Mysterious Hopping Hen with Pendulous Crop

[cjpeeps]

Hi - flock are all moulting and my hybrid layers got extra grouchy and tore into my Welsummer so I fear we may have caught this too late.

The video is our Easter Egger, Mallie. We love her eggs but she is also my daughters pet. She’s always been a bit of a piglet when it comes to food.

Doesn’t seem to be egg bound, no signs of bumble foot, eating/drinking/pooping normal, organic food with grit and oyster shells available, no other chickens with these symptoms. Legs have good range of motion, no hot spots. Crop is not hard or balloon like, but she is getting new feathers there so doesn’t like it being touched. She’s roosting fine too. Much like the others who are mounting she’s paused on the laying. The hop isn’t with every step - oddly she seems to run reasonably in short bursts - but it is frequent and varies in severity with each step.

Is it just the pendulous crop making her do this? Or something else? Happy to receive suggestions for treating whatever you think it is.

 

[jonezjollyfarm]

Perhaps she tripped or jumped and twisted it a little and it only bother her when shes running? Has it been going on for awhile or this is new?

 

[ButtonquailGirl14]

@casportpony @Wyorp Rock

 

[cjpeeps]

Perhaps she tripped or jumped and twisted it a little and it only bother her when shes running? Has it been going on for awhile or this is new?

Three days. She doesn’t seem to have pain when running, or when I was checking her range of movement.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hi - flock are all moulting and my hybrid layers got extra grouchy and tore into my Welsummer so I fear we may have caught this too late.

The video is our Easter Egger, Mallie. We love her eggs but she is also my daughters pet. She’s always been a bit of a piglet when it comes to food.

Doesn’t seem to be egg bound, no signs of bumble foot, eating/drinking/pooping normal, organic food with grit and oyster shells available, no other chickens with these symptoms. Legs have good range of motion, no hot spots. Crop is not hard or balloon like, but she is getting new feathers there so doesn’t like it being touched. She’s roosting fine too. Much like the others who are mounting she’s paused on the laying. The hop isn’t with every step - oddly she seems to run reasonably in short bursts - but it is frequent and varies in severity with each step.

Is it just the pendulous crop making her do this? Or something else? Happy to receive suggestions for treating whatever you think it is.

She's stepping like that to push her crop up.
Smell her breath to see if it's sour.
Check the crop first thing in the morning before she eats/drinks, likely there will still be something in that pendulous area.

With her molting I'm sure she is not going to like being handled, but getting the crop to empty completely will be helpful since the contents can ferment in there and turn sour.
She would probably benefit from crop bra. Sometimes the crop is so distended it will not take back it's original shape and she may need a bra for the rest of her life - that will need to be monitored, but hens learn to adapt and do well with them.
The following article by @azygous helps you identify crop problems and fix them - she also has instructions at the end showing how to make a crop bra https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

@TwoCrows article is very good to read as well http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/impacted-slow-and-sour-crops-prevention-and-treatments

fwiw - crop bras can also be purchased online, just google them.

 

[micstrachan]

I completely agree with @Wyorp Rock. I’ve never seen that before, but she is clearly pushing on her crop. I agree she is a candidate for a crop bra. Good luck!

 

[TwoCrows]

Sorry you are dealing with a pendulous crop. These long running crop issues grow a ton of yeasts over time and get into the lining of the crop. I've seen this in many birds with sour crop, never in a doughy or impacted crop, both of which can be heavy as well. My theory is that the crop possiblely itches and they are trying to satisfy the itch with a high step.

You might try some Acidified Copper Sulfate.
https://www.twincitypoultrysupplies.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=340

I have had wonderful luck with Copper Sulfate on all crop issues, it cleans them out from beak to vent of all yeasts, E.coli, cankers, even a few species of Coccidiosis. It is mixed 1/4 teaspoon Copper to 1 gallon of water. Make a new batch daily, use for 7 to 10 days. And ALWAYS use probiotics for several days, AFTER treatments of Copper Sulfate.

You might also get her into a crop bra to help support the crop tissues, some pendulous crops do return to normal size, some have become over stretched and continue to sag. The crop runs as designed when not stretched out, moving food out and into the intestines at the proper rate, so if the crop does not return to its normal size, she may need to wear the bra indefinitely to keep yeasts from growing.

 

[azygous]

I've never seen that little stretch and hop before, either. It's a genius movement, though, and it serves to help position the crop contents to help them move up to the crop drain, which isn't at the bottom of the crop.

Her pendulous crop prevents the contents at the bottom of the crop from moving out of the crop. A crop bra would help. So would gently supporting the crop with your hand and very gently agitating the crop, encouraging the contents to move up toward the middle of the crop where the drain is.

 

[ernie85017]

My americana with a pendulous crop did exactly the same thing. The video could have been video of her.
She lost weight quickly and was skeletal in spite of eating.
Examine for weight frequently, along with all the other treatments above.

 

[MissChick@dee]

I agree she’s pushing the crop up. Check the bottom of where it hangs. Had a Roo like that and he actually developed a absces didn’t notice it till there was feather loss.