• giveaway ENDS SOON! Cutest Baby Fowl Photo Contest: Win a Brinsea Maxi 24 EX Connect CLICK HERE!

CPQ crop impaction or something else?

ShazUK

Chirping
Jun 19, 2024
56
188
86
I think one of my 9 week old CPQ hens has a crop impaction. She's been repeatedly swallowing for about 6 hours, I originally thought she'd eaten too much but she's still doing it. She was eating her game bird crumbles a few hours ago, but I've not seen her eat or drink for a while. She's not pooped since I've put her in isolation about an hour ago but I don't see anything unusual in the aviary. I've given apple cider vinegar in her water and attempted a crop massage.
Is there anything else I can do?


I've added a video so you can see what she's doing. Could this be something else? She's not started laying yet, but her sister started laying two weeks ago.

The aviary floor is covered in tree bark and their hides are filled with hay. She's currently on easichick dust free wood bedding for isolation.
 
Last edited:
What does her crop feel like?

Have you looked inside her beak for any obstruction?

If she's been doing this for hours and not eating/drinking, she's not going to last a lot longer.

If she does finally poop, get some photos of that.

Not sure what you can do, she's gasping so much, it would be hard to get fluids into her without her choking/aspirating.
 
What does her crop feel like?

Have you looked inside her beak for any obstruction?

If she's been doing this for hours and not eating/drinking, she's not going to last a lot longer.

If she does finally poop, get some photos of that.

Not sure what you can do, she's gasping so much, it would be hard to get fluids into her without her choking/aspirating.

Unfortunately she passed away not long after I posted.
Her throat and airway seem clear, but her little face is so tiny, I can't see very far into her throat.

It didn't feel full to me, but my experience is very limited as I've only been keeping quail a couple of months and this was my first problem since hatching. At first she just seemed to be adjusting her crop, and she'd often do it after eating a large meal of something she really likes. When it progressed rather than got better, I automatically jumped to something stuck, but I don't really know. She was always quite a bit smaller than our other hen, so I'm not sure if this could have been something she hatched with.

Her aviary mates (parrots x8 & the three remaining buttons quail) appear to be absolutely fine at the moment, but my partner and I are going to give them a more thorough check in a couple of hours after I've searched the aviary floor for any poop that might look unhealthy.
 
Unfortunately she passed away not long after I posted.
Her throat and airway seem clear, but her little face is so tiny, I can't see very far into her throat.

It didn't feel full to me, but my experience is very limited as I've only been keeping quail a couple of months and this was my first problem since hatching. At first she just seemed to be adjusting her crop, and she'd often do it after eating a large meal of something she really likes. When it progressed rather than got better, I automatically jumped to something stuck, but I don't really know. She was always quite a bit smaller than our other hen, so I'm not sure if this could have been something she hatched with.

Her aviary mates (parrots x8 & the three remaining buttons quail) appear to be absolutely fine at the moment, but my partner and I are going to give them a more thorough check in a couple of hours after I've searched the aviary floor for any poop that might look unhealthy.
I'm sorry to hear she didn't make it.

It can be hard to know what happened. Possible it was something developmental or genetic if she was always smaller than the others.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom