Impacted Crop?

[ChickenSahib]

Well my grandma has this EE/Americauna that has a gigantic crop. We just assumed that it ate a lot. Now that I've been reading on the forums, something might be wrong.

Any ideas on diagnostic / treatment?

 

[Blue_Myst]

What you might want to try is first feeling your chicken's crop as soon as possible. Is it hard and packed solid? Is it soft and squishy? Is there an odor coming from her mouth? If you detect an odor or the crop is squishy, like it's too full of water, she probably has sour crop. In severe cases anti-fungal drugs are needed, but many people have had success with putting Apple Cider Vinegar in the drinking water.

You might also want to feel her crop at night when she's on the roost. The next morning, before the major eating starts, feel her crop again. If it isn't empty, or smaller than it was the night before, she probably has an impaction somewhere.

Hope this helps!

 

[ChickenSahib]

Ok, next time I get the chance I'll post back here on what I found.

 

[stargirl]

Great advice from blue myst.
Just to add, some chickens do just have more 'showy' crops. I'm not sure why, but some birds do just have bigger bulges when in perfect health. Hopefully that's the case here! x

 

[ChickenSahib]

Okay!

So we had some difficulty catching her since only one of our hens is actually tame and actually follows people around. The crop is squishy all over. Her breath stinks too!

And do some EE's / Ameracaunas have naturally big crops? When I say big, I mean this thing touches the ground when she's bent down eating grass. Swings left and right when she runs!

 

[ChickenSahib]

Anyone? What can I do? I'm not sure the vinegar thing will work because the chickens don't seem to like their designated water. Instead they just go to where the water builds right under the faucet thingy.

 

[stargirl]

She definitely needs treatment, or it could be fatal.
If need be I'd separate her and keep her in a small enclosure with only the treated water available.

 

[Momaha]

I had to deal with this recently and it was touch and go with my pullet for a while but she pulled through. From what I've read, if their crop is squishy and has a foul odor it's more likely sour crop. I have read where people would hold the chook upside down and massage their crop until they threw up but I was never able to get my girl to do that. Twice and sometimes three times a day I would massage her crop until she pooped- gently forcing that nutrition through her system. Adding an organic ACV helped alot too. She needs soft nutrition until you get her past this and grit. She is probably going to loose some weight in the process so some vitamins (without iron), electrolytes, and probiotics will help her- I used Gro-gel plus B because that's what I had on hand and knew she would eat that up. Some old timey wisdom says to find a dead animal with maggots and feed those to her and the maggots I guess are suppose to eat through the mass but I didn't try this method and to me it's one of things that it sounds so crazy I bet it works.

Can you add some ACV directly to where their water builds up? It won't hurt for all your birds to have it.

 

[ChickenSahib]

Alright, more bad news.

We aren't going to be able to isolate her since my grandma only has one coop and nothing else. My aunt took the dog kennel because her roo and hen kept geting attacked. I'll talk to my uncle when I see him and update him.

BTW, what is ACV?

I'll let him know to try the throw up thing. I knew something was up, but everyone insisted it was natural.

As for massaging more than once a day, it'll be a challenge catching her since she's practically wild, but I'll let my uncle know. Once right before we let them out, once during the day, and once after everyone's inside the coop?

 

[Momaha]

ACV = Apple Cider Vinegar. I acknowlege there are differing opinions on the unfiltered/unheated/unpasteurized but I like the Braggs brand because it makes a refreshing ACV cocktail believe it or not. I found it at my local health food store but read here at BYC a few times that some have found it at their grocery store. By your description of your hen it sounds like the problem I had with my girl where it was grossly enlarged and was not emptying properly. I even got up at 5:00 a.m. one morning to check her crop before she got up and started eating to see if was emptying overnight and it was not.