huge gullet-help! What can I do?

[snomom2000]

This chick is 2 weeks old. The gullet is bigger than last night. It seems listless; while the other chicks are happily chirping and jumping around this one is sitting still quietly chirping and closing it's eyes. It can move quickly if I try to catch it.

We've had this happen in older chicks or to a lesser degree and it always resolved itself. This is pretty extreme though! What's going on and what do I do?

Thanks so much for any help!

Cheryl

 

[MurphysBYC]

That is most likely it's crop. How hard is it? Have you isolated her from food? Is she pooping?

Edit: I think it is listless because it is so exhausted from walking around with all that weight.

 

[nmsnoman]

It is the crop. It's not hard,feels inflated or liquid filled. Infection? How do you treat that?

 

[snomom2000]

nmsnoman is right. It is so listless that it didn't even move when I vacuumed near the cage like the rest of the birds. I haven't isolated it. I don't know if it's pooping. So I should start by isolating it so it can't have food and water? for how long?

 

[angel8035]

I would look up impacted crop and sour crop and see if one of those meets your symptoms. There should be tips on how to treat each of those.

 

[MurphysBYC]

If it is soft it is most likely sour crop. Hard would be impacted crop.


Impacted Crop

Olive oil and massage - olive oil can help loosen an impaction. Simply put a two or three drops of olive oil at the back of the chicken's throat so that she swallows it and gently massage the crop. This may need to be repeated. Make grit available to the chicken, as well.

Sour Crop

Powdered copper sulfate - has anti-fungal properties. Dosage is 1/4 teaspoon per gallon of water, changed daily for several days. This will also inhibit the growth of certain types of bacteria, an added benefit. Can be used with apple cider vinegar.

Apple cider vinegar (ACV) - aids in the removal of mucus build up in the digestive tract that may contribute to sour crop. Can be used with the powdered copper sulfate.

 

[MurphysBYC]

If he is getting really bad off you can always do the suction method. It is a last resort but she sounds really bad.

Suction - in severe cases of sour crop, connect a soft catheter tube to a needless syringe. The catheter must be inserted down the throat and into the crop. This is uncomfortable for the chicken and you may give her a drop or two of Bach's Rescue Remedy to help calm her for this process. Once the catheter is in the crop, carefully pull the plunger of the syringe to suck liquid from the crop.

This may be hard because she is so small...


Keep us posted! Good luck little girly...

 

[snomom2000]

It's too late, she died. Next time I won't wait so long. All the other chicks are fine.

Thanks for your help. I'll remember for next time.

 

[annagarret]

So sorry :-(

 

[MurphysBYC]

I'm so sorry. This was very sever, Not sure anything could of been done other than surgery.

Again, sorry...

Tom