Dark Brahma needing diagnosis

[ChickenKeeper3092]

Hey yall, we’ve had our chickens for nearly a year and just signed up to this forum, and need some help diagnosing a problem in our dark Brahma hen, as there aren’t any avian vets in the area and we’d have to make quite a drive to get her to one

she’s been having these problems for a while but we only really noticed it after treating one of our other chickens for a sour crop a few days ago. Her symptoms include:
enlarged, squishy crop
craning her neck and stretching out her head with her beak open) it’s hard to explain but it seems as though she’s either trying to vomit or get a deep breath)
rear feathers being dirty
hanging her beak open as though she’s having a hard time breathing

at first we believed it to be an impacted crop, but combined with the other symptoms we aren‘t really sure what to make of it, and any advice given here would be greatly appreciated

Thanks, Stepp

 

[WhySayWhat]

How is her access to grit? Definitely sounds like you have a problem brewing, but I can't help with that...there are more knowledgeable folks around here though! I hope you find what you need!

 

[ChickenKeeper3092]

She should have fairly good access to grit, we let them roam on a semi-daily basis and there are a few crushed stone paths in our yard, but we can get them more grit if it would help.

I forgot to mention in the first post but her breath doesn’t smell like a sour crop and she appears to be the only one with this particular set of problems

 

[WhySayWhat]

She should have fairly good access to grit, we let them roam on a semi-daily basis and there are a few crushed stone paths in our yard, but we can get them more grit if it would help.

I forgot to mention in the first post but her breath doesn’t smell like a sour crop and she appears to be the only one with this particular set of problems

I always provide “chicken grit” in a little bowl alongside the oyster shell, even though I have rocky/sandy soil. It ensures they have access to “correctly sized” grit year round.