Sand in crop, 2 weeks old, leave it or help?

[ljkraemer]

So, I made the mistake of using sand in my brooder. I misread an article about all the wonderful things about sand in a chicken coop/run, and mistakenly applied it to a brooder situation as well. All of my 6 chicks are doing well: eating, drinking, normal poops, happy and active. I have eco-flakes (what the farm store sold me) as their bedding as of 2 days ago. Most of the chicks are around 3 weeks old, maybe older. But there are two younger chicks, I’m guessing between 10-14 days old. These two younger ones do not have empty crops in the morning like the older birds. When I feel the crop, it feels like a bag of ...sand. Or like a hackey sack. It’s about the size of a small marble and is that size every morning. My question is this: do I offer coconut oil mixed in the food for these two young ones and massage their crops to keep it loose and hope that as they age they will pass the sand eventually? Or do I do nothing and it will work itself out? Or do I need to be more aggressive (syringe olive oil down their throat, massage upside down) to intentionally get the sand out? Has anyone made this mistake before, or seen it in free ranging chicks, and can offer advice on what to do? I’d really appreciate it. We’ve already lost 2 in our first week (which we’ve replaced) and I reallllllly don’t want to lose anymore chicks. Thank you so much!!!

 

[ljkraemer]

So, I made the mistake of using sand in my brooder. I misread an article about all the wonderful things about sand in a chicken coop/run, and mistakenly applied it to a brooder situation as well. All of my 6 chicks are doing well: eating, drinking, normal poops, happy and active. I have eco-flakes (what the farm store sold me) as their bedding as of 2 days ago. Most of the chicks are around 3 weeks old, maybe older. But there are two younger chicks, I’m guessing between 10-14 days old. These two younger ones do not have empty crops in the morning like the older birds. When I feel the crop, it feels like a bag of ...sand. Or like a hackey sack. It’s about the size of a small marble and is that size every morning. My question is this: do I offer coconut oil mixed in the food for these two young ones and massage their crops to keep it loose and hope that as they age they will pass the sand eventually? Or do I do nothing and it will work itself out? Or do I need to be more aggressive (syringe olive oil down their throat, massage upside down) to intentionally get the sand out? Has anyone made this mistake before, or seen it in free ranging chicks, and can offer advice on what to do? I’d really appreciate it. We’ve already lost 2 in our first week (which we’ve replaced) and I reallllllly don’t want to lose anymore chicks. Thank you so much!

So, I made the mistake of using sand in my brooder. I misread an article about all the wonderful things about sand in a chicken coop/run, and mistakenly applied it to a brooder situation as well. All of my 6 chicks are doing well: eating, drinking, normal poops, happy and active. I have eco-flakes (what the farm store sold me) as their bedding as of 2 days ago. Most of the chicks are around 3 weeks old, maybe older. But there are two younger chicks, I’m guessing between 10-14 days old. These two younger ones do not have empty crops in the morning like the older birds. When I feel the crop, it feels like a bag of ...sand. Or like a hackey sack. It’s about the size of a small marble and is that size every morning. My question is this: do I offer coconut oil mixed in the food for these two young ones and massage their crops to keep it loose and hope that as they age they will pass the sand eventually? Or do I do nothing and it will work itself out? Or do I need to be more aggressive (syringe olive oil down their throat, massage upside down) to intentionally get the sand out? Has anyone made this mistake before, or seen it in free ranging chicks, and can offer advice on what to do? I’d really appreciate it. We’ve already lost 2 in our first week (which we’ve replaced) and I reallllllly don’t want to lose anymore chicks. Thank you so much!!!

@azygous could you please help me? Thank you!

 

[azygous]

Sand shouldn't need to be a "mistake". I've been brooding new chicks on sand for years without issues. They will pick up sand as grit and stop once their gizzard is equipped. As long as chicks have plenty of easy access to fresh water, ingesting bedding, whether it's sand or wood flakes, excess will wash on through the chick. Having a little sand in the crop is nothing to worry about.

If a chick is behaving lethargically, standing stationary with eyes drooping, wings drooping, hunched, then there's a problem and you should give the oil. I recommed using solid coconut oil as it's safer to put into a chick's beak without worry of aspiration.

 

[ljkraemer]

Sand shouldn't need to be a "mistake". I've been brooding new chicks on sand for years without issues. They will pick up sand as grit and stop once their gizzard is equipped. As long as chicks have plenty of easy access to fresh water, ingesting bedding, whether it's sand or wood flakes, excess will wash on through the chick. Having a little sand in the crop is nothing to worry about.

If a chick is behaving lethargically, standing stationary with eyes drooping, wings drooping, hunched, then there's a problem and you should give the oil. I recommed using solid coconut oil as it's safer to put into a chick's beak without worry of aspiration.

Sounds good. In a local Facebook chicken group I’m in, someone scolded me for using sand with chicks (after I posted that my 1week old polish chick had died) and said I should have done my research... I did, which is why I chose sand. I’m back to pine flakes and they eat those too...

So to make sure I’ve got this right, a small marble of squishy sand/crop that’s always there is okay as long as chick is acting like a chick. I’ve been mixing coconut oil in with the mashed eggs/feed mix I treat them to once a day and all chicks eat this. Should I stop doing that?

 

[azygous]

Yes, as long as the chicks are behaving normally, all is well. It doesn't hurt to give the oil if you are worried. I wouldn't use it more than a day or two as it can rush food through too quickly for nutrients to be properly absorbed.

Here's a personal story that just happened yesterday. I brood in my run with a heating pad on a steel frame. I needed a cover for it that was long enough to tuck in under the frame so the chicks wouldn't keep pulling it off. I used a blanket scrap of a synthetic woven material. The chicks immediately set to plucking it with their beaks.

Thinking it was an empty exercise, I ignored them. Came back later, and saw they had eaten sizable holes in the blanket. Yes, consumed the material. I took the blanket off and just kept watch on the chicks for behavior that was "off". A chick that is clogged will not be running around curious and into everything. This did not happen over the 24 hour observation, so the material went right through them as I expected it would.

Sometimes a chick will consume a lot of something, food or grit or whatever. That can overwhelm any crop. In that case, you will not have any doubt the chick is in crisis. Then you would want to get oil into the chick immediately.