Impacted crop?! Help!

[ANiceKaren]

When I was putting my girls to bed tonight I pet my Mildred and noticed her crop was VERY hard! Felt like rock or bone! I can even see skin in the area like her crop was so big the feathers are moved to the side… she was acting fine. Eating, drinking and running about all day. I’ll check her crop in the morning to see if it’s gone down. Is it possible to just be that full? I feel like I worried about this before with her and she was fine.. just dealt over ate? Could a hen just over do it and have a super hard crop at night or am I definitely dealing with impaction? Thanks in advance for the help! Worried about her! Not sure if I should just let her sleep or wake her to give olive oil? Here is a pic of the area… not a great pic. I’d like to add… she laid an egg today AND she is my biggest eater… she is head hen and eats A LOT! Praying this could be normal and just over ate.

 

[picklestheduck]

See if its empty in the morning. My hens have pretty hard feeling crops sometimes and I think its normal since they always empty. As for the bare breast area....I hear sometimes if a hen sits too much it can loose feathers. Sometimes they can have breast blisters or bumble breast. Check for scabs and such when you can. I'm not super experienced in this area, but hopefully this helps. Keep us updated!

 

[Kiki]

Don't do anything to tonight.

First thing in the morning check her crop to see if it's empty and report back.

 

[ANiceKaren]

See if its empty in the morning. My hens have pretty hard feeling crops sometimes and I think its normal since they always empty. As for the bare breast area....I hear sometimes if a hen sits too much it can loose feathers. Sometimes they can have breast blisters or bumble breast. Check for scabs and such when you can. I'm not super experienced in this area, but hopefully this helps. Keep us updated!

Thank you! I think the skin showing is from crop stretching This girl is known to over eat! The hardness is what scared me.. it’s really hard but I also feel like I went through this with her before and she was ok.. I didn’t know if hard like that automatically meant impacted crop

 

[Kiki]

Thank you! I think the skin showing is from crop stretching This girl is known to over eat! The hardness is what scared me.. it’s really hard but I also feel like I went through this with her before and she was ok.. I didn’t know if hard like that automatically meant impacted crop

What exactly do you feed your flock?

 

[ANiceKaren]

What exactly do you feed your flock?

Chicken feed, meal worms, they do get chopped veggies and plain pasta in the evenings…not daily.

 

[ANiceKaren]

Chicken feed, meal worms, they do get chopped veggies and plain pasta in the evenings…not daily.

I also feed fermented chicken feed

 

[Kiki]

Chicken feed, meal worms, they do get chopped veggies and plain pasta in the evenings…not daily.

I'd recommend stopping pasta immediately.
Chopped veggies/mealworms...as long as you aren't feeding eat bird more than a spoonful amount won't hurt. It you are you will end up with serious and possibly deadly problems like EYP.


Once a week...tablespoon amount per bird IF you must. The birds would do better on a balanced diet...poultry feed in a crumble or pellet.

 

[ANiceKaren]

I'd recommend stopping pasta immediately.
Chopped veggies/mealworms...as long as you aren't feeding eat bird more than a spoonful amount won't hurt. It you are you will end up with serious and possibly deadly problems like EYP.


Once a week...tablespoon amount per bird IF you must. The birds would do better on a balanced diet...poultry feed in a crumble or pellet.

Don't do anything to tonight.

First thing in the morning check her crop to see if it's empty and report back.

Thank you! I’ll report first thing in the morning and stop pasta

 

[ANiceKaren]

Update! Mildred’s crop is empty this morning! Clearly she is a piggy as suspected! However, lesson learned on pasta as a treat! Thank you everyone!