- May 16, 2011
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I originally posted this on the raising chicks board but figured that I might get some information here about this.
I have a 5 week old with a distended crop. I discovered it last night but I'm really unsure how long she's had this as it's been a bit since I've picked her up. I only noticed it because she was hunched down in the corner of the pen, not moving. She's usually in the middle of the other chicks when I approach the pen as she is the most shy of the 6. She's also a lot smaller than the other 5 and has had NO tail feathers since the day I brought them home from the feed store. She had a mild case of pasty butt and I had to clean her twice in the first week she was home and after that I didn't have any issues with it. But still, at 5 weeks, no tail feathers.
I've also noticed that she is stumbling around when she tries to walk and as the other 5 have no issues walking around the pen I'm concerned.
I made her "vomit" last night to get some of the fluid out of the crop. I didn't notice a rancid smell but the liquid was a beige color. The size of her crop never went down and I left her alone for the night. This morning I watched her eat, still stumbling over to the feed, and when I felt the crop later I could feel the food in there. I still isolated her from the others and gave her olive oil and water in a small bowl. I checked on her a moment ago and felt the crop, no more feed and it is back to being soft and squishy again.
She is pooping so I'm going to assume that the food IS passing through her system and when I opened her beak I couldn't detect that her mouth smelled sour. I will check again later and see if maybe I just couldn't smell right the first time.
We do not have money to bring her to the vet, especially since we live an hour drive away.
Any ideas would be appreciated. As I said before, shes small and has always been smaller than the others. I would have figured that if she wasn't going to make it she wouldn't have lived 5 weeks already but what are the chances it's something serious?
I have a 5 week old with a distended crop. I discovered it last night but I'm really unsure how long she's had this as it's been a bit since I've picked her up. I only noticed it because she was hunched down in the corner of the pen, not moving. She's usually in the middle of the other chicks when I approach the pen as she is the most shy of the 6. She's also a lot smaller than the other 5 and has had NO tail feathers since the day I brought them home from the feed store. She had a mild case of pasty butt and I had to clean her twice in the first week she was home and after that I didn't have any issues with it. But still, at 5 weeks, no tail feathers.
I've also noticed that she is stumbling around when she tries to walk and as the other 5 have no issues walking around the pen I'm concerned.
I made her "vomit" last night to get some of the fluid out of the crop. I didn't notice a rancid smell but the liquid was a beige color. The size of her crop never went down and I left her alone for the night. This morning I watched her eat, still stumbling over to the feed, and when I felt the crop later I could feel the food in there. I still isolated her from the others and gave her olive oil and water in a small bowl. I checked on her a moment ago and felt the crop, no more feed and it is back to being soft and squishy again.
She is pooping so I'm going to assume that the food IS passing through her system and when I opened her beak I couldn't detect that her mouth smelled sour. I will check again later and see if maybe I just couldn't smell right the first time.
We do not have money to bring her to the vet, especially since we live an hour drive away.
Any ideas would be appreciated. As I said before, shes small and has always been smaller than the others. I would have figured that if she wasn't going to make it she wouldn't have lived 5 weeks already but what are the chances it's something serious?
