Grit and crop problems

[casportpony]

No scientific evidence but I think most impacted crops if they are impacted is the result of negligence on the flock owner not providing adequate feed. I think letting the feed bucket go empty creates the hungry chicken that gorges itself when food becomes available.

The last impacted crop I saw was a rooster that had tumors in his intestines, so not negligence.

 

[Rosebud1920]

Maybe it's a stretch to post this here but....

Time and again when I read a post concerning crop problems there is always more than 1 recommendation to make sure grit is available. I don't understand that. The crop is simply a storage organ. Grit needs to reach the gizzard where it with the muscular contractions grind the food from the crop for digestion.

I have yet to figure out if a chicken has an impacted crop why the chicken should have grit available. The problem is a blockage that keeps the crop from emptying into the gizzard in the first place. Why would I want to encourage grit consumption and create a potentially larger blockage in the crop with a bunch of rocks.

Seems to me the solution is to address and eliminate the blockage immediately rather than enhance it.

Your insight would be appreciated.

 

[Rosebud1920]

I'm gonna be a fly in the ointment. I agree with Old hen. The gizzard is designed to function with grit. The digestive system is designed to function with grit in the gizzard. While the crop sits in front of the plumbing system, it makes sense to me that an impacted crop is symptomatic of a digestive system that is not functioning properly. So, yeah, grit in a gizzard is not going to "fix" a crop impaction. But, perhaps if the gizzard had plenty of grit, the impaction would not have happened in the first place.

However, I do not believe that grit is the be all and end all of preventing crop impaction. To my knowledge, my birds have never had crop impaction, in spite of my laissez faire approach regarding allowing access to hay, and long stringy heaps of garden debris in my coop and run. (one of the "they say" things that causes crop impaction) I'm thinking that an active gut with healthy gut flora is a big part of the impacted crop prevention. Lots of access to deep composting litter, and fermented food help to keep the gut flora balanced.

 

[K0k0shka]

Advice given for treating crop problems is a huge pet peeve of mine. I'll go into more detail later.

I've actually never seen a true crop impaction or gizzard impaction in any of mine, but I have seen crops that didn't empty. I'll go into details about those later.

This old thread got resurrected. I started reading it, and noticed that @casportpony never went back to give more details on that... @casportpony what did you mean to post later? I've heard conflicting advice on crop issues, too, and want to hear what you have to say.