5 week olds w/swelling where neck & shoulder meet

[LibertyRunMom]

Can't think of a better way to describe it... most of my girls seem to have a small round swelling on their right side toward the front... they all seem fine, I was just out there to give them fresh water and noticed one looked "lopsided" after checking her out more closely, I noticed almost all of them look that way - it was hard to tell if it was all 25 of them or not, they were running around. I'm hoping it's just because my ds got out there late this morning w/their feed and they just stuffed themselves.

Is this a problem? I've never noticed it happening before.

 

[ChooksChick]

Don't fret!

It's weird chicken anatomy, and we all notice it at some point:

The first stage of their digestive system is a thin-skinned pocket on the front of the right side where all of the food they eat is first stored and then slowly moved into the rest of their digestive system. It's called the 'crop' and it's normal for it to get swollen with food as they move through the day.

On my grown Barred Rocks, it's the size of an orange at bedtime- my hubby didn't notice it until we'd had them for a year and he freaked out when he saw it- thought it was a tumor and couldn't figure out how they all had the same one!

It's good to observe their crops and to recognize changes or when one is significantly different than the others.

 

[LibertyRunMom]

Thank you so much! I was so worried when I first saw them. I kept running out there every hour to check them, then read your post. This morning, they are all "better".

 

[ChooksChick]

No problem, glad to help!