Becky Holderness
In the Brooder
- Dec 31, 2017
- 16
- 73
- 41
My seven-and-a-half month old hen, Dorothy, has a crop that has grown to an alarming size. When I felt it a few weeks ago it felt soft, squishy and full of water like a balloon. It had been sticking quite far out of her chest, wobbling about and growing in size for quite a few weeks, but I didn’t think much of it at the time – just thought it would go away or something (I feel quite guilty about this now).
After searching the internet, I diagnosed her with sour crop and/or pendulous crop. I put her on a 24 hour fast which did reduce the size of her crop – it felt like the size of my other hens’ crops on a night-time. We then fed her some boiled egg mashed up with its shell and some natural yoghurt. Then she slept for the night without any more food till morning. This was a couple of days ago. She’s back on her normal diet now of grower’s pellets but she does get a special “breakfast” of yoghurt, crushed garlic and mushed veg. I don’t know if it helped or not due to conflicting research.
Basically, her crop now seems almost as bad as ever (still not quite as enormous). She is also back to making horrible jerking movements with her neck and head (I haven’t seen her do that since the fast). The crop feels squishy and watery. She is a beloved pet and so young – I’m really worried as she feels quite thin (though she has always been that way since we got her and does still seem very active and energetic so I’m not sure if that is actually a problem). I can’t stand the thought of making her sick and I don’t know if it is the right thing to do anyway is. Any advice/stories/experience would be greatly appreciated to get her crop back into shape!
Thank you,
Becky
(P.S if you think an image of her would help I can always upload one)
After searching the internet, I diagnosed her with sour crop and/or pendulous crop. I put her on a 24 hour fast which did reduce the size of her crop – it felt like the size of my other hens’ crops on a night-time. We then fed her some boiled egg mashed up with its shell and some natural yoghurt. Then she slept for the night without any more food till morning. This was a couple of days ago. She’s back on her normal diet now of grower’s pellets but she does get a special “breakfast” of yoghurt, crushed garlic and mushed veg. I don’t know if it helped or not due to conflicting research.
Basically, her crop now seems almost as bad as ever (still not quite as enormous). She is also back to making horrible jerking movements with her neck and head (I haven’t seen her do that since the fast). The crop feels squishy and watery. She is a beloved pet and so young – I’m really worried as she feels quite thin (though she has always been that way since we got her and does still seem very active and energetic so I’m not sure if that is actually a problem). I can’t stand the thought of making her sick and I don’t know if it is the right thing to do anyway is. Any advice/stories/experience would be greatly appreciated to get her crop back into shape!
Thank you,
Becky
(P.S if you think an image of her would help I can always upload one)
Last edited:
and Happy New Year! Maybe this will help?
