll keep searching. If there is a link to this particular issue I'd appreciate having it.
I'm really becoming discouraged and I don't want to harm any of them by my ignorance.
I hope my post makes sense. I haven't slept much since the first chick became ill.
Thank you for any help you might offer.
