Crop bound?

[ckseals]

How do I know if my chicken has a problem with her crop? If I feel for it, how do I know what is crop and what is breast?

 

[max101]

The crop is that ball you see when your chickens have hogged out. If you feel the chest you should feel it.
If the chicken has an impacted crop it will be hard and full in the morning
The chickens crop should be empty in the morning and it will fill during the day.
Is your chicken trying to swallow something
what makes you think your chook has an impacted crop

 

[ckseals]

well i just got these two girls from a ranch yesterday and when i put them in my coop last night, they were hogging out and the EE seemed like she was having trouble puttin it down and she was hacking and spit up some. This morning she seemed to eat a little, but drank water like it was goin outa style! The chest area of both these two girls are large like they have a big ball stuffed under their feathers. My pre-existing hens don't look like that. So my husband googled 'vomiting chickens' and it talked about the crop. I'm very new at this, so I'm not quite sure what to look for. So in the morning, I just feel the chest area and if it is hard, what do i do!? will the poop look a certain way if they have this issue?
Thanks for your response.

 

[max101]

If the crop is hard in the morning you have to give the chicken some olive oil and massage firmly
It may take a few days to pass
Take all food away they cant pass their food down so it just sits there
You have to take care not to cause sour crop
When you massage the crop massage firmly for at least 15 mins

 

[ckseals]

what is sour crop?

 

[max101]

Sour crop is when the food in the crop goes sour or off.
The chicken will have really bad breathe and if left untreated can have big problems.

 

[ckseals]

Ok, so the crop of that hen is big and hard in the mornings. So, I get a syringe and feed her some olive oil and how hard do I massage her crop? How will I know it has helped? Will I see a difference instantly? What will she do? Will she throw up? Will it go down?

 

[teach1rusl]

Make sure their food is put up tonight, so that she can't have eaten anything before you check her in the morning. And you can just gently but firmly massage the bulging crop (if it's still really big in the morning). A few of mine actually enjoy having their crops massaged just as a way of petting them when they're on my lap. But hopefully the crops will go down overnight. I think in some chickens, the crops just look different when full. Some of my girls gets noticiable bulging crops every day, and some don't. Good luck!

Edited to add: I'm sure you know this, but just in case...if you use a syringe to get oil down, make sure it's not one with a needle.

 

[cobrien]

Massage the crop gently, as gently as you can but enough to move the stuff that's inside it around a little bit. Massage in a downward direction. I've only had this problem once and it took hours for the crop to empty. Good luck.