Small Gritty Crop and lethargy

[Ricchan]

Hi All,
I have a hen about 2years? I'm not exactly sure her age since I adopted her.
She's normally pretty up and about and very food motivated but the last few days she's been laying down a lot and her color has paled a bit.
I put some VetRX on her and her color seems to have come back a bit but I was feeling her crop and it felt like rocks. Not full or bulging but a small little sack that was gritty/rocky feeling. Is this the same as sour crop? She seems to drink and eat but just lays down a lot. She was molting and hasn't had any eggs recently. I checked her vent and it's clean, no swelling no gunk. Some of her stool was soft and maybe a tad of mucus but didn't seem like much. I didn't see her pass any stool yet today when I was out checking on her but I will check again in a bit. I also checked her feet and they seem fine as well, soaked her feet in warm Epsom salt just in case. Any clues on what could be wrong? Her pen mates are eating and snacking normally, it's just her.
edit: checked her poop just now, just mushy and brown. no rocks in it. moved to the the chicken hospital (aka big cardboard box lol)

 

[Hannahnic14]

Bumping this so you can get help

 

[Razzlefrazzle]

Sounds like she might have an impacted crop or gizzard. I'd leave water with her overnight, but no food and check her crop first thing in the morning. If it's still hard she has an impaction.

You can give her crop a little massage now and see if you can gently break up the mass. If you have coconut oil you can feed her a few bits and then massage. You can use other oil too but you'd probably need to syringe it into her which can be messy/difficult so I find chilled coconut oil easiest.

If her crop doesn't feel like it's one hard mass but more like she's been eating a bunch of rocks/grit she may have gotten herself in trouble eating too much grass, straw, etc and has been eating grit to help break it all up in her gizzard where it might be stuck. You can try massages and oil for a day or two, but if the impaction is in the gizzard you will likely need to give her a crop flush a few times with 1 teaspoon epsom salt mixed into 1/2 cup water.

Here is a good article about treating crop issues:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

 

[Ricchan]

Sounds like she might have an impacted crop or gizzard. I'd leave water with her overnight, but no food and check her crop first thing in the morning. If it's still hard she has an impaction.

You can give her crop a little massage now and see if you can gently break up the mass. If you have coconut oil you can feed her a few bits and then massage. You can use other oil too but you'd probably need to syringe it into her which can be messy/difficult so I find chilled coconut oil easiest.

If her crop doesn't feel like it's one hard mass but more like she's been eating a bunch of rocks/grit she may have gotten herself in trouble eating too much grass, straw, etc and has been eating grit to help break it all up in her gizzard where it might be stuck. You can try massages and oil for a day or two, but if the impaction is in the gizzard you will likely need to give her a crop flush a few times with 1 teaspoon epsom salt mixed into 1/2 cup water.

Here is a good article about treating crop issues:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

Thank you so much for replying. It does not feel like a solid mass but a malleable sack of rocks. I can push around the rocks inside her crop. I did read that article you posted and have already started giving her some coconut oil and massaging it. I'll keep at it for the next two days and report back. Thanks again.

 

[Razzlefrazzle]

If there is no improvement by tomorrow after a few massages and some oil, I would start looking into flushes. The sooner the impaction is resolved the better the chance she has of a good outcome.

 

[Ricchan]

If there is no improvement by tomorrow after a few massages and some oil, I would start looking into flushes. The sooner the impaction is resolved the better the chance she has of a good outcome.

Her crop was empty this morning, no rocky feeling! Her color also was looking better so I put her back outside. The other chickens are bullying her a bit so I can't tell if she still has the tendency to lay down but at least it's not a crop issue!

 

[Razzlefrazzle]

Her crop was empty this morning, no rocky feeling! Her color also was looking better so I put her back outside. The other chickens are bullying her a bit so I can't tell if she still has the tendency to lay down but at least it's not a crop issue!

That's great news! I would keep an eye on her for a couple days to make sure everything is back to normal. Check her crop before she goes to bed on when she's roosting to make sure it's full and again in the morning to make sure it's empty. Also check the poop below her roosting spot.

 

[Ricchan]

That's great news! I would keep an eye on her for a couple days to make sure everything is back to normal. Check her crop before she goes to bed on when she's roosting to make sure it's full and again in the morning to make sure it's empty. Also check the poop below her roosting spot.

Will do! She pooped as soon as I put her in the pen this morning (anxiety poops maybe! haha) and it was more solid than yesterday but no actual rocks in it. Will definitely keep checking it. Do their combs ever get pale due to being cold?
Thank you so much for all the advice, really appreciate it. I'm still a newbie chickie owner in my first year

 

[Razzlefrazzle]

I doubt you'll see rocks in the poop. The grit stays in the gizzard helping break down food matter. You may see something like a clump of straw that was giving her trouble.

Chickens combs do definitely get small and pale in the winter, during molt or when they aren't laying so if she is otherwise acting healthy and happy I wouldn't worry. How cold is it where you are? I see you are using hay for insulation/bedding which is fine (I've used it myself) but some chickens will eat too much of it for whatever reason and end up with impactions, so if you keep having to deal with crop issues I would consider alternatives.

 

[Ricchan]

I doubt you'll see rocks in the poop. The grit stays in the gizzard helping break down food matter. You may see something like a clump of straw that was giving her trouble.

Chickens combs do definitely get small and pale in the winter, during molt or when they aren't laying so if she is otherwise acting healthy and happy I wouldn't worry. How cold is it where you are? I see you are using hay for insulation/bedding which is fine (I've used it myself) but some chickens will eat too much of it for whatever reason and end up with impactions, so if you keep having to deal with crop issues I would consider alternatives.

Didn't see much straw or fibrous stuff in the poop, was kind of like unbaked cookie dough consistency (hope I didn't ruin cookie dough for everyone).

I live near San Jose, California, not too cold but chilly at night. I've green house tarped their area so it's warmer than the ambient temp. We've had a very very wet winter so it's colder than normal. I've never seen any of them take interest in the alfafa. They won't even touch the leafy bits. I've been just straight tossing it in there to suck up moisture so it kind of built up. My parents do feed them some papaya peels and other vegetable peelings, wondering if that caused any issues. I am going to swap out the hay with hemp bedding since it's less messy than the hay. Hopefully avoid any future ingestion issues!

She looks like she's still perched up a lot, but she's preening herself so hopefully that's a good sign she's feeling decent at the least.