how to tell if chick has impacted crop and how to fix it

[chickenlover237]

how do you tell if a chick has an impacted crop? I think one of my new (just got from the feed store today) chicks has an impacted crop because there is a spot on the back/side of its neck that is bald and on that bald spot you can see the food that the chick has eaten! its really gross and on its chest (I am guessing that is where the crop is) it is really spollen and when I feel there it is hard and lumpy all but one of my other chicks feel that way too just not as hard and it isnt that swollen.

 

[adrian]

Seeing food and being able to palpate food in the crop does not mean the crop is impacted, it just means it's full. I don't know why the chick would have a bald spot but I would think it's unrelated. Maybe it was being pecked at by other chicks.

An impacted crop is one that is not moving food though normally, or at all. Usually this means the bird will stop eating, as well, and may regurgitate, so you are likely to notice other symptoms before you notice the impacted crop. Seeing as the chicks are probably eating starter, which would feel hard and tightly packed in a crop, it is probably quite normal. Just make sure they are drinking enough, and if they're acting normally, all is well.

 

[chickenlover237]

ok thanks