Seemingly healthy chicken has a giant crop...

[David-in-PDX]

Hi all,
I have a year old black copper maran who seems healthy. She is active, eats and drinks regularly, poops as much as the other two hens, lays eggs almost daily, has bright eyes and bright red comb.

But her crop is enormous! It typically feels extremely full during the day, fills my entire hand. I checked her first thing this morning and her crop was less full, but not empty, and still very large. It felt as though there was grit and at least one larger firm mass inside. I could also feel that her crop folded over her breast at the bottom and there was a bit of material in this folded over portion. She does not seem to have sour crop.

After some food it’s back to feeling quite large and full. It softens after a bit of massage but it does seem like there’s a harder mass in there, a bit smaller than a golf ball. But honestly her crop is so large I have a hard time telling what’s what.

Considering she seems perfectly happy, what level of intervention is needed?

My current plan is to massage regularly during the day, put her in a crop bra at night, and monitor her crop. If it doesn’t improve isolate her and change her diet for a couple days. I’ll also be reaching out to a local vet for advice.

I welcome any thoughts or insight from you all!

Thanks,
David

 

[CalBickieMomma]

I have a little experience with sour crop, but from what you say that doesn’t sound like what it is. Have you looked into compacted crop? And it could be she just likes to keep herself nice and stuffed . Maybe just look into impacted crop just in case, but if she seems to be doing fine and isn’t showing any signs of sickness, it might just be her unique quirk .

 

[berryncherry]

Yeah, sounds okay to me. I wouldn't worry too much about it. Approximately how much are you feeding her?

 

[David-in-PDX]

@CalBickieMomma — yeah, it seems possible that she has some impaction/compaction, but that’s based only on what I feel and not at all on a change in behavior or poop.

@berryncherry — honestly I can’t say how much she’s fed. The three hens share fermented feed every morning, eat freely from a feeder holding grains and fines, and get supplemental greens/herbs and black fly grubs. They all seem to eat a great deal, but they’re still filling in and are definitely not overweight.

 

[berryncherry]

@berryncherry — honestly I can’t say how much she’s fed. The three hens share fermented feed every morning, eat freely from a feeder holding grains and fines, and get supplemental greens/herbs and black fly grubs. They all seem to eat a great deal, but they’re still filling in and are definitely not overweight.

It may be the grains. Grains are considered treats for chickens, and you should only give about 10% of it in feeding.

 

[David-in-PDX]

It may be the grains. Grains are considered treats for chickens, and you should only give about 10% of it in feeding.

ok got it! The grains are part of a feed mix from Scratch and Peck, and they don’t get additional grains. I’ll look into it and see if perhaps they are getting too much grain from this feed.

 

[David-in-PDX]

After giving her regular massages, I’m starting to suspect sour crop. During each I have noticed a pretty putrid smell, sort of similar to one of their nasty poops, and I think it’s coming from her mouth.

Given this, I think she probably should fast for a little, get regular massages, and then slowly reintroduce easy foods.

But it seems weird to do anything because she acts perfectly normal and even laid an egg today! It has me a bit confused...

 

[CalBickieMomma]

After giving her regular massages, I’m starting to suspect sour crop. During each I have noticed a pretty putrid smell, sort of similar to one of their nasty poops, and I think it’s coming from her mouth.

Given this, I think she probably should fast for a little, get regular massages, and then slowly reintroduce easy foods.

But it seems weird to do anything because she acts perfectly normal and even laid an egg today! It has me a bit confused...

Does her crop feel squishy or full of air/gas? If so, then could definitely be sour crop. There are lots of threads on here to help with that, and if it is sour crop, sounds like you caught it early (since she seems to be acting normal). Check her crop again in the morning (before she eats) to see if it feels puffy. If so, then we probably have our culprit .

 

[David-in-PDX]

Does her crop feel squishy or full of air/gas? If so, then could definitely be sour crop. There are lots of threads on here to help with that, and if it is sour crop, sounds like you caught it early (since she seems to be acting normal). Check her crop again in the morning (before she eats) to see if it feels puffy. If so, then we probably have our culprit .

I kept her off feed for the afternoon yesterday and through the night. In the morning her crop didn’t feel empty, but it also didn’t totally seem puffy or fluid filled. Perhaps a little puffy. What really stands out is that there’s a gold ball sized mass of who knows what in there. There seems to be plenty of room for other food as well, but that mass is the one constant over the last 24 hours.

She is the hen that loves eating long grass. Often ends up with bits hanging out of her beak...so I’m feeling pretty confident that there’s a bit ball of matter stuck in there.

But I suppose somehow she’s getting enough nutrition around the impaction? Weird. I think probably we need to get that impaction sorted out or we’ll start to see some problems here shortly.

I’m getting Damerow’s health book today and calling all the vets... I’d hate to have a flock of just two!

 

[theoldchick]

https://the-chicken-chick.com/chicken-anatomy-crop-impacted-crop-sour/