Chicken with bulge on shoulder and missing feathers and more missing feathers from their backs

KAGRW

Hatching
5 Years
Mar 5, 2014
3
0
9






We just took over some chickens for a friend and the white leghorn is half the size it used to be and when I looked at it I noticed that it has a bulge on its shoulder and missing some feathers on its neck. I'm not sure what the other chickens are but they are missing feathers on their backs. They were all housed with a rooster. We just got them today.
 
Welcome to BYC. I see a silver laced wyandotte, a barred rock or dominique, maybe an australorp, and maybe a buff polish. The white leghorn has a bulging crop which may just mean she has been eating a lot today, and may have been kept from food before. Check it in the morning to make sure that is it mostly empty. If it is big and hard, she may have impacted crop, or if big and squishy, she could have sour crop. Either of those would make her lose weight, but she may have been bullied or kept from eating before. Here is some info on crop problems:
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/04/answers-from-chicken-vet-on-impacted.html
http://www.tillysnest.com/2012/01/crop-issues.html
 
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Make sure they have a grit accessible. I always have a bowl of sand for them to eat if they want grit. This will help their crops work properly. :)
 
Chick grit is bigger than sand, and would be more appropriate for their age. They sell it in small bags which should last them until they need the grown up kind about 11-12 weeks.
 
When I checked the chickens crop this morning it was soft and tons smaller. I got some feed that has pre and probiotics, oyster shells, and some mite treatment. I'm hoping it all works. We also already have some grit so I put that in their run also. So with the sour crop is it ok to eat the eggs from that chicken if she lays any?
 
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Sounds like she probably doesn't have sour crop if it's gone down and soft. You can eat the eggs unless you worm them (which would be a good idea) or give other drugs or antibiotics. SafeGuard horse paste or goat wormer is good.For mites, I would recommend 5% Sevin dust or permethrin. DE doesn't help much if they have them already.
 
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