Impacted Crop...?

[aol-1500]

Okay, I had already done a search of the forums and saw many impacted crop threads--but nothing seemed to really help me on my issue. I noticed yesterday (8/1/2012) that my Hen had a really big crop. Probably around baseball size. It worried me and I started to Google it and I came across the idea of an impacted crop. I read various ways to treat it, but I'm worried about giving her the oil to help her. The reason I'm worried is because she is very jumpy and always tries to fly / run away from me when I hold her. She's not the most tame chicken in the world.

Anyways, is there another way to get her to drink the oil? I have conala oil but I heard that mineral oil would be best? Where would be the best place to buy these products? I've only had this Hen for a little longer than a year. I have no money for a vet, so that's out of the question.

She's free-range, and I'm currently living in Vegas. We were giving her rice, bread, fruits, etc. And this is very recent.

Her name is, ironically, Lady Gaga. So, I suppose my main questions is:
1) Is there another way, instead of eye dropper to get the oil into her.
2) After that, I gently massage the crop, right? How gently is gentle? The crop is fairly hard.

Is there anything else I need to do? She's the only chicken I have. I'm going to monitor her well-being. Is there anything else I need to do? I appreciate anyone's answer in dealing with this. I've never had to deal with this before, so I'm really concerned for her.

 

[TwoCrows]

Welcome to BYC!

First off, you need to catch her and confine her. Many times impacted or soured crops come from eating too much stiff vegetation, grass being the main culprit.

So, get her into a cage. Is the crop really hard? Or is it soft? If it is hard, you will need to squirt some oil done the beak. It can be done with a medicine dropper (full) or a syringe, 1cc. Have someone help you hold the bird and pull the head back or the wattles down so the beak opens. Make sure the head is back when you squirt it in. Don't shove the dropper or syringe too far down, but squirt it on the tongue area so it goes down the right pipe. Massage the crop for a few minutes to get it mixed into what ever is in there blocking up the works. If this is the case, impacted crop, withhold food for 24 hours to see if it will get moving. Give her another dose of oil again this evening.

IF the crop is soft and squishy, she can have food. But ONLY her layer feed. Dampen it to make it moist so it digests faster. You can also give her yogurt, which is good for the crop flora. If you have any probiotics, you can add them to the water. Better yet, add 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar to a quart of water. That will help combat any bacteria or fungus that might be growing in the crop.

Do not let her free range for a while and keep her away from anything other than her layer feed as well.