Australorps seem to be prone to it for some reason. I have one that has had crop problems over and over. In May, found that the problem was a very large impaction (golf ball sized wad of stuff.) We did surgery and removed it, but her crop never seemed to regain tone. Because it was stretched out, she continuously overfilled it so that it became enlarged. Her problem really was crop stasis- or slow crop- at that point. I found that it was not usually a yeast infection, but bacteria that took up residence when it went sour. At first sign of enlargement, I would separate her and stop feeding her for a day or so. Her crop would begin to deflate as the slow crop drained. In worst cases, a round of antibiotics did the trick. Obviously this became tiresome. So, I decided to put her in a crop bra to see if that would help "bind" her crop and keep it from becoming enlarged, and support it so that it drained more normally. I am thrilled to say that it has done the trick! She doesn't love it, but it has worked for 3 weeks and I think will continue to do so. I may try removing it in a month or so to see if the crop has regained enough tone to keep from engorging.
Here's how I made the crop bra: I took one of hubby's stretchy black support socks (knee high ones) and cut off the foot. I then cut the resulting tube up the middle and spread it out into a rectangle. I measured my hen around her abdomen behind her wings. Using that measurement plus 3 inches for overlap, I cut one of my son's old baseball uniform belts to measure. (I first removed the buckle and leather tongue end) I then machine stitched the elastic belt to the widest end of the sock rectangle. I stitched velcro on the ends of the elastic so that it could be closed under her wings. At the other sock-end I cut a "U" shaped piece out to form straps that could be safety-pinned behind her neck. (Think of this whole design as an apron without the skirt: just a belt and the adjustable ties at neck.) I make sure the velcro belt isn't so tight that she can't breath. I can fit a finger under it. What works here is the support sock that fits over her breast and keeps it bound tighter, mimicking what her muscles should be doing. It really has worked for my hen amazingly well. Just took about 1 hour of work piecing it, and she has now begun laying again.
