Soft bulging crop....

[Godiva]

I have just moved some bantam hens into an area where they have access to the bantam run, havent been out for almost 6 months! The run was looking very bare and rather nasty so I laid down some hay that I had lying around. Now I see that my dear little Sonnet has obviously gorged herself on the lovely goodies and her crop is really big, looks like it touches the ground whenever she pecks at the ground. I have heard of this happening but (who knows why?) thought it wouldn't happen to my chickens...

The crop is soft, seems to cause discomfort when I palpated it earlier. She is eating and drinking but seems a bit listless - I initially thought she was broody because she was hanging out on the nest yesterday... I have not witnessed her pooping this afternoon, but haven't been able to hang out watching her. Will check tomorrow morning...
What do I do? Should I isolate her? She looks a bit uncomfortable and when my DD picked her up clear liquid came up out of her beak, presumably due to her crop being too full...THere is no bad smell with the fluid that came up.


HOw do I treat this? Should I take her off food and just give her liquids for a while? I have a cage (broody jail) that I guess I could put her in (I have a broody hen in there right now and she won't be done for another few days...) Anyway, HELP. THis pullet is almost a year old, they are housed on shavings in the coop, and everyone is on a gamebird breeder/ layer feed at the moment. I put grit in their feed but don't yet have it in a separate container for free access, need to do that.

 

[cimarron]

godiva i just ran into my first possible impacted crop yesterday too! i researched some threads here, i believe you should indeed keep the affected hen separate so you can observe. not feed her for a day and see if her crop goes down in the a.m. ( i had three suspects and just the worst one is actually impacted with a baseball sized crop that didn't go down...the other two cleared out overnight after a dose of veg oil and probably weren't impacted in the first place).

assuming it is impacted crop..,have your parter hold the chicken and pry open her beak. you use a dropper to put a few droppers full of veg or mineral oil down the chicken's throat. and by all means do not put it down the esophagus hole/windpipe, cause that can kill her...you can tell the difference because the throat is wide open at the back and you can put the dropper down a little ways. the esophagus is more of a pipe/pinhole, sort of part of the tongue?... you'll see what i mean...then massage the impacted crop gently. don't force it "up" or it may cause puking which can choke her. also saw suggestions for active yogurt, applesauce and apple cider vinegar in the water. we haven't fed her yet except for a little cooked apple this a.m. we gave the second round of oil & massage this a.m. and though it's not clear, her crop mass seems to be breaking up and getting softer. we hope she'll get it out in the next day or so. oil & massage...sounds like a spa treatment! you'd think it was by way the other chickens were acting! well this is what i'm doing, i wish you good luck ! and please, anybody else who has successfully treated this, please share your tips & techniques!

 

[gallusdomesticus]

The easiest way to get her beak open is to hold the back of her head in the web between your thumb and forefinger and gently tip her head back till her beak is vertical. Chickens will automatically open their beaks and you can then easily medicate them.