Pelleted Feed and Impacted Crops

[Bear Foot Farm]

Quote: Do they have access to food all the time?

 

[Kelsie2290]

Are you using a specific brand of pellet? Is it specific birds or breeds that are being affected? I also feed pellets starting at about 8 weeks and haven't noticed a problem. Could see that dehydration or birds that are not drinking as they should could have problems, but would think they'd have the same problem with crumbles to some extent.

 

[centrarchid]

I have been feeding pelleted feeds to my hens for years. I have never had a compacted crop from pellets. I would suspect dehydration might lend a hand in causing pellet compaction.

Both times that I had problem with an compacted crop the cause was a wood chip. I no longer use any type of wood products as bedding. I cringe everytime I read about posters using wood chips and sawdust in their brooders.

My very limited experiences with crop impaction involved birds that had not had access to fibrous plant material for a while then got into a bunch of it all at once. They also did not appear to be getting enough quality grit.

 

[Peaches Lee]

It has happened with my Golden Comets and with one Silkie. My birds free-range all day and are only locked up at night. They are fed once a day (well, fed their layer meal once a day, they forage for themselves the rest) and they also get lots of treats. They also have plenty of water dishes in many locations. I did start my young ones (that hatched this year) on a pelleted feed and they were all fine. The Golden Comets do seem to be more aggressive in their eating habits or less sensible, even when handing out treats they are very obnoxious.

 

[Janet Pesaturo]

Quote: I agree and think dehydration and "other causes" not related to type of food or bedding are probably most important causes of crop impaction in birds who have access to sufficient grit. Not type of feed, not scratch, not long pieces of grass.

The "other causes" I mentioned would be individual vulnerability to crop problems (some birds might simply have weaker crop muscles), and diseases (such as Marek's) that can involve the nervous system. Some illnesses that involve the nervous system can affect the nerve which innervates the crop. If innervation is disturbed, the crop cannot contract properly.

Poor hydration can be secondary to anything that makes the bird too unhappy to drink a sufficient amount of water. That could be something as simple as mite infestation.