Help! what to do about pendulous crop?

chick4chix

Songster
11 Years
Jun 4, 2009
1,097
25
211
So Cal
I have EE 38 weeks old who just this morning after letting them out of the roost I noticed her crop hanging down and swinging from side to side as she scratched and pecked. She is the least friendly of my crew (hence her name is Sketcher because she is so "Sketchy") so in order to examine her closer, I brought out some treats and when they all ran over I was able to catch her long enough to feel her crop before she ran off - it felt soft and squishy like a water balloon. Is this pendulous crop and if so, what should I do about it? All the other hens had flat crops this morning. I read online you turn her upside down and empty it then restrict her from eating for a day- only water with apple cider vinegar- is this true? Is it life threatening - or will it go away on it's own?
A few days ago I noticed that she looked like she was choking on something- she kept raising her neck up and opening her beak like she was trying to swallow- but at that time she did not have this huge crop.
thanks for help in advance.
 
wait and see if it goes down keep an eye on her if not then its probably impacted she might have eaten something she wasnt supposed to
 
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I have a chicken that has exactly what you describe. We caged her for a week and did AVC and all the works. It went down, but never went away. We tried repeatedly to do the expelling thing, but I could never even fell anything to expel. I palpitated that crop till the cows came home. Long story short, I gave up and let her back outside so she could wither away from starvation or be eaten by crocodiles or whatever, but she was miserable inside. Months later, she's still out there walking around just as pendulous, just as happy as can be.

I hope you figure yours out, and if you don't (like me), I hope she's fine.
 
Thanks Eggs4sale- I was just about to put her inside with only water for the rest of the day. I usually agree with the "wait and see" method that comedian chick wrote but it seemed so huge I thought maybe it would be life threatening and perhaps I needed to act fast. She is acting normal, and eating like crazy so it's only going to get bigger today right?
Shouldn't I at least isolate her to get her to stop eating for a day so it has a chance to go down? Although it doesn't sound like it helped yours at all. I have been adding Apple cider vinegar to their water for a couple of weeks and they all get yougurt once a week or so and had some this morning along with wheat/rye/oat/barley/tritcale grass sprouts I grow for them - chopped.
 
Well everyone else swears by all the methods mentioned. It won't hurt to try.

I'm just trying to get you to climb down a little from your tree, because I remember how high up there I was.
big_smile.png

Tulie13 is the lady who helped me. She knew a lot about the chicken-upside-down squeeze. I wonder if she's still on here......
I see she last posted 12/19. Hmmm....

Well, you'll probably feel better having her in where you can keep an eye on her for a while.
 
You did a good job of talking me out of the tree - ha. I just looked at her and she is contentedly sitting in a warm hole she just dug for herself looking happy as a clam- they are all over there under the trees in various stages of sleep/rest/sunbathing after a busy morning of scratching,eating, and more scratching. I will keep a close eye on her today and if by tomorrow morning it hasn't gone down any - I will isolate her with only water for a day and see how she does. I hate the thought of upturning and squeezing her- but hey- we don't always get to choose how we "feel" when caring for our animals.
Thanks again
 

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