Crop Issue in 5 day old Chick

[2theDogz]

I have several 5 day old chicks which I hatched from my own birds. I noticed one has a very large and squishy crop. Seems fine otherwise & all others are healthy with normal crops. I gently massaged it a little & it caused a little liquid to back up into its mouth.. So I VERY carefully tilted the chick over and massaged again.. About a tablespoon of thick, foamy mucus like liquid came out. This reduced the size & feel of the crop by about half.
I've never experienced this in such a little, -but- there's a backstory:
A few months ago I posted here on BYC about doing a crop surgery on a young cockerel (successfully thanks to great advice!). He's doing well, but has a very large pendulous crop. Well, the mother of the chick in question is from the same hatch as that cockerel. She's completely normal. But I'm wondering if it's possible that what I'm seeing in this chick is genetic pendulous crop? Or would there be some other explanation?
I should note that she has 3 other chicks in this hatch and they all seem fine.
Add: The cockerel is not the father of any chicks. He's completely unable to mount a hen.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

That's an interesting question, I have no idea if a pendulous crop could be genetic.

Pendulous crop is usually from the crop being stretched and normally seen in older birds.

Do you provide grit for your chicks?

For this little one that is having issue now, I would provide grit, give her some coconut oil. Massage. I wouldn't vomit her anymore.
Hopefully the crop will clear in a day or two with the oil.

 

[2theDogz]

That's an interesting question, I have no idea if a pendulous crop could be genetic.

Pendulous crop is usually from the crop being stretched and normally seen in older birds.

Do you provide grit for your chicks?

For this little one that is having issue now, I would provide grit, give her some coconut oil. Massage. I wouldn't vomit her anymore.
Hopefully the crop will clear in a day or two with the oil.

Thank you. They do get grit. I'll try the oil, & was also wondering if a little probiotics yogurt might be beneficial.
It's so bubbly & that accounts for alot of the volume.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Is she pooping?

I would try a little yogurt stirred into her feed, along with the oil.

Bubbly crop is pointing toward it being sour, so if it doesn't get better in a couple of days, then I would consider giving an anti-fungal.
Awfully young to be having any crop issues.

 

[2theDogz]

Is she pooping?

I would try a little yogurt stirred into her feed, along with the oil.

Bubbly crop is pointing toward it being sour, so if it doesn't get better in a couple of days, then I would consider giving an anti-fungal.
Awfully young to be having any crop issues.

Yes, pooping, eating, drinking, energetic. I have seen her adjusting her crop a few times. Gave the yogurt & some mineral oil & have massaged a couple times. Going to remove food & water tonight to see if/how much it goes down.

Adding: Hard to say for sure, but she may not be keeping pace with the others growth-wise. They've just turned 1 week old so we'll see if the gap continues to widen.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Good idea on taking out the food to see how much it's emptying.

Some do fall behind only to catch up. Crop dysfunction could be one issue, hopefully she's just a bit runty. Pooping, eating/drinking and energetic sounds very good!

Let me know what you find out in the morning.

 

[2theDogz]

It was still about 50-60% full, but overall feels a little better. I'll keep up with a little oil & massage 3-4x a day. Fingers crossed . Thank you for your help!

 

[Janzen]

I have several 5 day old chicks which I hatched from my own birds. I noticed one has a very large and squishy crop. Seems fine otherwise & all others are healthy with normal crops. I gently massaged it a little & it caused a little liquid to back up into its mouth.. So I VERY carefully tilted the chick over and massaged again.. About a tablespoon of thick, foamy mucus like liquid came out. This reduced the size & feel of the crop by about half.
I've never experienced this in such a little, -but- there's a backstory:
A few months ago I posted here on BYC about doing a crop surgery on a young cockerel (successfully thanks to great advice!). He's doing well, but has a very large pendulous crop. Well, the mother of the chick in question is from the same hatch as that cockerel. She's completely normal. But I'm wondering if it's possible that what I'm seeing in this chick is genetic pendulous crop? Or would there be some other explanation?
I should note that she has 3 other chicks in this hatch and they all seem fine.
Add: The cockerel is not the father of any chicks. He's completely unable to mount a hen.

Did your issue resolve with coconut oil? I have a 6 day old chick with identical symptoms. She seems normal otherwise.

 

[2theDogz]

Did your issue resolve with coconut oil? I have a 6 day old chick with identical symptoms. She seems normal otherwise.

I used a little mineral oil & massage twice a day for 3 days. It very slowly got better...or maybe he just grew into it. Lol. He's doing fine now at 4weeks old.

 

[Janzen]

My chick has been doing well after I started a treatment for sour crop. I used the monistat 2% and the chick’s crop did a 180. It feels normal now, is emptying at night, and she continues to thrive. She is a bit runty so maybe it was that, but I would swear sour crop based on symptoms. I have another day and half of treatment to go. As young as she was, I never thought sour crop was a possible issue, but I think it was.

I’m also doing probiotics in the water as an added measure to hopefully prevent anymore issues with the digestive tract.