Inherited 2 chickens with crop issues

[Citychick11]

My friend gave me her two hens on Saturday. I don't know what breed they are, but they are black and they have small combs. So I suspect that their only source of food lately has been whatever they could free-range in my friend's backyard. Their food and water containers had been empty for some time. Their eggs hadn't been gathered for a month. When I caught the first one to put her in the kennel, I noticed she had a large crop and was very skinny.

When I brought them home, I gave them some layer feed, oyster shell (they are molting), and some wheat berries for scratch. They pigged out! They ate so much I didn't know if they would be sick! A few minutes after they ate, I picked each of them up and I noticed their big crops again. My other chickens never have had crop problems, so I don't know what to do except give them grit. I did that immediately since I still have a bag of chick grit laying around.

Today, I checked it again and it isn't any different. I also noticed a funny sour smell. Out of curiosity, I checked the other hen's crop and it was mushy feeling in comparison. I can't even find the crop on my other hens.

Please, if you have any advice, I would appreciate it.

TJ

 

[hennible]

Look up impacted crop and sour crop. Lots of grass in your friends yard?

 

[Citychick11]

Yes, grass, bushes, bugs, etc.

 

[hennible]

Wonder if it's impacted crop because of too much grass, the long grass can knot up and get stuck.

 

[dschoey]

We had a chicken with crop issues... held her upside down and massaged her crop till she threw up. Her vomit was black, foul smelling-- really nasty. We gave a lot of grit and only a little food for a few days just to make sure she was able to "digest" again, then returned her to the coop. She did a lot better after that. Always have unlimited clean water.
Good luck!

 

[Citychick11]

So I made her throw up tonight, and it was thick layer feed that came out first. She started choking so I had to massage her throat till she could breathe again. I also gave her a bit of olive oil and some Braggs cider vinegar and some yogurt. I can feel some chunks in her crop that might be what's getting stuck in there. I watched a few videos on impacted crop and in the comments, the people said their birds died a few days later. She is skin and bones. I hope I can save her.

TJ

 

[hennible]

Tube feed her. @casportpony has instructions you could PM her

 

[centrarchid]

gRass alone does not cause the problem. A very rapid change in diet coupled with other stressor such as being relocated can.

 

[Citychick11]

Thanks for all the help! I wasn't able to save her, but I learned a lot from it all.:/
For starters, because she was not mine, I didn't know what she had been eating. I cut open her crop after she died and found that she had long grass fibers tangled up into a hair ball of sorts. I also found feathers, carrot peel, bark chips, and a lot of feed that she had eaten 5 days earlier. . And nearly barfed from the smell....
Then there is the question, how did she manage so long at her old home? I think that the last straw was that she over ate on Saturday. What had been a partial blockage became totally blocked with all the feed and wheat berries she ate. Her crop became so heavy she couldn't walk. It was softball size! She became more and more weak. I tried helping her throw up, but that was too thick and it choked her and she may have aspirated the gunk. So in hindsight, I would not have tried to get her to throw up but rather gave her more water and let nature take its course. Once the excess food filtered through, I might have been able to offer enough grit to break up the tangled fibers in the crop. There aren't any chicken vets that I know of around here. So surgery wasn't an option.

The other chicken of the two is fine and has good energy. Her crop has shrunk and she is pooping a lot.

Thanks BYC community!