Since this forum is blessed with so many awesome and knowledgeable members, I end up posting about all chicken health complaints here now. Sorry about that 
Just helps to have opinions!
Speckles is something like 3 or 4 years old and has had a somewhat pendulous/giant looking crop for quite a long time... I confess I’ve just left her alone since she has never been sick and she hates being handled, my mistake and another lesson learned. In recent times I have seen her moving her head and neck in that odd way they do, presumably trying to clear her crop or because it’s uncomfortable. She is an absolutely manic eater and just stuffs herself with everything she can all day long, including grass, blossom (she jumps at the trees for it) and anything she can. Aside from the neck movement she appears in excellent health, laid a great egg yesterday, and is bright-eyed and active.
Yesterday morning I confined her to our separate hospital coop with just water and grit and her crop did go down overnight but today there remains a solid ball which is pretty big, more like a tennis ball than a golf ball. I cannot budge it at all - I have fed her some solid coconut oil chips and tried to massage it. I think what has happened is that her crop impacted at some point and then it has simply stretched to accommodate her daily eating - the food from the stretched part gets digested fine and the solid part remains. I hadn’t realised there was a long-standing impaction when I locked her up and I just wanted to see that her crop was working properly before measuring her for a crop bra.
If anyone has the time then my questions are:
1) What can I do to shift this blockage? She isn’t inclined to eat more coconut oil but I can pop some solid chips in her mouth to get her to swallow them. Then do I just keep trying to massage and hope it loosens?
2) How long can I / should I withhold feed? By all accounts her crop seems to be working around the impaction and her droppings look healthy. I was thinking to keep her with just water tonight and then let her have some layers pellets tomorrow but keep her off everything else whilst we work on this.
I have watched many videos of crop surgery performed at home and I think maybe, just maybe, I could do it... but equally it is hard to convince myself when she’s actually not unwell, but I know this impaction will make her sick eventually and can’t be comfortable. She’s also super feisty and strong and hates to be held (I usually handle them at night but that’s not ideal for surgery). I’m not sure local vets would really be much use but I could definitely ask!
Pic attached from this afternoon.
Just helps to have opinions!Speckles is something like 3 or 4 years old and has had a somewhat pendulous/giant looking crop for quite a long time... I confess I’ve just left her alone since she has never been sick and she hates being handled, my mistake and another lesson learned. In recent times I have seen her moving her head and neck in that odd way they do, presumably trying to clear her crop or because it’s uncomfortable. She is an absolutely manic eater and just stuffs herself with everything she can all day long, including grass, blossom (she jumps at the trees for it) and anything she can. Aside from the neck movement she appears in excellent health, laid a great egg yesterday, and is bright-eyed and active.
Yesterday morning I confined her to our separate hospital coop with just water and grit and her crop did go down overnight but today there remains a solid ball which is pretty big, more like a tennis ball than a golf ball. I cannot budge it at all - I have fed her some solid coconut oil chips and tried to massage it. I think what has happened is that her crop impacted at some point and then it has simply stretched to accommodate her daily eating - the food from the stretched part gets digested fine and the solid part remains. I hadn’t realised there was a long-standing impaction when I locked her up and I just wanted to see that her crop was working properly before measuring her for a crop bra.
If anyone has the time then my questions are:
1) What can I do to shift this blockage? She isn’t inclined to eat more coconut oil but I can pop some solid chips in her mouth to get her to swallow them. Then do I just keep trying to massage and hope it loosens?
2) How long can I / should I withhold feed? By all accounts her crop seems to be working around the impaction and her droppings look healthy. I was thinking to keep her with just water tonight and then let her have some layers pellets tomorrow but keep her off everything else whilst we work on this.
I have watched many videos of crop surgery performed at home and I think maybe, just maybe, I could do it... but equally it is hard to convince myself when she’s actually not unwell, but I know this impaction will make her sick eventually and can’t be comfortable. She’s also super feisty and strong and hates to be held (I usually handle them at night but that’s not ideal for surgery). I’m not sure local vets would really be much use but I could definitely ask!
Pic attached from this afternoon.
