Lump in crop, olive oil bread help?

[henney]

Hi, I've been reading previous posts on feeding olive oil with bread and messaging the lump to break it up but how much oil and how many times a day should this be done? Penny is 18wks old and seems healthy and energetic. I checked it and is not red or sore and she has had it for a month. I just started her on layer mash and she eats greens daily, my other girls don't have a lump in the crop.

 

[Jenski]

Is her crop flat first thing in the morning, or is it already full/swollen?

 

[henney]

Full, they have a feeder in the hen house.

 

[chickenlady]

Try taking the feeder out in the evening and re check crop in the late morning, making sure they have had no access to other food. You need to be sure it is actually impacted and not treating a normal crop.

 

[Jenski]

Good advice from chickenlady.

Please keep us posted on how this develops ~ if the crop has indeed been impacted for awhile, it can complicate treatment.

We'll be on the lookout for your follow-up post. Good luck!

 

[henney]

Good Idea, I've noticed if I give her a small amount of scratch in the evening to get them in the run, her lump looks big in the morning. Maybe she can't digest scratch well?

 

[Jenski]

Hmmm, no matter what you feed them at night, the crop should be flat in the morning. If I remember correctly, it only takes food about four hours to make it through a chicken's digestive tract.

Be sure there's no feeder inside the coop and check again first thing in the morning. Let us know what you find.

 

[henney]

Will update you tomorrow.

 

[chickenlady]

If you notice this morning, after no food at all that her crop is still large and very hard, isolate her immediately and give NO grains or scratch. For the rest of the day I would just offer water. Dehydration is a big problem associated with crop ailments. Then tonight, she can have some bread soaked in olive oil to try and break it up. Some give yogurt. When I had this problem, I used an epsom salt flush to get things moving. Best of luck, keep us updated.

 

[henney]

Update: Her crop is flat this am. I gave her Olive Oil soaked in bread and messaged her crop twice yesterday. That broke up the lump and got things moving! Wow, I love all your good advice, this saved me $100 vet bill. Thank you sooooo much!