Need Advice on Impacted Crop

[Mainer Chickens]

Hi all, I have a 3 year old easter egger that's been a healthy, good laying hen. We recently lost two of our hens to a predator from our flock of four, so she's experienced some stress lately. She's of average size and weight with a pleasant disposition and a big appetite - she's always the first one to run to the door for 'treat time', which consists of sunflower seed mixed with oats and meal worms. We noticed about 4 weeks ago (shortly after losing the two hens) that JoJo was doing a weird thing with her neck, shaking it from side to side. We have another hen who's a bit challenged and walks backwards and sideways (always has, mostly when it's raining or snowing) so we didn't think much of it, and it seemed to stop after a few weeks. Then a few days ago she started doing it a lot, so I looked it up and found she's having a problem with her crop, so I put her in my lap (she does NOT like to be held) and felt her crop which was enlarged and hard. I gave her 4 massages and isolated her in a pen where she could still see her friends (we have two new pullets) with only water with ACV in it. This distressed her a great deal, especially when watching her friends eat. She doesn't show any sign of lethargy or distress and is laying just fine. Her poops are darkish colored and if anything a bit dry - no sign of diarrhea. After her 4th massage last night I noticed her crop softening a bit, so I put her in the coop with no food, just water last night, and this morning there was no sign of change in her crop - it was somewhat harder and still large, about the size of a small tennis ball. I put her back in the isolated pen this morning with just ACV water and a mash made of fine pellets, plain yogurt and garlic. She wouldn't have any of it. A few hours later I went out to check on her and she was gone. The pen was closed with no sign of damage - I have yet to find out how she got out, but found her in the nesting box where she laid an egg. I gave her another 'crop massage', raked out the larger pen they are in (there's no grass there, just dirt and wood shavings here and there) and left her out where she was clearly less stressed. I honestly don't know what to do now. I stopped all treats and leafy greens (which she loves), left only ACV water out and filled the girls' feeder with the finer granuled pullet feed.
Oh, I also bought granite grit with probiotics yesterday and she wants nothing to do with that. She's out hanging in the pen now, happy as a lark, pecking around the ground and has been drinking her ACV water. Should I just watch her for a few days and keep her only on the finer pellets and see if she improves? I don't want to do anything too invasive, other than an occasional crop massage. Thanks for listening.

 

[Mace Gill]

Do what your doing. For feed, maybe go with crumbles. Keep messaging while holding her upside down ... morning and evening and don't be overly gentle.

 

[Mainer Chickens]

Thanks much. So I just did a search and it looks like crumbles are just that, crumbled feed vs. pellets, correct? I switched the 'big' girls off the pellets today, they are on the same food that the 14 week old pullets are eating and they seem to like it okay, and it looks 'crumbly'. I attached a few photos.
And I don't hold her upside down as I'm not sure it's sour crop vs. impacted - she has no foul odor coming from her beak and her crop is still somewhat hard - it feels like a grapefruit, not entirely hard, but pretty hard.

 

[Mace Gill]

The messaging is to help break up the , I would think even if it isn't sour I'd want her upside down to help it dislodge ONE way ... or the other once she's back on the ground!

Keep at it!

 

[Mainer Chickens]

Thanks, if it might dislodge whatever is in there I'm game!

 

[Mace Gill]

Just read somewhere that Epsom salt can be administered to help with a digestive issue ... but I've never tried it and I would want to read every detail I could before trying!