Impacted crops or something else?

[JacinLarkwell]

I have 2 young pullets (about 16~ weeks) now that are incredably skinny and seem to have a hard, bumpy crop. One I discovered this morning and am not sure if she has an appetite and the other had been monitored for a few days noe. The one we've been monitoring still eats whatever we give her, but I'm not sure why her crop is so hard in the mornings since she's usually done eating around 9 at night and doesn't get food again until around 7 the next morning.

They eat layer pellets, but that's it besides occasional pieces of hay (tiny little stems that snap before they bend) that they pick up in the horse stalls

 

[Wishing4Wings]

Are you seeing poops in the morning? Well formed? Not green?

No other symptoms? Dirty rear end, smelly, congestion, watery eyes, puffed up feathers, lethargy?
Are they in with older chickens who may be picking on them?
They have access to plenty of clean water? And are drinking well?

First thing I do if mine have any digestion issues is give them some plain yogurt (with the active cultures). It gets their gut working and I've never had a problem with them eating it. If you have poultry probiotics, you could add that to their water. That's where I would start.

If you feel the crop has an impaction, some olive and gentle massage can get it moving again.

Make sure they have access to some grit (small stones) which is needed for the gizzard to grind up things like bits of straw.

Hope they get better.
Let us know how they are doing.

 

[chicken3fly]

They probably ate too much

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Are you seeing poops in the morning? Well formed? Not green?

No other symptoms? Dirty rear end, smelly, congestion, watery eyes, puffed up feathers, lethargy?
Are they in with older chickens who may be picking on them?
They have access to plenty of clean water? And are drinking well?

First thing I do if mine have any digestion issues is give them some plain yogurt (with the active cultures). It gets their gut working and I've never had a problem with them eating it. If you have poultry probiotics, you could add that to their water. That's where I would start.

If you feel the crop has an impaction, some olive and gentle massage can get it moving again.

Make sure they have access to some grit (small stones) which is needed for the gizzard to grind up things like bits of straw.

Hope they get better.
Let us know how they are doing.

They're in with older birds (from day one when they hatched, never separated them from the group. The first one I've never seen being picked on, the second one seems to be fine as long as she sticks with the hens, but the flockmaster doesn't seem to like her too much so she gets pecked by him occasionally if there's no hens around.

One thing I've noticed is the first one stopped flying and they stand kind of hunched, but I'm not sure if the hunching is just because ita so cold all the time.

Other than not flying and being akinny, there's no outward symptoma. Poop, honestly I'm not sure. There's a lot of birds and they free range 24/7 in a barn

They're all thirsty when they get fresh water, but it freezes over night and during the day so they usually only have loud water a few times a day, but I make sure they all get their fill

I'll try the yogurt though tomorrow when I'm in town. And do they just eat the olive oil?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

They probably ate too much

Then why are they so skinny? They dropped weight fast, probably because it's so cold here, and they're honestly like a 1, if not a .5 on that keelbone chart to judge condition

 

[chicken3fly]

Then why are they so skinny? They dropped weight fast, probably because it's so cold here, and they're honestly like a 1, if not a .5 on that keelbone chart to judge condition

Maybe beacause of thier breed?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Maybe beacause of thier breed?

Pheonixes are supposed to feel close to a 2, if not a 3. They're supposed to feel healthy. These girls feel like they're literally bones with feathers glued over them.

 

[chicken3fly]

Pheonixes are supposed to feel close to a 2, if not a 3. They're supposed to feel healthy. These girls feel like they're literally bones with feathers glued over them.

Infestation?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Infestation?

Worms might be a possibility, but I'm not sure where they could have gotten them. My birds usually get then from grasshoppers and they've all been wormed after the bugs died out this summer.

I have the first gal in a carrier though so I'll see if she poops and doesn't step in it to see if there's anything odd about it

 

[Wishing4Wings]

They're in with older birds (from day one when they hatched, never separated them from the group. The first one I've never seen being picked on, the second one seems to be fine as long as she sticks with the hens, but the flockmaster doesn't seem to like her too much so she gets pecked by him occasionally if there's no hens around.

One thing I've noticed is the first one stopped flying and they stand kind of hunched, but I'm not sure if the hunching is just because ita so cold all the time.

Other than not flying and being akinny, there's no outward symptoma. Poop, honestly I'm not sure. There's a lot of birds and they free range 24/7 in a barn

They're all thirsty when they get fresh water, but it freezes over night and during the day so they usually only have loud water a few times a day, but I make sure they all get their fill

I'll try the yogurt though tomorrow when I'm in town. And do they just eat the olive oil?

If you have a dropper, you can put some olive oil down their throat. Make sure you go down the right side of the chicken's mouth (the chicken's right side). The center leads to the lungs. Not so good.
There is info on tube feeding with pictures if you are unfamiliar.

Since they are young, make sure there are multiple places for them to access food. I have seen hens, generally on the lower end of the pecking order, make it their mission to bully youngsters and will prevent them eating and drinking.

There are threads about ways to keep water from freezing. We don't get snow here, so I don't know much about it.

Consider bringing them in at night. They mask illnesses so well, they are usually pretty far gone by the time we notice.