Large bulge in necks of 4 week old chicks. A problem?

[kootenayboy1]

Hi all,

Very new to raising chickens and just noticed that some of my chicks have very large bulges in their necks. I'm assuming that this is undigested food in their crops but the bulge is so big it is pushing out through the side and back of their bodies.

Their conditions:
- Straw bedding
- 18% crumble feed.
- large water supply
- heat lamp on timer alternating with heater during the night
- Poop is plentiful and brown/black with white.

After doing a bit of reading, one source said they don't need gravel until they are adults but it looked to me like they just aren't digesting food.

What can I do to help them or is this a normal condition?

Many thanks.
Rob

 

[silkiechicken]

A picture may help. At four weeks some may be slow to feather so the "problem" may look worse than it really is. If they are eating their bedding, a bit of grit won't hurt.

 

[GreenGoddess]

Is it just this evening you noticed this or something you notice at night? If so, wait until tomorrow.. Their crops *should* empty and be relatively small first thing in the morning before they eat/drink anything.. If they have not had food or water overnight and they are still large, they may have impacted crops which is very serious.. You can do a search on here for impacted crops to get more information..

Goddess

 

[eggsited chickens]

It sounds like you are doing everything right. The crumbles have the neede 'grit' so they don't need grit. Others might disagree, but I never really used grit and my chicks were fine. Check them in the morning and see if it has gone down (before they are fed). If it is down then it was the full crop, if it's the same then i'd start searching for other things.

 

[Bedste]

check the "lumps" at night and see if they are gone first thing in the morning.... My chickens wake up with no lumps aka empty crops..... Hope that helps

 

[eggsited chickens]

How were your chickes in the morning?

 

[kristen2678]

Also make sure they are not eating the straw. The straw wont breakdown without grit.

 

[teach1rusl]

I do remember getting scared about the same thing. I was told to put food away for the night and check them first thing in the morning. Sure enough, the bulge had disappeared in the morning... So how do they look this morning???