Little bump on 3 week chick

[thegavulichs]

We were holding one of the baby chicks, petting their neck when we felt a little bump. It seems like her crop area. Any ideas on how to treat sour crop?

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

What causes you to believe it is sour crop? Is the chick behaving, eating, drinking and eliminating normally? It is very common for the crop of chicks to be quite large at different parts of the day as they fill and then empty them. Before making any diagnosis or trying any treatment the easiest thing to do is to simply pick up the feeders at bed time and then recheck the crop in the morning to confirm it has or has not emptied - if it has not emptied that is when to start considering potential causes and problems over normal crop cycling.

 

[thegavulichs]

Should we just try this for one night or two nights? Does it take only a day to regulate their crop cycle?

 

[lazy gardener]

You don't need to do anything to regulate their crop cycle. What OGM is suggesting, is this: If you take the food away at night, in the morning, their crops should be empty. End of story. You can then go back to letting them be little piggies, and not be concerned about bulging crops. I am more apt to be concerned about chicks who do not have a bulging crop, unless they have run out of food. If that becomes the case, they will be sure to let you know with loud complaining, and they will attack the feeder when it is refilled.