Cream Legbar not growing/crop problems

[jdwilk]

It looks like she is adjusting her crop. Her crop might be impacted. Can you feel of it in her upper right chest and tell us if it is full and doughy or hard, or if it is empty or full and puffy? Do you have chick grit available for her? It should be available in a separate container from her food. Is she out on grass yet? What all does she eat besides eggs? What type of bedding are you using?

@azygous is the crop problem specialist, but I would be inclined to offer some chilled coconut oil cut into pieces and later massage her crop downward several times a day, if it feels firm or doughy.

Thanks for your reply. She is currently on grower feed and has access to grit. She also goes outside, but only for limited time each day right now. There is nothing doughy or hard. I don't know how to explain it well, but with all of my other hens I can easily locate their crop. Hers is difficult to locate and when I do it feels empty. I just offered some eggs because she is currently not growing and I wanted to see if she showed interest. She is with her buddy in a large brooder with pine shavings.

 

[Eggcessive]

Some chicks may eat pine shavings. I would check her crop during the day to see if it fills up. Water intake is very important if there is any crop impaction. In rare cases the crop could be on the opposite side.

 

[azygous]

It appears this video has problems only you can fix @jdwilk

 

[jdwilk]

It does appear this chick, who is so cute I can barely handle it, has a crop disorder. Or it has a blockage that is not allowing the crop to drain properly.

If you've already give the coconut oil, be sure to massage it into the crop. Then if the chick is still not perking up, do more oil.

This could be a FTT (failure-to-thrive) chick and the digestive system isn't working efficiently. Time will either improve this situation or she may get worse. There isn't much more you can do with such a chick other than special feedings as you're doing.

Thank you so much for your response. I am truly so sad. I had a broody hatch five babies this year (mostly cockerels!) and we were only left with one little pullet so I got her these two legbar friends so I could introduce them together. Her sister has a crooked spine and what appears to be wry tail and is going to need some extra help. My friend currently has her with some bantams to see if she can get her to safely thrive.

I have not tried the coconut oil, but I can give that a go. Any other ideas for special foods??
I don't want her to suffer. I can't see how she will be ok with the bigger hens.

 

[jdwilk]

I have used crumbled tofu with an FTT chick and it thrived. It was way behind the other chicks. I fed tofu sprinkled with Poultry Nutri-drench to all the chicks so the small chick would be stimulated by competition to eat. Tofu is a high protein food, very easy to digest. You can also get strained baby food or baby bird formula which is sold at pet stores.

Tofu is a great idea! I also have Nutridrench. Going to give them some today. Thank you