Is a swollen crop always a bad sign? One of my pullets has a visibly swollen crop. I didn't notice it until about the middle of the day after my flock had inadvertently gained access to (my niece was over and dumped about 4 lbs in a large pile) a large amount of scratch. I've never dealt with crop issues before so I have no idea if it's just that she gorged herself on scratch or has sour crop.