my hen's crop won't completely empty

[cdampier]

I have an ISA brown hen, I think she's a little over a year, whose crop never seems to completely empty. Should I be concerned about this?
I've only had her for 9 days, so I'm learning about her as I go. But, she's been laying me an egg a day, she eats and drinks and scratches like a "normal," healthy chicken.
When I first brought her home, she was able to eat grass, and she wasn't used to it, so her crop got backed up with that. I could feel it. So, I kept her isolated and didn't let her eat. I gave water and massaged her crop quite a bit. The crop didn't empty the first day, but on the second day of being cut off from food, it was empty.
I've been watchful and every morning I check her crop. Each morning, it's still got a little bit in it. She eats a layer feed and I give a few meal worms as treats.
Anyone out there ever have a hen whose crop never seems to empty? Can this be normal? Should I be concerned? Any help, advice, would be much appreciated!

 

[wamtazlady]

I've never checked a hen's crop. Never had a reason to do so as I've never had a sick chicken so far. If she is laying an egg every day she must be healthy. If she were not healthy she wouldn't be laying eggs. I can understand you were concerned when you first got her due to her diet being changed. She got over that and appears to have suffered no ill effects. I wouldn't stress on a little food in her crop unless she looked as if she were ill. I would assume she ate enough food to get her through the night and had a little extra left, which to me sounds normal.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I have an ISA brown hen, I think she's a little over a year, whose crop never seems to completely empty. Should I be concerned about this?
I've only had her for 9 days, so I'm learning about her as I go. But, she's been laying me an egg a day, she eats and drinks and scratches like a "normal," healthy chicken.
When I first brought her home, she was able to eat grass, and she wasn't used to it, so her crop got backed up with that. I could feel it. So, I kept her isolated and didn't let her eat. I gave water and massaged her crop quite a bit. The crop didn't empty the first day, but on the second day of being cut off from food, it was empty.
I've been watchful and every morning I check her crop. Each morning, it's still got a little bit in it. She eats a layer feed and I give a few meal worms as treats.
Anyone out there ever have a hen whose crop never seems to empty? Can this be normal? Should I be concerned? Any help, advice, would be much appreciated!

You may want to make sure that she has poultry grit (crushed granite) available.

I would still check the crop first thing in the morning if she were mine, if it was not empty, then I would likely keep her from eating anything fibrous like grass/veggies or anything hard like corn/hard grains until it is emptying properly.

If need be, cage her and offer wet feed mash and give something "soft" like scrambled/hard boiled egg as a treat. A little coconut oil and massage won't hurt either.

A crop that does not completely empty overnight, can eventually turn sour, so it's important to get that straightened out.