how do you feel a chickens crop?

[cluckin tractor]

read a few posts but don't really get it when feeling crops for problems

 

[emys]

Well, most of the time a chicken crop will feel something like a water balloon with some cooked rice and gravel in it. Everything should move around in there pretty easily.

The crop is usually full during the normal day. First thing in the morning it should be pretty empty not much but a few bits of gravel.

If you had a chicken with a blockage this would not be the case. Crop will look full first thing in the am before access to feed and usually you will notice a behavior change - lethargic, anti-social, not eating. At that point if you feel a hard mass, and you'll know there is a problem.