favourite new chickie has a tumor?

[kinnip]

I'll be doggoned if her crop isn't all swollen and tight again! She has plenty of starter feed and water. I don't know what she's eating or why. I just can't imagine her eating that much bedding. I was looking at Gail Damerow's Chicken Health Handbook and she references thrush with an impacted crop in a chick. ????

 

[sammi]

wonder if a little vinegar would help?
(if thrush could be part of the problem)

mineral or olive oil to help an impaction slide down, along with massage...soak a little piece of bread with oil..

I know someone who lost a chick to impacted crop...
she lives in a place where supplies are hard to get sometimes, and for a few days she had to feed them all purpose poultry feed, and it had bits of corn in it..

I think it's still the bedding..she might not have digested it all..and may still have some in the crop, or lower down in the gizzard..
the moist feed is a good idea also. or crushing it..

 

[lemurchaser]

The crop normally is full and slowly empties into the gizzard for grinding. Mine are piglets and will stuff their crops full. It isn't a problem, it is the way it is supposed to work.

The other day I went out and was like "what is that lump sticking out of your chest?" it was probably somewhere between golf ball and tangerine sized (they are 10 weeks old). I finally realized it was their crop. They are such piggies lately it has been full almost non-stop, they seemed like they used to pace themselves more and not fill up so much.

I wouldn't worry about it. It's probably not impacted, and that isn't something that happens quickly. So if it was empty and then suddenly full, that is normal, she probably ate a good meal.

Check this out for chicken anatomy. It has a good picture and explains how the digestive system works. http://www.msstate.edu/dept/poultry/pub1276.htm

 

[kinnip]

Sure enough, she's empty again. I do most of my handling of the chicks in the evening, so I guess I missed the deflated crop. It just seemed swollen every time I handled her. She's just like her worried mother hen-- eatin' dinners big enough to knock ya out. Maybe she'll put some more weight on. Meantime, I'll cancel my appointment with the avian specialist on the other side of Atlanta and breathe a big sigh of relief.

 

[kinardmommy]

one of my chicks did the same thing. It too was the smallest and it's crop bulged night and day. I finally gave it three or four drops of Olive Oil and massaged the crop. The problem cleared up and did not reoccur.