Pullet with growth on breast

[graceupongrace]

Hello,
We have a pullet who is approximately 7 weeks old and has something wrong with its chest. I've noticed it for a while and it continues to worsen. It feel and looks like a balloon on the front of her chest. She has difficulty walking and nearly gets trampled over by the other chicks. Any idea what is wrong with her? She's the sweetest little thing - makes me feel so bad for her!

 

[ChickNanny13]

Push her feathering to the side, is it under her skin or on her skin? Is it hard? Soft? Squishy? I'm wondering if it's an air pocket under her skin ... Good that you put your location, will tag those that may know in your time zone.

@casportpony @azygous @junebuggena @micstrachan
Thank you all in advance

 

[Melky]

I think I would have a vet look at that. At first I thought impacted crop or sour crop but when I blew up the photo I thought maybe tumor. Let’s see what others think. Does she eat and drink ok? Other symptoms? I might separate her if you have separate housing or a crate for her and put bedding food/water in with her so you can better evaluate her.

 

[MissChick@dee]

Pendulous crop.

 

[rebrascora]

t feel and looks like a balloon on the front of her chest.

When you say it feels and looks like a balloon, do you mean that it feels like it is full of air or gas because it looks like the weight of it is dragging her down? If you part the feathers and look at it, is there a notable blood supply to it?
I initially thought impacted, pendulous crop too but I'm also having second thoughts on that, so knowing if it is heavy or light weight would help and also what her poop looks like and if much food is passing through her system. I would therefore isolate her for 24hrs to monitor food and water intake and her output. I would also be interested to know what her body condition is like?
Does she have plenty of breast muscle for her age? (compare to other chicks) as the first photo suggests or is her breast bone really sharp under the skin. Was she vaccinated for Marek's? Where did you get her?
What do you feed your chicks?
Sorry to ask more questions than offer answers/solutions!

 

[MissChick@dee]

If it’s a pendulous crop it will smell sour (her breath). Does it sway back and forth when she runs? Can she run? Or does she loose her balance and have to waddle.
If it’s pendulous the muscle can’t push the food through and it will sit there and rot. Does it feel hot? Mine actually had feather loss where the bulk of the weight sat. He developed a round abscess on the outside where the feather loss was.
My Roo was given to me as a chick this way.
I would vomit him. Separated him to monitor his intake because he would binge eat. Yogurt was given everyday along with antibiotics in courses. He wound recover to a certain point but just one day of binge eating and we’d have to start the process over again. A crop bra is designed to help with this problem. And with some luck and food monitoring using the bra can help the muscles regain strength and function as normal. Pendulous crop was just my knee jerk reaction to the photo it looks like my Roo’s did. Best wishes

 

[micstrachan]

Poor dear. Looks to be a gigantic crop to me, but more information that was already asked may help us help you. In addition to the other questions, can you answer these?
• Does she eat & drink normally compared to her flock mates?
• How does her poop look?
• What do you feed them?
• Do they have access to granite grit?
• Do they have access to anything besides chick starter/grower?

If she were mine, I would probably start treating for pendulous crop, including a crop bra, until I figured out what is going on.

I hope you can answer the questions you have been asked so we can help narrow it it down. I am especially interested in knowing what the skin looks like over the crop and how it feels.

I am fairly certain this little one is going to require some help if she’s going to make it. I sincerely hope it’s a crop issue you can treat.

 

[graceupongrace]

Thank you everyone for responding. I'm just now seeing these responses. I thought I would get an email alert when someone responded but I didn't. So I read an article online about sour crop and am following their protocol. They said to keep her away from feed and water for 12hrs or overnight and then give her probiotics. If that doesn't work, then I'll try making her "throw up"? Any other suggestions?
So it's very soft and squishy feeling. After looking up sour crop online, I think that's likely what she has. She has only been given chick starter feed and no grit. I didn't think they needed grit when they only had access to chick starter but I could be wrong. I just separated her tonight so I really don't know what her poop looks like. I'm not sure if she was vaccinated for Mareks. We bought her at a feed store near us.
I'm glad for all suggestions! I really don't want to lose her. She doesn't look too good.

 

[azygous]

My first thought was pendulous crop. It usually doesn't occur in such a young chicken, though, it's not impossible. Here's an article I wrote to educate people on crop disorders and how to tell one from another. https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

Then I tell how each is treated. Vomiting is not a recommended treatment for any crop disorder as there's a significant risk of the vomit getting sucked into the airway and the lungs.

I show a simple pattern for making a crop bra. You probably wouldn't be able to purchase such a small one as you'd need for a young pullet.

 

[graceupongrace]

@azygous Wow, your article is very informative! Thank you! Hopefully I can get some medication and try that. So at this point, you would recommend giving her the medication twice daily and allowing her all the food and water she would like, correct?