Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[RoyalChick]

If you are unsure about what a crop should feel like at a particular time of day, the easiest answer for you is to feel your other hens crops and compare.
The statement that a hens crop should be empty in the morning can be misleading if one is not familiar with how an empty crop feels. Often one still feel some content in a crop in the morning and this is normal.
So, check all your hens at night as they roost and again in the morning before you let them out.
Sour crop can be deceiving. Often the crop still functions to a degree but is often slower than normal.
I see you have read Two Crows article which is very good. The problem an inexperienced keeper has is often determining which crop problem their hen has. A partially impacted crop can easily be mistaken for sour, or slow crop.
I'm sure you will get advice on the ER thread.
My advice is always take the hen to a vet if you have a vet that is competent and you can afford the cost.
My other piece of advice is to get used to handling your hens. It will give you and them more confidence. The easiest way is to do this at night while they are roosting. A good headtorch helps. Take each hen off the roost and stand them in front of you preferable on a table. Do this in the dark bar the head torch and feel the hen. Check under their tail feathers around their vents, lift their wings and look underneath and feel their crops and down their keel bones. If you do this every night for a week you will learn more than hours spent on the Internet. What is normal for one hen may be odd for another.
I do hope she turns out okay.

Very good advice which I am going to start following. Mine are not that hard to handle but I have not been very systematic about examining them - I judge crop empty or full by sight - they go to bed with these enormous bulges in front and then in the morning they look svelte around the neck.

 

[BY Bob]

Not Ali's posts causing me problems, Bob. It's the recent posts. Ive had trouble with Shad & Lozzy.

I wonder if we need to report it.

 

[LozzyR]

Found my thread on crop issues. Actually, it sounds like both plain yogurt and ACV can help per Two Crows. And the meds should go 5-7 days past an empty crop. If you have time, you can read all about me stumbling my way through Ruby’s crop issue and finally finding a solution that worked, with guidance from our resident crop experts.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/pendulous-crop.1277938/

Whew, glad your thread isn’t as long as @BY Bob ’s! There was an awful lot going on, it’s a bit overwhelming! I’ve got some thrush cream, I thought I saw 1ml three times a day? Apple cider vinegar, 1 tablespoon per gallon? Do I need to stop the layer feed?

 

[BY Bob]

@BY Bob: I lost my copy in a fire but I think I have made a muddle & what I owned was this: https://www.amazon.com.au/Quest-Merlin-Nikolai-Tolstoy/dp/0316850802
From memory it was very readable as well as being informative ~ & yes, a relative of that Tolstoy.

Thanks! I'm going to try and find it.

 

[BY Bob]

I love that bird Bob! I'm not sure she would be able to sneak anywhere given her size.

I've never tried mine on cheese; my cats on the other hat go mad for it.

Mine love all cheese, from Cheese Its to the finest cheeses of France and Italy.

 

[BY Bob]

There is something hilarious about the idea of circus chickens! Do you know what their performance entails?
Maybe Bob's Lilly has a second calling and she could have an act where she rides ducks with Rossini's William Tell Overture as her backing track?!

Now that's an image!

 

[BY Bob]

Oh yes, and the new feathers are made of teflon I swear! The dirt just sliiiides off them.

They are amazing like that. How do they ever stay white? But they do.

 

[BY Bob]

As long as she takes tips from Hazel and not Woundwort!

I was a little concerned at first. I can see her leaning towards Woundwort at first but she has been growing as an Alpha. I need her to finish and learn the lessons that will make her a better leader. So far though no enforcement branches have evolved.

I would be more concerned if Aurora was reading it. She would likely emulate Woundwort and stop reading half way through!

Who, me?

 

[BY Bob]

Scary!

I'm glad she comes to you even without mealy worms.

Could she have jumped over the fence using the brush pile? In your photos that seems pretty close to the top of the fence.

I'm thinking that is highly possible, and the easier fix.

 

[BY Bob]

Thanks Shad. I felt everyone’s crop tonight and got a better idea of what it felt like. Everyone except Lucy felt like they had a golf ball under their feathers. Lucy’s was less defined, which was a bit worrying, but maybe that’s her normal. I turned off the door open function for both houses and will get up early tomorrow to let them out and feel each crop as I let them out.

That is sound strategy. I take it like me you have no access to a vet. That has been most frustrating to me.