chicken with a hard crop

[chickenlady2004]

hi everyone, i post on here often for tips and advice, but today i am seriously worried about my chciken. she is acting normal but when i was out with them she came and got on my lap, after a short few minutes i realized she had a very hard crop, i went a grabbed one of her sisters and it feels very different from hers. could this be a sour crop? i massaged it a bit, but not sure if this is because she was eating or if this is a real issue.

 

[Lillith37]

Crops will fluctuate in size and feeling throughout the day. Best to check them first thing in the morning. If the crops are empty, then don’t worry. If one is full and hard, it’s likely impacted. It one is full and soft like a water balloon, it’s likely sour. This is a good article to get you started on diagnosing crop issues.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

 

[chickenlady2004]

Crops will fluctuate in size and feeling throughout the day. Best to check them first thing in the morning. If the crops are empty, then don’t worry. If one is full and hard, it’s likely impacted. It one is full and soft like a water balloon, it’s likely sour. This is a good article to get you started on diagnosing crop issues.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

i went out again and it almost feels hard but squishy? like play dough almost

 

[Lillith37]

i went out again and it almost feels hard but squishy? like play dough almost

Sometimes crops can feel like that too. It’s important to check first thing in the morning. That will give you the best indication of any issue. If everyone is acting normally I wouldn’t panic.

 

[chickenlady2004]

Sometimes crops can feel like that too. It’s important to check first thing in the morning. That will give you the best indication of any issue. If everyone is acting normally I wouldn’t panic.

ok thanks so much i’ll check in the morning

 

[aldarita]

If the crop is very hard, it looks like she has an impacted crop (impacted crop usually turns into a sour crop if not treated properly). You need to separate your hen and keep her with no food, just water. Keep massaging her crop as many times as you can. When you are massaging try to "break" the hard stuff with your fingers but be very gentle. I usually make a solution of 5 g of baking soda in a pint of water and let them drink it (this helps with the pH of the crop). It is important for your hen not to have any food at all until she empties the crop completely. This might take some time (depending on how long she has had the impaction) and how much it breaks up to be digested and expeled. Once her crop is empty you can start giving her some wet feed (not grain or anything hard) for a couple of days and always check that her crop is being emptied in the morning. Hopefully she will recover in few days. Don't worry about her not eating, she has enough energy stored to last a few days. I recommend you make a search on Impacted crops to get more information

 

[NatJ]

hi everyone, i post on here often for tips and advice, but today i am seriously worried about my chciken. she is acting normal but when i was out with them she came and got on my lap, after a short few minutes i realized she had a very hard crop, i went a grabbed one of her sisters and it feels very different from hers. could this be a sour crop? i massaged it a bit, but not sure if this is because she was eating or if this is a real issue.

Yes, it can be a symptom of a problem, but it could mean she just had a big meal.

I would check again in a few hours, and then check again first thing in the morning (preferably before sunup, so she has not eaten yet.)

If it is empty by morning, it is fine.

If it is not empty by morning (or at least close to empty), then yes you should see about treatment.

Since the chicken is acting fine now, I think there is no need to do anything just yet. Doing things has the potential to cause new problems, when she might be just fine (simply full of recently-eaten food.)

 

[chickenlady2004]

Yes, it can be a symptom of a problem, but it could mean she just had a big meal.

I would check again in a few hours, and then check again first thing in the morning (preferably before sunup, so she has not eaten yet.)

If it is empty by morning, it is fine.

If it is not empty by morning (or at least close to empty), then yes you should see about treatment.

Since the chicken is acting fine now, I think there is no need to do anything just yet. Doing things has the potential to cause new problems, when she might be just fine (simply full of recently-eaten food.)

ok yeah that’s what i was thinking, we just got new feed so i gave them a lot as we ran out for a day (i substituted with things from the house) so i gave them more than usual. hoping that is the case. i’ll check in the morning