Chicks with swelling on one side of chest

[Kajoda929]

I don't understand what's going on. One of the breeds I have was, by nature, off balance, but I currently have three breeds of chicks right now. All but four are the same age, yet every single one is a different size and many of them have swelling on one side of their chests. The photo attached is of the smallest chick with the most prominent swelling. Some have diarrhea, most don't. All are eating and drinking normally. Two have spit up clear liquid. None have swollen abdomen and the only one that might be considered lethargic is the smallest, but she still runs around like normal.

I looked up coccidiosis, but it didn't seem like all of the symptoms lined up, nor did ascites...I'm just confused and could use some advice...

 

[azygous]

Are you new to chicks? How long have you had these? Have you fed them things such as fruit or bread or corn? Have you provided the chicks with chick grit?

The "swelling" on the chests appear to be their crops, all on the right side, am I correct? However, the crops appear to be overly full. I suspect they've been eating things small chicks normally shouldn't at such a young age. Who has been feeding them? Are there any small children that seem captivated by the chicks and may have tried to share a cookie or candy with them? This happens more often than people think.

Are they behaving sluggishly? Is their poop tiny and dry and very hard? Are they pooping at all?

 

[Kajoda929]

Are you new to chicks? How long have you had these? Have you fed them things such as fruit or bread or corn? Have you provided the chicks with chick grit?

The "swelling" on the chests appear to be their crops, all on the right side, am I correct? However, the crops appear to be overly full. I suspect they've been eating things small chicks normally shouldn't at such a young age. Who has been feeding them? Are there any small children that seem captivated by the chicks and may have tried to share a cookie or candy with them? This happens more often than people think.

Are they behaving sluggishly? Is their poop tiny and dry and very hard? Are they pooping at all?

They have been eating high protein chick starter and were introduced to leaves less than a week ago, but the swelling had already begun before that. The swelling is not hard, it feels like a squishy ball? That's the best way to describe it. As I said in the post, some have diarrhea, but that is new and I believe it's only two. The rest are all pooping completely normally. My older chickens are between 4 1/2 and 5 1/2 months old and are all perfectly fine, no issues. They all had access to grit and no children(mine or otherwise) have been near them unless under supervision and no food was brought near them, including cookies and candy. The only extra thing theyve been given is meal worms as a treat on occasion, same as all of my others...

 

[MarkJr]

Check it first thing in the morning before they eat breakfast. My last batch of chicks were little pigs and would have distended crops like that. If it’s full in the morning, then there is further troubleshooting to do.

 

[MarkJr]

The tossing up clear liquids should be kept a close eye on.

 

[Kajoda929]

I just looked at another article on here and sour crop does sound very likely...Will try treating for that and keep a close eye on them to see if it improves.

 

[Kajoda929]

Check it first thing in the morning before they eat breakfast. My last batch of chicks were little pigs and would have distended crops like that. If it’s full in the morning, then there is further troubleshooting to do.

It's full all day. It is also squishy. I am fairly positive it is not a food issue.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Check it first thing in the morning before the chick has had anything to eat/drink.
If the crop is still full, then I would start treating like it's sour crop.

Get some photos of their overnight poop too.

 

[azygous]

Leaves and meal worms at that early age would pack the digestive system, overloading it from crop to gizzard, and you would see what you're now seeing with these crops. As chancy as it is to be making a diagnosis over the internet from just seeing photos, I'm as certain as one can be under these circumstances you are dealing with a crop and gizzard impaction issue.

Here's what I recommend. Get some actual granite chick grit from the feed store and sprinkle it over the ground or floor of their brooder. That's the easy part. Next, you will need to pick up each chick, pry open each beak and get at least a half teaspoon of coconut oil into them.

The easiest way to administer oil to a tiny chick without aspirating, is to measure out the individual doses, break each into tiny pea-size pieces, and chill until solid, then slip the chilled oil pieces into the beak until you've given each chick a full dose.

Next, very, very gently massage each crop to break up the hard crop contents. You should be able to feel the contents go down and out of the crop. You may need to repeat the process with another dose of oil and massage after an hour if the crops don't empty.

Not doing this risks some of these chicks dying, if not all of them.

 

[Kajoda929]

The swelling is gone in all of the chicks. I'm not sure what it was, but as I tried to clarify previously, the introduction of leaves and crushed mealworms(that none of my older flock had a problem with when I gave them to them younger) was after the random swelling had already begun. I still don't really know what caused the issue, but it seemingly went away on its own. The swelling started in a small way weeks ago, but when I posted this, the one chick I showed photos of was worse and had just gotten that bad. I sat with her and, yes, I massaged her crop, but I didn't even mess with any of the rest, yet all of them are better now. I tried explaining that her crop was soft and didn't feel like there was food in it, which is still what it felt like when I massaged it. I did not feel anything, large or small, that needed to be broken down to pass through and if that were the issue, the rest likely wouldn't be completely better a day or two later, but thank you anyway.