Bloated chest in pullet- Sour crop??

[KnightsMist]

Hi, I'm new to chickens. One of my 8 pullets (16 weeks) has a bloated chest. Not sure if it's sour crop?? I noticed it yesterday while they were all out free ranging. I was hoping her crop would clear overnight but she's the same this morning. I have them all in their run today so I can monitor her more easily.

I'm including some pictures from just a few minutes ago. None of the other chickebs have this. It feels like she has a water balloon in her chest. Not hard, soft and squishy. She's not reactive to me palpating it. I've opened her beak a couple times yesterday and today to check for food/water and don't see anything. I did try tipping her upside down a couple times yesterday for a few seconds each time, nothing came up.

Thoughts?? I haven't really noticed this before, it seems new to me, but am I just paranoid? Is this normal?? She is eating and drinking and moving around though the first sign I noticed yesterday that something may be off was she was a bit more sluggish than usual.

Thoughts?? Should I crate her without food? I did take away their feed overnight but like I said, no change from yesterday to this morning.

 

[KnightsMist]

Bumping this up- I'm guessing it's early sour crop but still looking for feedback! I took her off feed this afternoon, will see how she does overnight again and tomorrow without food, will try more massaging to see if that helps. At what point should I try medication? And what?

 

[JustBabyMargo]

@azygous @Eggcessive

 

[JustBabyMargo]

Not sure what pendulous crop feels like? Hopefully the experts chime in. But if it is sour crop I am also dealing with this. Hopefully this can help:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ter-and-acting-lethargic-please-help.1489730/

 

[JustBabyMargo]

@Swbertrand1 helped me!

 

[KnightsMist]

Not sure what pendulous crop feels like? Hopefully the experts chime in. But if it is sour crop I am also dealing with this. Hopefully this can help:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ter-and-acting-lethargic-please-help.1489730/

Thanks- reading through your thread now!

 

[Eggcessive]

She may have a pendulous crop though she is young for that. @azygous is a good person to ask about crop problems. Check her crop again in the morning to see if it has emptied somewhat. In the morning isolate her inna dog crate with water and some electrolytes, but no water, unless her crop has emptied somewhat. Here is a good thread from Azygous:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

 

[KnightsMist]

She may have a pendulous crop though she is young for that. @azygous is a good person to ask about crop problems. Check her crop again in the morning to see if it has emptied somewhat. In the morning isolate her inna dog crate with water and some electrolytes, but no water, unless her crop has emptied somewhat. Here is a good thread from Azygous:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

Thanks. I just went out and put her back in the crate in the coop (very large walk in coop) so I can monitor her poop overnight. I noticed when I cleaned the poop boards today that there were 2 wet spots in the pdz, like she peed, but do chickens pee?? It looked clear and wet. When I took her off the roost bar just now there was another similar wet spot under where she was so I'm guessing it's definitely her. Have never seen it before.

She's in a crate with no food or water for the night. I took a few minutes to massage her crop down, too. Will see how she is in the morning. No sour smell or odor from her yet.

Thanks for the info, reading everything I can.

 

[azygous]

It's very unusual for such a young pullet to have sour crop. Most often we see it in older hens as they age and their health isn't as resilient. Often, the sour crop is a secondary issue, reproductive problems and even cancer being the trigger.

In a youngster, sour crop can be triggered by eating moldy food or by being on an oral antibiotic. Are either of those applicable in this case?

Another cause of sour crop can be an impaction from eating too much grass or alfalfa or other high cellulose food. Would that be a possibility?

In the morning, see if the crop has emptied. If it's still full, try to feel it for hard lumps such as grassy stems. Also, pay attention to what her poop looks like. It really helps to place the patient on clean towels so the poop is visible and easy to describe or photograph.

 

[KnightsMist]

It's very unusual for such a young pullet to have sour crop. Most often we see it in older hens as they age and their health isn't as resilient. Often, the sour crop is a secondary issue, reproductive problems and even cancer being the trigger.

In a youngster, sour crop can be triggered by eating moldy food or by being on an oral antibiotic. Are either of those applicable in this case?

Another cause of sour crop can be an impaction from eating too much grass or alfalfa or other high cellulose food. Would that be a possibility?

In the morning, see if the crop has emptied. If it's still full, try to feel it for hard lumps such as grassy stems. Also, pay attention to what her poop looks like. It really helps to place the patient on clean towels so the poop is visible and easy to describe or photograph.

Crop is still not empty, see new pix below. She does look improved a bit from last night but still not normal. I opted to keep her in her crate still withholding food/water for the day. I did massage her crop for several minutes- it is starting to feel a bit less squishy and a bit more firm, though I would not describe it as hard (yet?).

It looks like she's still expelling a lot of clear liquid in addition to her poop, shavings under her roost were quite wet again as the night before. Her poop was dark and liquidy- see photos.

To answer your Qs:

-They have not been on any antibiotics. The only medication they've had is the medicated chick feed they were on initially.

-When they free range, they do have access to our compost bin, which I had read a lot of people recommend so I never thought it could be an issue. We toss leftover food (fruits/veggies) in there, and with the summer heat and humidity it does mold- I just assumed they wouldn't eat the bad stuff, since so many people recommend giving them access. It is possible she did eat some of the moldy food, but I did not observe it.
Their regular chicken feed and any fruit or veggies I deliberately give to them are free of any mold. They have 24/7 access to a bowl of grit and also free range near daily or otherwise are in their large run during the day.

-We have a 5ac farm with other animals, so grass and hay are a plenty. Again, I had seen/read other people recommend giving them hay to eat etc. so periodically I do put a small pile of hay in their coop for them to forage through- never knew this could be an issue.