Help!!! baby chicks crop is hard as a rock

[curious0205]

I have a 4 week old brown leghorn that I found in my chicken hutch a few days ago, that was lying on it's side and couldn't get up. Brought her in the house hand fed and watered with a syringe. After a few days she was able to get up and start eating and drinking on her own. Then I noticed a bulge in her breast area and checked it out. I have now discovered it is her crop and it is as hard as a rock. What should I do, if anything can be done?

 

[coppertop2014]

Feed her yogurt and look up more cures for sour crop... It might not be sour crop though...

 

[junebuggena]

Remove the food and wait a few hours. If the crop empties, your chick is fine. If it's still hard it might have an impacted crop. If it's large and squishy, it might have sour crop.

 

[curious0205]

I removed the food and gave a few hours and the crop went down flat. I put the food back in, she ate and now her crop is a lump and is hard as a rock again. Do you know why that has happened? If I feed her yogurt will that help? What if it is impacted? Is there anything I can do for that?

 

[junebuggena]

That's completely normal. The crop is where food is stored until it gets digested. It is supposed to be big and hard after they eat. If it was impacted, it would not have emptied.

 

[curious0205]

Thank you so much that is such a relief. If it should get impacted is there anything I can do?

 

[junebuggena]

It's not very common for a chicken to get an impacted crop. It's almost unheard of in young chicks that are fed only chick starter. I haven't had to deal with it yet. Some people advocate holding the chicken upside down and trying to squeeze the blockage back up the throat and out the mouth. Some have tried to surgically remove the obstruction. Try searching for it in the forum. You might find some useful information.

 

[curious0205]

Thank you fot the advise, it was very helpfull.