Is this my chicken’s crop?!

[Ahernaa8045]

Hi everyone, my silkie is broody again and has been sitting down, but she doesn’t have any eggs? Not sure if she’s just resting or not. I then checked her crop and it felt hard!! I was so scared I thought it was a tumor at first but then I looked at the chicken anatomy. She’s eating, drinking water still. I just noticed it now when I picked her up to check on her. I saw that something could be stuck and Google said to massage it to help her and to check again in the morning. So I will do that, but I’m worried!

 

[nuthatched]

It's supposed to feel hard if she's eaten recently

 

[talkinboutchickens]

Hello! You could try feeding her coconut oil, or 1-2 tbsp apple cider vinegar in 1 gal of water. Or yogurt. Keep massaging her crop, too. You can also go to this link and this link. (2nd link is ONLY last resort....Still, I'm not sure if operating on her crop is a good idea.)

 

[talkinboutchickens]

Yes, like @nuthatched had posted, it's full after she eats. Overnight, the stuff in the crop should in theory, "pass." If you see that it gets bigger over time, it's probably safe to say that it's impacted crop. I've only had 1 chicken that had impacted crop, therefore I don't have much experience with treating it.

 

[talkinboutchickens]

Oh! Forgot to add that after a day of free-ranging, my hens will get giant crops, but in the morning their crops shrink significantly.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hi everyone, my silkie is broody again and has been sitting down, but she doesn’t have any eggs? Not sure if she’s just resting or not. I then checked her crop and it felt hard!! I was so scared I thought it was a tumor at first but then I looked at the chicken anatomy. She’s eating, drinking water still. I just noticed it now when I picked her up to check on her. I saw that something could be stuck and Google said to massage it to help her and to check again in the morning. So I will do that, but I’m worried!

Welcome To BYC @Ahernaa8045

I would re-check the crop first thing in the morning before she's had anything to eat/drink to see that it's emptying.
I would not immediately jump to the conclusion that anything is wrong or begin any type of unnecessary treatment until you've checked her out really well.

A broody hen may fill up their crop just once a day when they get off the nest to go poop, take a dust bath, etc. so you may just be feeling a full crop after she's eaten.
IF the crop has not emptied, make sure she's getting off the nest and drinking well and eating. Re-check the crop again the next morning. IF it's not emptied after checking again, then begin addressing that symptom according to this article. https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

If she's broody and you currently do not have eggs for her to sit on/hatch and you don't want chicks, it may be a good idea to break her broodiness. It's not good for them to sit for weeks without hatching and getting her up and moving about will often help the crop to function better too.
https://the-chicken-chick.com/broody-breaker-when-hens-mood-to-hatch/