BLRW hen with large mushy crop & severe underbite...what to do?

[prncssprplfrog]

I've kept an eye on this hen since we realized that her bottom beak was growing faster than her top beak. She has always seemed to hold her own, has never seemed malnourished or ill.
Yesterday, I noticed that she seemed a bit off, but since she and her little band are free ranging, had trouble catching her. We caught her today & I noticed not only that her beak is about 1/4" longer on the bottom than on the top, but she has a very large mush crop. When I picked her up, she drooled a bit. I put her in one of our little single coops with water only for observation.

I know I've read crop info on here many times, but now that I need it, I can't seem to remember what to do?

 

[burquechick]

I don't know. I hope someone more knowledgeable addresses your concerns. Maybe she's having a hard time eating with her beak like that. Sometimes my chickens get mushy crops, almost like there's air in there, but it goes away eventually and doesn't seem to bother them.

 

[burquechick]

Oh yeah, and I think you can trim beaks to encourage them to grow more properly. I read that in Storey's Guide. I'm not sure of specifics though and wouldn't recommend it unless you really know what you're doing, since you can cut them accidentally.

 

[prncssprplfrog]

After I get home tomorrow I'm going to try and trim her beak a bit since the bottom has grown to a flat spade-like shape and is white like my fingernail. At least that will help her a bit.
She does feel a bit thin around her front bone there. Why didn't I notice this before!

Anyone have ideas on helping the crop situation. It looks like a waterballoon size. I massaged it the best I could tonight when I went to check on her. I left her with just a large dish of water. I don't dare give her food, but I know she's hungry.

 

[Minniechickmama]

I don't know about the beak thing, but I do know something about sour crop. I just recovered one and had to put down another after trying surgery for impacted crop.
Give her only Apple Cider Vinegar in water for about 3 or 4 days. If she is in good condition, go 4. Then start her back on food with plain active culture yogurt, then add a bit of scrambled or hard-boiled egg. Then I started mixing a little bit of starter crumbles in the yogurt for a few days, then just plain crumbles and watch her. Before you do all that, you will need to make her vomit. There are two ways to hold her to do this 1. hold her by her legs and turn her upside down, then massage firmly, maybe even gently squeeze to get the gunk out. You want to try getting some of that mucous out because the sour comes from an over abundance of yeast and flora in her crop. The other way is to hold her upside down in your one hand while making her vomit out the gunk. I do the second and they hold still very well for me. When they are sick, I think they know when you are trying to help them, except for Polish, they have rocks in their heads.
Keep her in a cage by herself until this clears. It is usually from not getting something cleared out, maybe a big piece of corn or something, and it develops a sour crop from fermentation. The one I was able to get to recover is still regaining her strength and working on putting weight on. She was in really bad shape before I noticed that she wasn't clearing her crop. She is going to be a while before she will lay, but she is doing better. The other one, just kept getting worse and surgery was the last resort. She made it 2-weeks post op, then her crop perforated and it was time to say good bye to her.
Good luck. It will take patience and watching her good to see how she responds. You may have to make her vomit once or twice a day until you know she is getting things through.