Anything else to do?

[jacilee]

So I got older chicks over last weekend and in checking them over daily for mites and other issues I found one with a rock hard crop. I massaged it and it went down a bit by the next day. Last night I massaged it a little more and it was not quite as large or hard. Today I checked all of them, had to file some over grown beaks (I put a cinder block in for them to use) and the one chick still had a really hard ball in her crop. The other chicks had empty crops, so I tried to get her to throw up but she wouldn't, I massaged it a little more downward and I fed them all a warm mash with lots of water in it to try to help her pass whatever is in there.
Am I missing anything? She doesn't have stinky breath and she is acting a lot more, well, alive this afternoon and tonight when I locked them up. She actually ate something tonight so I am hoping I am heading the right direction, but since this is only my second year of having chickens I am here to ask more experienced owners.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Do they have grit available?

 

[jacilee]

Yes, I have grit out for them all the time. I just checked them earlier this morning and the one with the hard crop is doing really good, her crop was empty, at least as far as I could tell and she was bright eyed and actually looked like the other chicks, not droopy and dragging and all huddled up.

I did find one of the other had a hard crop, I don't feed them until I check them all, then they get water, then food, I am trying to make sure they have water in crop before they eat. I gave them a warm, wet mash again this morning and I think I will keep giving them that and just slowly reduce the amount of water in it.

I bought them last weekend and they were the smallest birds in a pen with a lot of other birds, I am hoping maybe when they got here when they had free access to food maybe they just ate too much, too fast?

I think, judging by the state of some of their feathers, that they were being bullied a lot by the bigger birds, maybe they weren't able to eat much and just pigged out when the chance arrived.
Does it seem like I am doing it right? I feel like I am but I always like to double and triple check.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Keep that water available all the time. You may be right about a pig out party when they had no one being a bully.

The mash for a week or so is not a bad idea. It will be easier on them in the beginning. Just make sure they have fresh water every day and plenty of it along with the feed.

 

[jacilee]

I keep fresh water in constantly, I change it as often as needed so it is always clean. Thank you so much for helping me out, I really do appreciate it.

I don't always like the internet, but I do love being able to connect with others that are more experienced than I to get advice from.

 

[azygous]

Commendations for being so attentive. Your chick may well have had compacted crop, and you managed to catch it very early while there's excellent chance for recovery.

Next time that happens, if it proves to be stubborn, olive oil is a good remedy.

As long as you've been feeding them moistened mash, why not take it to the next level and ferment the feed. You do it much the same as you've been doing, but by the bucket-full. It takes about three days for yeasts to colonize the feed, and you have a rich mash chock full of extra nutrients and pro-biotics, all for the price of a simple bag of crumbles. Look over on the Feeding and Watering forum for extra details.

 

[jacilee]

I thought yeast was a bad thing for the chickens. Is it a different kind of yeast, sour crop is caused by yeast and food fermenting in the crop isn't it? I will read the feeding section but wanted to ask anyway.

 

[azygous]

Like bacteria, there are endless varieties, both beneficial and not. The yeasts that colonize wet grains are beneficial, not to be confused with molds. A lot of people start their ferment by adding a little bit of apple cider vinegar that has the "mother" unfiltered out of it, but most of the yeasts are floating naturally in the very air we breathe.

These yeasts are in no way the same thing as the yeast that causes sour crop.

 

[jacilee]

Okay that makes sense, thanks so much.