Chick Diagnosis

[Skwishface]

Hi! I'm a first-time chicken mama, so I fully acknowledge that I may be *ahem* mother-henning over my little darlings a bit. Still, a couple of issues have come up that have me concerned. I thought I'd ask you wonderful, knowledgeable, helpful folks.

1 - My little Barred Rock seems to have a perpetually enlarged crop. She's the only BR I've got in the flock, so I don't have another chick of her own breed to compare her to. The Ameraucanas and the Wyandotte do get larger crops when they eat, but it goes down from time to time. The BR's crop seems to always stay enlarged. It's not impeding her movement, and she's just as peppy and active as the rest of the girls. The internet suggests it might be an impacted crop, but with no change to her behavior other than a big ol' bulge under her neck, I'm hesitant to start cramming mineral oil down her gullet.

2 - One of my Ameraucanas is getting matted fuzz under her beak. She's the only one in the flock with this going on. She wasn't feeling very photogenic, so you can't see in the pic, but the matting goes all the way down her neck. I tried sniffing the fluid to see if maybe it smelled sickly, but it just smells like baby chicken. She doesn't seem to be any more messy when drinking than the other birds, and she's plenty energetic and sociable. Any idea what's going on?



Thanks!

 

[Skwishface]

Note: that's also her in my avatar pic, before the below-beak wetness. For comparison's sake.

 

[bloom chicks]

Congrats on your new chicks. You have a cutie.

I can't answer your question but I am sure someone with more knowledge can help. The people on here are great.

 

[AHDCST]

I have Bard Rocks and they do seem to keep a more noticeable crop. Keep in mind that these chicks are under a light and are growing so they eat pretty much all the time! The one with the matting under her beak and on her neck has me a bit baffled. I'll try to see if I can find any info that may be helpful. Well welcome to the flock and the wonderful life of keeping chickens or more accurately to being kept by chickens!

 

[AHDCST]

Okay, I don't think your chick has impacted crop. That would be caused by them eating either too long grass or too much grass. The chicks shouldn't be eating grass yet. If it is impacted it would feel hard like there was a golf ball in it. The treatment for an impacted crop is a little olive oil on its food and massaging the crop to get things to move on along. The olive oil won't hurt the chick so I would probably go ahead and give it to her/him.

 

[Skwishface]

Thanks! Her crop isn't super hard to the touch, just kinda bulbous. She's the biggest of the chicks, and I've only got her flockmates to compare her to, so it could just be that my perspective is skewed. Regardless, I'll probly give her a bit of olive oil just to be on the safe side.

Oh, I think I've found out why my other chick's got matted feathers. Seems that drinking gets messy when your beak is rapidly growing crooked.



Sigh. She had a perfectly straight beak a week ago, and here we are. I don't have high hopes for her longevity, based on everything I've been reading online about crooked beak birds. Of course this happens with my kids' favorite bird. I'll give her a fighting chance to make it, but I'm trying to plan for the flock as a whole. So now the question is, do I go get another chick to integrate into the flock while they're still young and impressionable, planning for this little crooked beak darling to die young? Or do I let the flock go as they are, and know that I'll have to mess with replacing her later on down the line?