- Dec 9, 2009
- 5
- 0
- 7
Hello, I've been reading all the various threads about crop impaction, sour crop, etc., and find much conflicting information. I have an appointment with the vet this afternoon but in the meantime I am still trying to sort out possible answers to this issue. I have a very alert, healthy & happy looking 3 month old Wyandotte pullet ("Catherine") with a very enlarged crop. She does not act sick in any way. It is somewhat larger than a golf ball and I first noticed it on Sunday (today is Thursday). She is eating, drinking, pooping and moving about normally - running, flying onto the roost, etc. She is not depressed nor lethargic. She is socializing with her sisters normally. Her crop does not feel hard - my neighbor who is a vet (but not a bird vet) felt it and said it felt like it contained fluid rather than fibers. Their is no sour smell coming from her as far as I can tell. This morning at 5:30 a.m. I felt her crop while she was still roosting and had not eaten since 8:30 last night, and it felt perhaps a little smaller than yesterday but still quite enlarged. My chicks have a large enclosed run as well as their coop, and since they were small I have given them various greens and fruits as treats in addition to their regular ration (grower pellets). Since they've gotten larger I have stopped tearing their leaves of spinach & lettuce into tiny pieces, but have given them some larger stalks of spinach, clover, lettuce which they have seemed to tear up into smaller pieces without problem. I think in retrospect that she could have gotten some fibrous stalks which I've read can cause impaction. However, as I said, things are moving through and she's pooping and the crop isn't hard. They have oyster grit as well as plenty of sand, dirt & small pebbles in their run. Do crop issues sometimes resolve themselves without treatment? Is there a range of what's normal for a growing pullet? Can anyone provide some additional guidance as to what this might be? Again, I'm sure the vet will help but I welcome more information from those experienced chicken parents out there. This is my first brood of six hens and the first problem I've encountered so I'm definitely still learning and want to avoid more problems in future. Thanks in advance for your help.
