enlarged crop (full of rocks?)

[hoppy]

I have a brahma hen with a huge crop- big as a softball(bigger then a baseball). it's very firm and does not go down at night. I'm pretty sure she has eaten the gravel in our driveway. I noticed this 2 weeks ago.
does anyone know, will these stones pass or will she eventually starve when no more food can fit in her crop?
(she is a bit thin now) she is laying well and eats well,. any advise?

 

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

There was a crop surgery posted here that was out of this world! You may want to check it out. Here is the link to that thread ---->

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=21291

 

[MissPrissy]

If you saw her eating gravel then she probably had something in her crop she was trying to pass and get down to her gizzard to grind up.

There are a few good threads here on impacted crops. Try putting her a place by herself where she can eat nothing ut what you give her. Offer her some bread soaked in olive oil to see if it can start lubricating whats in there. You can do soft crop massage and try to help her over the next 48 hours to move whatever is in there. Make sure she does have plenty of water. If that doesn't help, short of a vet that will do surgery for you I can't tell you what to do. There is a thread on the forum with a home surgery on a crop. This is not recommended for just anyone to try to do.

Hopefully someone else will come along with more ideas.

 

[hoppy]

no, I did not see her eat the gravel, but I can't think of what else it could be. there is no doing crop massage, it is hard and I can't do the surgery since that is practicing veterinary medicine without a license even on your own animal. I will keep an eye on her, she still eats and lays so she can't be that bad off. if she gets bad, then I will have her put down. I've talked with several vets about her, they are not interested in doing surgery on birds.