gelatinous feeling chick breast

[chesapeake]

Hoping somebody can help me out with this. I got a dozen chicks 10 days ago from MPC, two of which are Dominique's. All the chicks are growing like mad, eating/drinking well and pooping well. One of the Dominique's has a weird feeling breast though! It appears to the eye to be puffy and when I handle her and stroke her breast it feels like its fluid filled or gelatinous.

She does not appear to be in any pain, even when I touch her. She is active, hopping up to roost on small twigs we have in their crate for that purpose.

I don't know whether to be concerned or not, has anyone else seen this or have any idea what it is?

 

[MeepBeep]

They are likely just gorging on food and what you are seeing/feeling is their swollen/full crop aka the holding tank for food until their digestive system has room to process it... Remove or hold back on the food for a few hours and it should shrink in size...

I have this problem with a few of my bantam chicks, they just can't seem to eat in moderation, it's all out stuffing themselves or nothing...

 

[chesapeake]

So their crop in literally in the breast area? The area I'm seeing this in is the top of the breast. Thanks for the quick reply, I'll try that and see what happens.

 

[MeepBeep]

So their crop in literally in the breast area? The area I'm seeing this in is the top of the breast.

Yes... Google up swollen crop images...

 

[chesapeake]

I've removed the feeder for the night and hope that the swelling goes down by morning. I have been reading since your post and I am seeing something called sour crop that sounds like what I'm seeing. Can that occur this quickly?

 

[MeepBeep]

I've removed the feeder for the night and hope that the swelling goes down by morning. I have been reading since your post and I am seeing something called sour crop that sounds like what I'm seeing. Can that occur this quickly?

If they are alert, active, eating and pooping normally don't worry about it being 'true' sour crop just yet, see if it goes down by the morning now that the food is removed... Many people call any swollen crop 'sour crop' while true sour crop is when there is a blockage aka constipation and the food in the crop is literally starting to rot because it's not going anywhere...

If it doesn't go down and you see the common signs of lethargy, sleepy, loss of appetite, diarrhea and the crop doesn't shrink back down when food is removed then you can address potential sour crop...

I'm guessing it's likely just over eating and gorging themselves at this point... As I said I have a few bantam chicks that puff up like a water balloon every time I put fresh food in the brooder, and without fail come the next morning when the feeder is empty they have deflated...

 

[chesapeake]

Thanks, again. I hope that is what I see come morning. I changed out their plain water with water and Braggs ACV too, I usually have plain greek yogurt in the frig but not today, darn it.

 

[chesapeake]

Update: My hen is not totally empty BUT she has lost a huge amount of mass in the crop. I have separated her from the rest, she has had water only with a bit of ACV, and I've kept her on newspaper covered with paper toweling so I can see what she's vacating. Poop looks very good. She was still pretty full in the morning, but by the time I got home from work she was much lighter. I've been massaging the crop at every opportunity and she's very active because while she's separate from the flock, she can see them so she keeps active.
I offered a teaspoon of plain, non-fat greek yogurt tonight and hope that will be alright. She seems more interested in her hen sisters than in eating just now.
My thanks, MeepBeep.

 

[MeepBeep]

Good to hear, do you have the appropriate sized grit available for her to eat? If not you should invest in some to aid in digestion, it's dirt cheap at most feed stores I pay just over $5 for a 50lb bag of crushed granite grit at my feed store and it goes a long way...

 

[chesapeake]

You know, I was thinking about that. I bought grit at tractor supply but it's way to large for these chicks and southern states just carries the same thing. I was thinking maybe to go to a pet store and get parakeet or cockatoo grit. I live on the eastern shore of Maryland in a rural area, our hens will have plenty of room in their run and a lot of room to free range daily. They'll be going out to the coop in about two weeks, too, and I've read that you don't need to offer too much grit in this scenario. I'd like to offer something now, but I have no idea what mesh grit is appropriate. Again, your suggestions are very welcome.