my daughter and I have notice for the last 2 weeks that our 11 week old rooster has a soft squishy lump on his right breast which sticks out about 1 inch..... he is otherwise active, eats and drinks....... we are giving the chicks feed/grit and veggie scraps.... we are new to the chicken scene so any help would be greatly appreciated.....
Lump on his right breast? I think you are talking about his crop. http://drawingforkids.org/images/132550-anatomy-of-the-chicken-with-text.jpg Does it feel like it's in the same area?
Does the lump decrease in size at all at night? Does he have any sour smell coming from his mouth? If the lump varies in size throughout the day, it is probably just his crop, which is normal. If the lump is always large, or keeps growing (or if he smells sour), then I would suspect that he has a sour crop. You usually treat sour crop by using anti-fungal medication, feeding soft foods, and sometimes vomiting the bird. If the lump is hard, then he probably has an impacted crop. The grit should help prevent this, but sometimes impaction still occurs. If you want to cover all of your bases, I would give him some olive oil and massage the crop a little--if there is any blockage, that should help.
That is his crop. It is where the food is stored for a time during the digestion process. I hope this helps! - BantamLover55
Thanks to everyone for the advice I greatly appreciate it!!!!!! Yes the lump is soft and squishy like it has food or something in it so I assume it is the crop and I did look at him the first think in the morning and it had disappeared overnight..... by afternoon it was back again so I assume this is the crop and is normal...... I do offer them grit in a separate feeder but it seems like they do not use a lot of it.... they are in their run a lot where there is grass/bugs/some dirt etc. for them I wonder if this could be the reason for not using so much of it.....