How should a crop a feel

[ImNotYogi]

Ive had my chicks for nearly two weeks. There's obvious growth in all but there's one in particular that seems to be lagging. She's not lethargic in general but doesn't seem as active as all the others at the same time. Im more likely to see her by herself than I am any others. I don't know when they start establishing a pecking order though. Anyway, I checked her crop tonight and it feels slightly hard but it's not enlarged like it's full. I checked another chick and hers was firm but soft. I guess sorta like a ball of play doh. Anything I should do for her if there's a problem or just keep watching her behavior?
I've been feeding them DuMor chick starter/grower (unmedicated) along with live mealworms here and there. I've kept a clump of dirt/weeds in the brooder as well as a "Baby Cake" thing but they're not interested. And they're on pine shavings.

 

[manychitlens]

The squishy feeling one is the one you want. Is she eating/drinking/pooping okay? Are you giving them chick grit or just offering the dirt?

 

[ImNotYogi]

Im not sure with her specifically. I'm not with them a lot but try to watch for any behavior changes. She was trying to fly earlier tonight. Should I isolate her or remove food for tonight or something else? I don't have any grit.

 

[ImNotYogi]

Okay, I was watching her and she's running around, trying to fly, eating, and drinking. She pooped and it was long with no noticeable white spot.

 

[manychitlens]

I probably wouldn't do any of those things. I would keep a close eye on her if possible (I know you said you arent with them a lot), maybe try to watch them for a few minutes to see if shes eating and drinking. The drinking would be very important, because it will help the crop to empty and keep her hydrated. I was just wondering about the grit since they aren't interested in the dirt clump. Is it possible to get some chick grit tomorrow to sprinkle in their feed, just in case that's the problem? You can try massaging the crop gently if you feel like it's hard, also.

 

[ImNotYogi]

They do mess with the dirt just not the baby cake thing for some reason. I'll sprinkle dirt in their feed if that'd help. Or get something tomorrow. I watched her a few minutes ago and her pooped seemed odd. I posted at the same time you did I think. I've realized she's the easiest one to get a hold of too. I don't think that in itself is an issue but could be an indicator of her health perhaps.

I paused writing this to go check her again and the crop doesn't feel as hard as it initially did. Even checked both legbars to ensure I wasn't confusing them. It's not as squishy as the others. I'll be keeping an eye on her. Thank you for your advice, manychitlens.

 

[manychitlens]

Oh so sorry, I misunderstood about the dirt. If they are messing with the dirt that's good, but to be safe maybe think about adding some grit, it might help her a little more. Her poop sounds okay, I know it's weird but mine have poop like that too, sometimes. As long as it's not super runny all the time and she's not blocked up. I notice you said that she's a legbar, my legbar was noticeably lagging behind the others for the first few weeks. She seemed like she just needed to get over some kind of hurdle. I would say around the 3 week mark is when she started acting like the others more, spent less time under the heat, ate and drank more, interacted, etc. She is still kind of a loner though and does her own thing, and is still the easiest for me to get ahold of. But I stopped worrying about her at about 3 weeks. Another thing that I did was I got some polyvisol vitamins, do you have those? They are (human) infant vitamins and you can find them pretty much everywhere (I got mine at cvs). Make sure to get the kind WITHOUT iron, it looks just like the one with iron, so just check the box or ask someone. I put a drop or two on her beak once a day, and that seemed to perk her up. Anyway I know you weren't really asking about that, but just wanted to relate to the legbar thing, because mine was the same way. Just keep an eye on her crop, hopefully it's nothing and she'll gorge herself tomorrow and you can stop worrying. Just post again if it doesn't seem to be getting better!

 

[ImNotYogi]

Shes very active this morning. They'll be two weeks old tomorrow. Maybe she's hitting that mark you talked or I've been catching her in lazy moments lol. I'll have to pick up some polyvisol and something else for grit. I wonder if she's just seeming smaller because the other breeds are either slightly bigger at adult size or very fluffy. There's a mix of barnevelders, golden laced wyandottes, a random black australorp (I believe), and Easter eggers.

 

[manychitlens]

Oh for sure I think that's part of it, or it was for me!! They are shockingly small compared to other large fowl breeds, lol!! I don't think I was prepared for just how small they are. I'm so glad she seems a little better today! Hopefully it is nothing and she will continue to thrive all on her own!

 

[ImNotYogi]

I don't think its anything anymore. I've spent more time with them today and saw her size up an Easter egger and barnevelder. Running around, eating, and drinking. She does seem like a bit of a loner though. Sleeps on her own more often than not it seems. We'll see as they get older. I will say seeing a full crop is a little off putting though. Having a sack of food bulging from your chest sounds as if it should be very unhealthy. As you can tell I'm new to birds lol.