Crop problem or sick chicken?

[Dom95]

I have a Buff Orpington about a year and half old and I’m worried there’s something wrong.

I noticed her crop isn’t extremely full lately like it usually is.
Her crown looks normal and she’s running out playing with the flock too.

She laid her last egg the beginning of December and then had a hard molt.
During the molt she started sneezing and we noticed she was acting sickly. We brought her into the vet and they said everything seemed fine in all airways and bodily checks.
The vet said it was something viral and not dangerous that will go from hen to hen until it’s gone.
Over the next week/two we noticed it worked it’s way through the flock and she had gotten better.

The only other hen that had gotten bad was her sister with sour crop and the vet gave us medication because he thought she might have been internally laying. After 5 days of medication she was back to normal with no issues.

About a week ago we noticed the original hens crop wasn’t overly full and only had 25%-50% full even before bed. In the morning her crop seems to be empty and her droppings look normal.

Should I be worried about it not being full up at night?

They also have free choice feeders but mostly noticed free range picking at least 6 hrs a day.

 

[Faiyumi]

Well I'm going to say not to worry too much about it. She's not laying eggs now and probably just doesn't need as much energy, so she's not eating as much. She may so just be bored with her food. Try wetting it for her and see if that makes her eat more. Just put it on a plate and add some water. If she eats a lot more, then she's very likely just bored of the food.

That's not to say it can't be anything serious but I just wouldn't be worried about it yet until there are more signs. A crop doesn't always need to be gigantic. In fact that can technically be bad for them for a few reasons but good luck stopping them from eating when they want to eat lol. I like to let the adults fast for a day every blue moon. It can highlight any crop problems and give their crop a needed break. So not being full isn't a bad thing.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I have a Buff Orpington about a year and half old and I’m worried there’s something wrong.

I noticed her crop isn’t extremely full lately like it usually is.
Her crown looks normal and she’s running out playing with the flock too.

She laid her last egg the beginning of December and then had a hard molt.
During the molt she started sneezing and we noticed she was acting sickly. We brought her into the vet and they said everything seemed fine in all airways and bodily checks.
The vet said it was something viral and not dangerous that will go from hen to hen until it’s gone.
Over the next week/two we noticed it worked it’s way through the flock and she had gotten better.

The only other hen that had gotten bad was her sister with sour crop and the vet gave us medication because he thought she might have been internally laying. After 5 days of medication she was back to normal with no issues.

About a week ago we noticed the original hens crop wasn’t overly full and only had 25%-50% full even before bed. In the morning her crop seems to be empty and her droppings look normal.

Should I be worried about it not being full up at night?

They also have free choice feeders but mostly noticed free range picking at least 6 hrs a day.

If she's eating/drinking and active, then I would just keep watch on her.
A hen that is coming out of molt and not laying may not eat as much.
Watch to see that she's eating her normal nutritionally balance feed.
Did the vet weigh her? If so, then you have a baseline weight to work with - weigh her weekly to see if she's lost a lot, stayed the same, etc. A molting bird doesn't eat well.
Getting your vet to run a fecal float to see if worms may be a problem can also ease your mind a bit.
I notice when my hens are not in lay they don't eat as much.