Yesterday Lola, our RIR, had a very full crop. It was bulging out far enough to cause concern, but it had gone down by this morning. I looked it up in one of our chicken books, and it said that eating long grass can cause a blocked crop. Has anyone here had experience with this? Thanks.
I have lost several hens to blocked crops to the point that I quit using hay as bedding. The thing is though that a healthy hen can easily digest even long grass hay. When they do get blocked up from it it is almost always due to another illness going on. The blocked crop is only a symptom that something else is wrong. So far I've had 2 with yeast infections in their crops, both eventually died, although one hen fought with it for two years. She would get sick, I'd start her on oral Nystatin, she would get better for a few months then get sick again. Again I think the Yeast infection was just another symptom- not the real problem. I suspected cancer as the ultimate cause. So if it isn't the hay itself that is making them sick, why did I quit using it? Good question Because it does get stuck in the crop when they are sick, and when it does sit in the crop it rots and causes more problems. Even a hen that is not digesting real well can pass pine shavings if she eats them. The hay is just too much in those circumstances. As for Lola, I wouldn't worry just yet, they do occationally gorge themselves especially before bedtime. If the crop is empty or nearly so in the morning, she's probably fine.
Thanks for the tips. We have been using hay and orchard grass as bedding. Her crop clearly goes down over night, but by the evenings seems unusually full. I did put a bit of grit out, just in case, and maybe from now on, i'll stop using the grass based beddings. Thanks for the tips!