Crop problems

[Casper417]

I have 5 year old Brahma with a tennis ball size crop. She has suffered with crop problems on and off alot but this time i can't seem to clear it.
The crop hangs quite low so i would say she has got pendulous crop and possibly slow crop.
Shes quiter than normal but still wants food and water and gets exciting when she's let into the garden. Theres no liquid coming out of her mouth and she is still pooing abit.
Ive been massaging the crop it's soft and squishy but then theres a small hard lump sort of at the back and if you touch that it seems to hurt her alot.
I took her off food for 36 hours but the crop is no smaller and shes still bobbing her head up and down.
Ive give her a small amount of soft mash and yoghurt.

Is the small hard lump impacted? Or could it be something else with it hurting her.

Please can anybody suggest what could be causing her crop not to go down at all.
Thank you.

 

[azygous]

Everything I will say in this post is based on my experience as presented in my short article. https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

Your hen does sound like she has a pendulous crop and could benefit from wearing a crop bra to help the crop to empty each night.

It also sounds as if she has an impaction that may or may not be going yeasty. I would first give her a teaspoon of coconut oil and massage the crop. Wait an hour and give her more oil with more massage. This should break up the hard mass. If it doesn't, give her a stool softener capsule with one more teaspoon of oil and wait an hour and massage.

If the crop won't empty completely overnight, then you might try the crop bra.

 

[Casper417]

Everything I will say in this post is based on my experience as presented in my short article. https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

Your hen does sound like she has a pendulous crop and could benefit from wearing a crop bra to help the crop to empty each night.

It also sounds as if she has an impaction that may or may not be going yeasty. I would first give her a teaspoon of coconut oil and massage the crop. Wait an hour and give her more oil with more massage. This should break up the hard mass. If it doesn't, give her a stool softener capsule with one more teaspoon of oil and wait an hour and massage.

If the crop won't empty completely overnight, then you might try the crop bra.

Thank you for such a quick response. I went and got some coconut oil and she loves it shes had 3 rounds of oil then massage, the crop has gone down alot and shes stopped bobbing her head up and down so she must be feeling better.
Im going to look into a crop bra as shes had a pendulous crop for a while now so i think one will help, especially as she is the one who likes to eat all the food before everyone else gets a chance.
Thank you for all the help

 

[Casper417]

Can anyone suggest the best feed for my chicken with pendulous crop.
I used to feed them just mixed corn, but as i can't soften that i got some layers pallets and soaked them in water so she could digest them easier but she will not eat it.
Her crop is still full in the mornings and im still using coconut oil and massages which does make the crop go smaller. And im making her a crop bra to help.

What would be the best long term feed for her because at the moment shes just on coconut oil and a small amount of chopped hard boiled egg.

Any suggestions please.
Thank you.

 

[azygous]

Where you live, can you buy a commercial all-flock feed? Layer feed is not very tasty to chickens. My hens never liked it, either.

Feeding corn isn't a balanced diet. It'd be like us eating only bread and nothing else. If there is no place to buy feed, the internet has recipes for mixing grains for a homemade mix. https://www.theprairiehomestead.com/2016/06/homemade-chicken-feed-recipe.html

If you ferment it, it will be easier to digest and it releases even more nutrients for a healthier chicken.

 

[Casper417]

Where you live, can you buy a commercial all-flock feed? Layer feed is not very tasty to chickens. My hens never liked it, either.

Feeding corn isn't a balanced diet. It'd be like us eating only bread and nothing else. If there is no place to buy feed, the internet has recipes for mixing grains for a homemade mix. https://www.theprairiehomestead.com/2016/06/homemade-chicken-feed-recipe.html

If you ferment it, it will be easier to digest and it releases even more nutrients for a healthier chicken.

Thank you for your suggestions.
She used to love layers pallets until i started giving them the mixed corn then she decided she doesnt like layers pallets.
My local stores only seem to sell chick crumb, layers pallets and corn so i will have a look online and see what i can find on there that might be easier for her crop to break down too.

 

[slordaz]

My chickens refuse to eat the pellets but go to town on the crumbles, I feed a commercial feed that is for different types of flocks and then have either crushed egg shell or oyster shell on the side for the layers, but occasionally even my 6 year old rooster will eat a bit of it but not very often. They do love grains but only if lacto fermented which is easy, I will do that with 3*1 that has corn barley and one other I can't think of as just working on coffee here, fill a bucket half way with that then add water to finish filling, stir it when ya give it to them and add in as much as you took out that way it stays fermented. a Hen can eat the chick starter but you will need to have oyster shell or crushed egg shell on the side for a laying hen

 

[Casper417]

Ive seen a feed called 'growers mash' i guess that might be softer.
Can i give her a feed for younger growing chickens Even though shes older? Will it contain the right nutrition?

 

[azygous]

It's the protein content you want to pay attention to. Most general feed formulas from chick feed to all flock feed are around 18% to 20% protein. Layer feed for non-laying chickens isn't recommended as is 22% game bird feed since too much protein and calcium is hard on kidneys over a long period.

You can safely feed chick feed even to adult chickens which I've done.

 

[Casper417]

It's the protein content you want to pay attention to. Most general feed formulas from chick feed to all flock feed are around 18% to 20% protein. Layer feed for non-laying chickens isn't recommended as is 22% game bird feed since too much protein and calcium is hard on kidneys over a long period.

You can safely feed chick feed even to adult chickens which I've done.

Thank you for all the info, these are my first chickens so every day im still learning new things, theres so much to know about their health and feed.

Im looking at getting chick crumb or growers mash. It will probably be the chick crumb i buy as that's in my local shops whereas the growers mash i would have to order a 20kg bag online but i read the expiry date is shorter than other corn so because i only have 3 chickens i dont know if they would eat it all.
I can get a 5kg chick crumb bag just to see if they will eat it.

Again thank you for all the help and advice, i just want my chickens to be as healthy and happy as possible as there getting older.