Enlarged crop on one side, is this normal? (pic included)

[Momaha]

No change with her this morning. I have checked several times and she is not drinking or eating. Just stands around and even sleeps standing. When I go to pick her up she doesn't even try to run away like the other chicks as though she has no energy to move.

Update: ChickensAreSweet, and I think one other person, got me pointed toward an impacted crop and found a suggestion to put a drop of olive oil down her beak so I am going to try that. She does not have pasty butt and I have yet to catch her pooping.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Quote:
Does she feel very lightweight compared to the other chicks?

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=474196&p=1
this thread might help- it talks about crop massage also

Please note that I have never dealt with an impacted crop...just trying to help.

Hopefully others will help!

Also please note that you should always get your chicken to DRINK the liquid that you place on the inside of the beak along the side. Don't shove liquids in or it will possibly cause them to aspirate. I couldn't tell from your post whether you had heard this or not.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=2077566
see post #7 for feeding liquids

Just a cautionary note is all!

 

[idispatch4911]

I'm new to this, but I'm amazed at how many problems chickens can have!

 

[Momaha]

Quote:
Does she feel very lightweight compared to the other chicks?

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=474196&p=1
this thread might help- it talks about crop massage also

Please note that I have never dealt with an impacted crop...just trying to help.

Hopefully others will help!

Also please note that you should always get your chicken to DRINK the liquid that you place on the inside of the beak along the side. Don't shove liquids in or it will possibly cause them to aspirate. I couldn't tell from your post whether you had heard this or not.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=2077566
see post #7 for feeding liquids

Just a cautionary note is all!

God bless you ChickensAreSweet! That helps a lot. She weighs considerably less than her hatchling counterparts. I have continued to massage her crop and just today while I was doing that she pooped. Her poop was mainly green and solid-ish with a lot of water. I have not been able to get to throw up as described in the link you posted above. Her crop continues to grow and sounds very squishy. How do I get her to throw up? Did I understand she was holding the chick upside down and messaging her crop at the same time? I sent her an email to get clarification. My pullet is slowly getting some energy back and just caught her drinking and eating a little. She is moving around a little more and looking more livelier.

 

[Anianna]

I saw you mentioned you suspected the bedding, but I missed anything more about that if you mentioned it. What makes you suspect that and what kind of bedding are you using?

 

[Momaha]

Quote:
Hi Anianna-

I am using straw and she has only had free choice chick starter and boiled egg yolks once. The size difference between her vs. her hatchlings tells me there must be a nutrition problem and from what I have read under the suggested links on the sticky from the Emergencies/Diseases/Injuries and Cures it doesn't look/feel like an infection. Just a grossly enlarged pendulous crop that never seems to empty properly.

Any ideas? Any pearls of wisdom would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Anianna]

If you're pretty rural and have kids, send them out to see if anything died in the woods and have them collect the maggots. Some of the "old country wisdom" type materials I have read says the maggots will eat the impaction in situations of impacted crop gone sour.

If you have no other options, this may be worth a try. It's risky, but it may be a last resort.

The Poultry Help site seems to recommend surgery for the matter.

 

[Blue_Myst]

You've got some wonderful advice here, I just thought I'd add one thing. If her crop is "squishy" then it could be sour crop, instead of impacted crop. Does her breath smell? If it does, then it is probably sour crop.

Apple Cider Vinegar (I don't know the "official" dosage. I usually give mine about a teaspoon to a pint, or two tablespoons to a gallon) can help cure sour crop. It's supposed to give the crop a pH that is unsuitable to the organisms that cause sour crop. ACV won't harm her, either, so as long as you're not giving her antibiotics or other medication, it's safe to give it to her.

Best of luck with your little chick!

 

[Anianna]

I am looking around to see if I could find anything else and did find this

Sour crop

If the crop is very soft and feels like a water filled balloon, this is called a sour crop. It is caused by a fungal infection and all the extra liquid is the body's reaction to the fungus. In this case the crop contents will smell awful, so another way to confirm this is the problem is to smell the chicken's breath, which can be done at anytime of the day. Sometimes a hen my regurgitate some of the contents of the crop.

You can get rid of some of the fluid by making the chicken sick. If you do this you need to be very careful so the chicken doesn't choke as the fluid comes back. You should hold her upside down away from you, head downwards, and gently pushing with your hand from the bottom of the crop upwards towards the chicken's head. Do several small attempts, rather than one big one.

Then feed you hen live, bio yogurt. Most chickens, given the chance, will eat this directly. If she will not eat it give a teaspoon or two (5-10 ml) by syringe daily. And feed soft nutritious food. If this treatment does not help after a few days, or if the chicken's health is deteriorating in any other way, a vet can prescribe an anti-fungal drugs. If sour crop is left undetected or untreated long term there can be irreversible damage to the lining of the crop.

Putting Apple Cider Vinegar in the drinking water and garlic in their feed are very good for the digestion and can help to prevent problems.

That's from a nice post regarding chicken illness. You can read the rest of it here.​

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

****hoping the little chick gets better**********

Sorry I don't know about making a chick throw up- I don't know if it is advisable. Be careful not to let the poor dear aspirate.