young roo with a huge chest/crop

[Zgoatlady]

I have a young roo who is about 6 weeks old the has a very very large crop.
He is a BC Marans and I feed him med chicken starter still he gets to run around outside in his area with other chicks his age.
When you pick him up you can push on it and what it reminds me of is a baloon, its not hard or anything. He acts ok I guess but when you watch him walk he leans forward and he can stand up straight but I dont know whats wrong with him.
Please help if you can.

 

[threehorses]

If you can please provide us with a little more info, we can give you more accurate help.

Here's a link that will help you with some questions we need answered:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=3569


Thank you! We look forward to hearing back from you.

 

[Zgoatlady]

Hi,
It a Black Copper Marans Rooster about 6-8 weeks old.
It acts ok normal, have not seen any poop so will start watching it for that.
I was feeding med. chicken starter and just changed to med. grower. But it had this before I changed its feed. It can get to water at all times.
I would like to help it my self, I can get a picture if you want me to.
The area it lives, the coop part has shavings and now dirt, they went down to the dirt to play in it. The area out side they can get to a small amount of grass and with the dirt and rocks in the dirt, maybe get to the goats alfalfa, because they are feed by the fence.
Let me know if I need to send more info.

 

[sonew123]

try giving it a little olive oil in a dropper--and massage crop after--this will help him digest easier so it doesn't stay there and "rot" in his crop-slides down easier? If he's doing everything normal though-I would leave it alone-My roo eats so much he looks like he swallowed a baseball sometimes-takes a day or two then hes back to normal-I do keep an eye on him more when he gets like that though "just in case" good luck

 

[threehorses]

Are you saying there's food in the crop, or not? There should be an empty pouch there that will feel like a deflated baloon - not inflated. Are you saying this is inflated - like air? Does it crackle if you move it?

The medicated food - medicated with amprolium, or something else?

A picture would be lovely, yes, please.

 

[Zgoatlady]

Ok, so I dont know how to put pictures on here tried.
I brought him inside and gave him 5 cc of olive oil and than masaged the crop. When I was doing this toward the bottom by the body I could fell like sand or food?
I just put him alone so I can keep a better eye on him with only water thinking that he doesnt need any more food for a little while ?
Ive had chicken for 9 years and never seen this before but I have to also say Ive never paid this much attention once they are big and running around. You see Im alergic to them.. but I just love them.
So you asked when I squeeze the crop it doesnt sound like anything,and it feels like kind of firm like a water ballon..

 

[threehorses]

I just sent you a message on how to send pictures.

Someone kindly showed me, so I'm passing on the luv.

OK on the crop, and the sand, has he had access to new grit lately? Or a lot of sand? Or something new? Might be food. Does his throat/breath/crop smell nasty? Well more weird than usual chicken breath?

On the food, try feeding only readily dissolved foods now - his pellets broken down into crumbles (blender). Maybe some egg yolk. You could mix some apple cider vinegar into his water (organic is preferred, tho for today regular would work). 1 ounce per gallon of water. If you can, use organic. It not only will help adjust the pH to make up for any soured food, but it has bacteria that help digest food and will not only help with the crop issue, but also help him from being dehydrated as well as help his gut adjust to the stress from this issue.

I had to kinda laugh that you're allergic to chickens but still have them. I'm the same - not with chickens, but absolutely allergic to horses, cats, dogs - and I'm surrounded by them. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Sounds like you love the birds - and apparently goats! (Same here on that as well!)

 

[Zgoatlady]

Thank you for the picture info, I'll do it tomorrow. Im also allergic to dogs and cats (which I have a cornish rex that sleeps on me at night) plus lots of other stuff. I still want to live my life which is what Im doing just like you. LOL
I do have organic ACV so I'll put some in his water, he has crumbles right now but what I can do is mix egg yolk in to it I guess and make a mash..
Thank you so much for helping me with him, he's such a sweet guy.
Im going to check on him right now and I'll let you know what I find out I hope the oil has worked.
As for the grit, they dont have any right now I was told they didnt need it with the food. So it must be sand from the dirt or little rocks? Do they eat rocks?

 

[threehorses]

Yeah he probably got into just sand if he doesn't have grit. They do that sometimes. Goofy things.

The egg in mash sounds lovely! That's a great booster.

As far as helping you, it's my pleasure. I'm a fan of chickens, and I 'm a bigger fan of chicken-fans!

Let me know how he's doing, please, and we'll try to get your sweet guy through this. Sweet roosters are definitely keepers!

 

[Zgoatlady]

Ok so when I was mixing up the mash I realize that the food is or might be what I was feeling. It felt the same in my fing.
So my son checked on him and he pressed in on the crop with his had and he said green stuff came out of his mouth. I asked him if it smelled bad and he just looked at me. So I asked him how the guy was doing and my son smart as he is said are you kidding me how would you feel if green stuff came out of your mouth.
So Im going to go and check on him and see how he's doing. I'll let you know more and what do you thing now it could be. Maybe grass he's gotten?