Pendulous crop? (Video)

[Eggcessive]

A pendulous crop is a crop that has been stretched out of shape by overeating or crop disorders, and has lost muscle tone. Can you check her crop each day for several days to make sure that her crop is emptying by early morning (check before she eats or drinks anything.)

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

Aw sweet girl. Did she do okay or did it end up causing her further issues? Hopefully she didn't succumb to it..

After her treatment, she did well until she started having issues again (thus needing to be treated again). If she didn't have the coconut oil during her treatment, her crop would get impacted. I don't know how she turned out in the long run, as I eventually gave her to someone who took in special needs chickens. (I delt with her for two years before giving her to that person.)

 

[Matilda84]

This seems a lot like what my hen Oreo has. She has pendulous crop which when I first got her caused her to eat a lot of food. This is because the way that chickens know when to stop eating is when their crop stretches a little bit so they know it is full. With pendulous crop, the crop is enlarged so they don't realise when to stop eating, as the crop will hold more before becoming full. This often leads to sour crop as their crop is so full that it cannot completely empty overnight. It sounds like you had this problem but that it has now been resolved, however if pendulous crop is the problem here, it is likely to happen again. This is just from my knowledge and I have no experience of your hens breed, but I would say it is not 100% normal for there to be anything at all in the crop in the mornings.

For my hen I have been using a crop bra which was custom made for the size of her crop by a great seller on Etsy. I'm pretty sure this works by restricting the crop so that it does get to a point where it feels 'full' and she stops eating when she should. A crop bra was recommended by my vet too, and she does now eat less and hasn't had any cases of sour crop since we started using the bra - it has been very effective. I was advised by the vet that as long as her crop is at least mostly empty in the mornings and she is not regularly getting sour crop that she should have a normal life, except perhaps a slightly shorter lifespan as it may cause her some more problems as she gets older.

Hope this helps!

 

[My Three Chicks]

The squishy crop resolved basically on it's own?

I'm not sure why you want to treat with an anti-fungal cream if the problem is resolved? Perhaps I'm missing something.

What do you feed? Perhaps she's eating too many treats and is lacking in protein/nutrition. Focus on her eating a balanced poultry feed that is 18-20% protein and limit treats.

Yes, her crop is now emptying completely on its own overnight. She does seem to have an extra skin flap I'm noticing around her crop area when I feel her in the morning. Not sure if it's related to her crop or not.

Another member suggested the anti-fungal cream. I haven't used it since I don't think she has a sour crop as I stated before.

I feed them 16% layer feed (Grubbly Farms pellets). They have free access to it. They get a very small amount of treat everyday. It could be blueberries, grapes, mealworms, scratch grain. Definitely under 10% of their diet.

 

[My Three Chicks]

This seems a lot like what my hen Oreo has. She has pendulous crop which when I first got her caused her to eat a lot of food. This is because the way that chickens know when to stop eating is when their crop stretches a little bit so they know it is full. With pendulous crop, the crop is enlarged so they don't realise when to stop eating, as the crop will hold more before becoming full. This often leads to sour crop as their crop is so full that it cannot completely empty overnight. It sounds like you had this problem but that it has now been resolved, however if pendulous crop is the problem here, it is likely to happen again. This is just from my knowledge and I have no experience of your hens breed, but I would say it is not 100% normal for there to be anything at all in the crop in the mornings.

For my hen I have been using a crop bra which was custom made for the size of her crop by a great seller on Etsy. I'm pretty sure this works by restricting the crop so that it does get to a point where it feels 'full' and she stops eating when she should. A crop bra was recommended by my vet too, and she does now eat less and hasn't had any cases of sour crop since we started using the bra - it has been very effective. I was advised by the vet that as long as her crop is at least mostly empty in the mornings and she is not regularly getting sour crop that she should have a normal life, except perhaps a slightly shorter lifespan as it may cause her some more problems as she gets older.

Hope this helps!

Thank you for the info and your personal experience. That may be what's happening to my girl because her crop gets so large and I'm sure it's full but she still keeps eating. Luckily its emptying overnight. But still gets huge during the day. Not sure if that means she still needs a crop bra at night or not since it's emptying?
With your crop bra, do you leave it on full time or only when you notice an issue?

 

[My Three Chicks]

A pendulous crop is a crop that has been stretched out of shape by overeating or crop disorders, and has lost muscle tone. Can you check her crop each day for several days to make sure that her crop is emptying by early morning (check before she eats or drinks anything.)

Yes, I've been checking her every morning. In fact I only have 6 girls and I've always checked their crops every morning. So I noticed Bielee's full crop immediately that one morning. But it seems to be emptying completely now. She's still eating a ton and her crop seems huge at the end of the day. But since it's emptying, does that mean she's ok and has no crop disorder?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

If her crop is emptying overnight and she's active/happy, then there's nothing to worry about at this time.

 

[Matilda84]

Thank you for the info and your personal experience. That may be what's happening to my girl because her crop gets so large and I'm sure it's full but she still keeps eating. Luckily its emptying overnight. But still gets huge during the day. Not sure if that means she still needs a crop bra at night or not since it's emptying?
With your crop bra, do you leave it on full time or only when you notice an issue?

With my girl I leave the crop bra on full time because otherwise her crop does not completely empty over night. In your case if her crop is completely emptying I would say she does not need a crop bra at the moment, but continue to monitor her for any changes. However I suspect due to her overeating and the fact that you seem to have already had a case of sour crop, her crop's condition is likely to weaken over time and sour crop is likely to happen again, so a crop bra may benefit her in the future.

Alternatively, there is an argument for using a crop bra now, as more of a preventative measure, because it should help control how much she eats, and also hold her crop in a better position to empty overnight, which could help prevent future cases of sour crop and prevent any further weakening/stretching of the crop muscles. However as long as your hen is happy and healthy at the moment this is by no means necessary.

A little disclaimer: I am by no means an expert and am just speaking from my personal experience and knowledge. Obviously a professional opinion is always best where possible!

 

[texsuze]

My EE hen, Bertha, would develop crop stasis each springtime when the grass started emerging and greening up. The fresh grass was more fiber material than she could process and she'd have a difficult time of it. I started using a crop bib (I like the word 'bib' instead of bra ) each year in spring, once I first noticed a bit of crop enlargement. She'd wear it during the daytime and it helped immensely with moving food through her system. There are a variety of designs and several Etsy folks who sew them. I don't like the x-ties across the back--creates a pressure point. I was using one with an elastic collar and single back snap. I modified it to add a snap to the elastic collar.