Impacted Crop? Help!!!

[FamilyOfSeven]

Hello- we have 21 Murrays big red broilers meat chicks that are almost 2weeks old. They have swollen crops and it looks like they are wet and missing feathers. We originally noticed their swollen crops after spending two days in the tractor in our yard. We began feeding them chick grit last night and it seemed to help… but now it is back worse. We have fed them meat bird starter feed and plenty of water since they arrived. They are currently back in their brooder and not in the grass any longer. Any suggestions? Thank you!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Do they have access to food/water 24/7 or do you take out the food at night?

I'd take out the food at night, if they do not have lights on them at night. See if the crops empty by morning.

Crops fill up as chicks eat. Broiler chicks are ravenous, so they may have eaten a lot of grit if they didn't have access to food.

What's your brooder setup like? Photos would be very helpful.

Broilers don't grow out a lot of feathers usually, so if they were on grass, likely that's why they look wet. They usually lounge about quite a bit, so can be quite bare underneath.
If back in the brooder, keep it dry and litter cleaned up or stirred really well.

 

[FamilyOfSeven]

We checked this morning on their crops and they look great
thank you for the info on crops we will send photos tomorrow of the brooder we also put them back in the tractor today. It makes sense that the crops would be full at night and empty in the morning. we don’t have the heat lamp at nighttime because it’s so hot where we live. They have access to food and water 24/7 but now we will take it out at night.