Chicken slings neck down to push crop, what is he doing exactly?

[akitafriendakita]

I have a cockerel with a partial blockage in his crop or around his crop (maybe near the gizzard.) He's not digesting quickly anymore and his crop gets very full, to deal with this, I've been giving him massages to help him digest his food.

His crop will go down eventually when I massage it, during the massage - he has some kind of involuntary reaction where he swings his neck down as if he's trying to push his crop. Usually I let him go if he does it because I don't want to interfere. Is this a normal reaction or is it a sign that the massages are actually pushing food down maybe? Is it a sign of some other issue?

Just curious because it seems pretty swollen most of the day and I'm not sure if the neck slinging is a natural thing they do.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

How old is he?

What do you feed?

Photos? Bird, poop, crop?

I would not sling him. His crop is not emptying overnight correct?

Work on him drinking well, do provide grit free choice. You can give him coconut oil (just feed him about 1tsp, twice a day) then massage the crop to see if that helps.
You want to work on the crop emptying. Here's a read for you:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

 

[akitafriendakita]

How old is he?

What do you feed?

Photos? Bird, poop, crop?

I would not sling him. His crop is not emptying overnight correct?

Work on him drinking well, do provide grit free choice. You can give him coconut oil (just feed him about 1tsp, twice a day) then massage the crop to see if that helps.
You want to work on the crop emptying. Here's a read for you:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

He's fine for the most part. He's asleep right now so there's not much to take photos of, he's still pooping fine so food is getting through when I massage him although his poop is a little watery but otherwise solid/normal (possibly from him trying to drink more or something to get the food down.)

I think he just overate grass or something and is having trouble with it, so I've been trying to force it through with long massages as it has worked on other chickens who had similar issues in the past. He did get coconut oil though (and a sour crop preventative just because his crop isn't draining normally anymore.) His crop will go down if I massage it a lot, but does not go down on its own easily most days. Sometimes it does his pass the food through his crop most of the way though, although it still hasn't fully emptied like normal yet.

I offered him a ton of grit and I felt him eat some (during a crop massage) so I'm hoping his gizzard will catch up with the grass soon and he'll pass it. He has passed some undigested grass today so that why I believe it's just that, the grass is quite fine and should be passable eventually.

He's around four months old. He seems healthy and alert and doesn't seem to have anything serious going on yet, although he gets sleepy when his crop fills up (until I massage it.) He has been dealing with this enlarged crop for a few days, I'm sure he'll be alright though because he's still passing poop normally and not starving or anything. He just has to pass whatever is blocking his crop a little.

 

[akitafriendakita]

https://imgur.com/XqnwxrO

Here's a video I took of him earlier today, you can still he's still alert/active and not too low energy (bright eyes, looking around a little.) He acts normally when I put him outside, and still very much has an appetite/still eating normally. I have been giving him soft mash to help him pass food easily.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

How often are you checking the crop? Check it first thing in the morning before he's had anything to eat or drink - this is the best way to gauge function.

Does he live outside with other chicks?

 

[akitafriendakita]

How often are you checking the crop? Check it first thing in the morning before he's had anything to eat or drink - this is the best way to gauge function.

Does he live outside with other chicks?

Yes, he's outside currently. I massage his crop maybe every 1-2 hours (except at night.) I have been letting him eat freely because it's pretty lightweight for a chick and the food is still passing through so I figured it was safer that way.

Last time I had this happen to one of my chickens, she dropped a lot of weight (this was an adult chicken) so I wanted to avoid that situation with my lightweight chick because having her clear her crop (through expelling food/pushing it out through her mouth) didn't help.

It seems like he's doing better today or just having a good day, his crop is still big, but he isn't easily spitting up anymore when I push on it and he's still just as active as before. I can feel less air in the crop today so maybe he had a small infection going on since I am treating for sour crop too.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

His crop is going to feel large when he is eating/drinking.

Check his crop first thing in the morning before he's had anything to eat/drink. If the crop is emptying overnight, it does not need to be massaged during the day.

A chicken is going to spit up when you press on a full crop (after they have ate/drank) - they have not gag reflex. Stop pushing on the crop to make him spit up, he may aspirate.

 

[akitafriendakita]

His crop is going to feel large when he is eating/drinking.

Check his crop first thing in the morning before he's had anything to eat/drink. If the crop is emptying overnight, it does not need to be massaged during the day.

A chicken is going to spit up when you press on a full crop (after they have ate/drank) - they have not gag reflex. Stop pushing on the crop to make him spit up, he may aspirate.

I'm not intentionally making him spit up, it has only happened once or twice during previous massages where he spits up a tiny amount of water and I stop instantly and wait for him go back to normal. He's not in danger or anything, I haven't been tipping him to intentionally spit him because I'm aware he needs whatever calories he can get.

The massages are the only thing making food go down fast enough to make him comfortable (and keep pace with the other chicks) - otherwise it just stays uncomfortably full all day for him and he becomes less active when it fills up that much. I do check him in the morning, it's not emptying. The best he gets is sometimes it will be flattish, but I can still feel food in it. Most mornings it's still very full like a big bubble, hence the soft food which I think he has an easier time passing right now.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

The massages are the only thing making food go down fast enough to make him comfortable (and keep pace with the other chicks) - otherwise it just stays uncomfortably full all day for him and he becomes less active when it fills up that much. I do check him in the morning, it's not emptying. The best he gets is sometimes it will be flattish, but I can still feel food in it. Most mornings it's still very full like a big bubble

Get a fecal float to rule out worms.

 

[akitafriendakita]

Get a fecal float to rule out worms.

I did attempt to deworm him once so far, maybe I'll deworm again. He's still basically in the same condition as earlier, thanks for the suggestion.

I had the chance to get some closeup shots of his poop because I held him inside tonight to massage him for a while, he pooped on a towel normally after about an hour and a half after I brought him in. I noticed him poop several times today when checking on him.

I'll do a fecal float too, just showing you the normal pics. Note, the poop got slightly squished when I moved the towel, it was otherwise in a normal shape and I didn't notice much while just looking at it. It's very oily because he has been eating oil, that's not mucus (the shininess.) Those little yellow dots are tomato seeds, otherwise I don't notice anything that notable about it. Tiny bits of undigested fine grass, otherwise seems digested. The only thing a little odd here is that he ate that tomato like yesterday so obviously it seems like his digestion is moving pretty slow still, but I also saw him poop some tomato yesterday too so maybe the seeds were just slow to move.

I've been thinking about moving him into a kennel for a while off my yard just because I'm wondering if he just doesn't have good self-control about how much grass he eats and it just backs him up a lot. He likes to break out of the pen and graze, I have to return him maybe twice a day, he's the only one doing it. The only thing I consistently see is undigested grass sometimes but it's still passing through him, and he takes pretty big poops.

The only notable changes in his diet I can think of is that I switched him back to old chick feed he was on because the store I go to ran out of their usual stuff. Is it possible this could back up his crop a lot if he's just having trouble getting used to it? He has had a pretty varied diet so I didn't think something like that could throw him off, but maybe? He has been offered grit dozens of times, but I'll try again too just to see. I also gave him probiotics. It's sort of a mystery as to why it won't go down right now, worms seems the most likely though or he's just obsessed with grass and has no control because all of his poops have grass in it.

I may move them into my main pen soon too because my adult hens seem ready, which would make it a lot harder for him to escape and do his grazing thing. He spends most of his day looking for escape routes and is kinda odd compared to my other chicks who just stay in their temporary fenced pen.