squishy crop but acting completely normal - won’t empty overnight

[mce5987]

i’ve got a four year old hen who is showing absolutely no changes in behaviour, very vocal and alert. however, her crop is squishy and isn’t going down overnight. her poos look completely normal though.

she’s still very interested in food - we kept her off food for 24 hours but her crop didn’t really go down so we’re not just feeding her scrambled egg and yogurt with probiotics, we’ve started mixing a bit of grit in with her food too.

she’s drinking a normal amount and is following us around. we’ve ordered some worming treatment in case this is the cause, looked at lots of different articles but can’t really find anything which really applies to her. she’s cleaning herself often and still got a red comb and wattle.

her crop doesn’t feel like it’s got anything hard in it but we’ve fed her some solidified coconut oil too to try more stuff along.

was just wondering if anyone has any ideas as to what could be the cause? her crop does seem to sag a bit so wondering if maybe it’s pendulous or just slow?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I'd say there isn't anything that cries out to me a problem.
I always tell people not to worry until you have something to worry about.
Are you sure you aren't overthinking it? Do you have a picture?

Acting normal, good color, eating regularly, defecating normally, I'd say all is well.

I wouldn't go making changes. Just provide grit, you don't have to mix it.
What made you think to worry in the first place?

 

[mce5987]

we’ve lost hens in the past to sour crop so it was quite worrying when hers wasn’t emptying overnight and was still remaining quite big and squishy.

we had one like last week which had a bad crop and ended up dying, however, she turned very suddenly in one day and died overnight and so we reckon something else was happening rather than just her crop.

i’ve got this screenshot from a video which shows how big her crop is

i suppose we are just worried about the risk of it turning into sour crop if it’s not fully emptying properly.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

That is very interesting. Have you figured out what is the cause of sour crop in your birds?
I know it is a thing but I've had thousands of chickens and never experienced it in any of them.

 

[mce5987]

That is very interesting. Have you figured out what is the cause of sour crop in your birds?
I know it is a thing but I've had thousands of chickens and never experienced it in any of them.

we’re not sure, it’s weird as it seems to be the ex battery hen breeds that get it in our flock. we’ve changed around their coop recently to try get rid of anything that may cause it in them and also started adding apple cider vinegar onto their water once every so often. they’re coop is cleaned every day and same with their water.

we don’t think the chicken we have in quarantine at the moment has it though to be honest. although her crop isn’t emptying fully, she’s had it for around a week now and is showing absolutely no change in behaviour. we’re considering getting a crop bra to see if that helps her crop improve.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I know sour crop and issues with the crop not emptying fully are real things but honestly, in a lifetime of keeping chickens, I just never paid that any mind and if it was ever a concern with any of my birds, it never reached the point of being problematic.
It is interesting that you've observed the problem is regularly in the ex battery hens. Are they ex battery hens or just commercial egg breeds?
If they are ex battery hens that seem affected, it could be diet. They normally eat mash their entire life on the commercial operation. While the mash is nutritionally complete and always fresher than individuals can provide, the crop doesn't get the consistency of foodstuffs passing through that they would in nature. In nature, the crop will accept and pass all sorts of seeds/grains, plant material, invertebrate and vertebrate animals and small stones. Dramatically different than the consistent texture of mash feed.