Life in the chicken coop on our little homestead has been moving along predictably. Summer found the girls in the nest boxes in the mornings, getting their egg-laying duties done by noon, and off to the afternoon hunt and peck fun. Late summer and fall, for some reason, found several hens going “broody” and squawking protests when eggs were removed from beneath them. More recently, the broody hens have given up for the season, and the entire flock is molting. Feathers are all over the coop and yard—and the only eggs are coming from the two Copper Marans that just started laying in February.
That’s all as it should be. Just in case, I do always take a few moments morning and evening to inspect the flock:
How are the combs looking?
Any signs of mites or other parasites?
Is one chicken being bullied or picked on?
Are they looking droopy; are eyes bright?
Do things sound right—regular peeps and purrs at night/happy clucks during the day?
I lift up wings, check bottoms of feet, feel crops.
I watch them for a while.
One morning not long ago, I started watching one Speckled Sussex, Simone, in particular. She was eating and drinking normally, moving within her usual circle of chicken-friends, performing regular activities, but her crop seemed extended.
A bird’s crop is located just below the neck, just off-center to the right. It is the organ in which food is softened before emptying into the stomach and gizzard, where it is ground and digested. Crops should be nearly empty by morning, barely able to be felt. By merely observing her, I wasn’t certain if her stage of molt might not cause her to look a little oddly shaped. When I felt her crop, though, I realized it was large and hard.
This signals, to me, a bird that has an impacted crop or is “crop bound”. It can happen when a bird doesn’t ingest enough grit to help break up and soften food, or it may occur when a bird eats long pieces of grass or hay and those pieces tangle and compact internally. Bread or pasta fed to chickens may also compact in the crop and cause problems. “Sour crop” is a fungal infection that may result from an impacted crop, when the food ferments in the crop. Sour crop is diagnosed by also feeling the crop—it will be squishy—and smelling the chicken’s breath.
In Simone’s case, I was not sure of the cause—we offer grit all the time; but obviously there was a problem that needed to have attention. The first thing I did was to remove her from the main flock and place her in the “hospital wing”—a dog cage that is in the back of the coop. She could still see the rest of the birds, but I could regulate her intake. I gave her plenty of water, and no feed for 24 hours, hoping that the problem would resolve itself.
Luckily, after a day with no food and plenty of water, Simone’s crop was softer and less distended. After another night with no food, she was looking much better; I don’t feed mash to the birds, so I ground up a few pellets and offered that to her with more fresh water. After the third day in the hospital wing, her crop felt empty, and she rejoined the flock.
Often, the solution isn’t as simple. Once or twice, I’ve had to take the next step, which involves an eyedropper or syringe, some vegetable oil (I use olive oil), and a second pair of hands. While one person holds the chicken, and gently lifts the head and opens the beak, the other drips a few drops of the oil down the chicken’s throat, and then massages the crop. This really does take two people—it’s tricky to hold, open and drip—and extra care must be taken to be sure the chicken doesn’t aspirate the oil. I’ve found that once the oil is in, the chicken really likes the massage part!
If, after this, your chicken is still crop bound, it may be necessary to call a vet to have the impaction surgically removed. There are places on the Internet that give directions on opening the crop and cleaning it out, yourself, at home, but that’s not happening here at my home.
Impacted crop is one of the things that happen occasionally to chickens within a flock. Regular flock watching-inspection-can catch potential problems before they become Big Problems. If you know how your birds behave, look, sound and interact on a regular basis, you will be able to take quick action if something isn’t quite right.
5 Comments
Thank you for always offering the most helpful information! My appreciated! Even though we have had some cold, here in Vermont plenty of nice days so the girls can be out! Molting almost done except for my Buffs and Polish!
Very interesting I didn’t know about the crop. Thanks
Good stuff, Meredith. Thanks! My daughter has been worrying about the decreased production and what to look for in the colder weather. I am going to hav her read this article. She will feel better and definately be more empowered and independent with the chickens.
I have a hen Mollie who is 7 mos. old. She began laying tiny eggs a couple of months ago (she’s Auracauna), I mean tiny green ones! She is in coop w/ an Australorp rooster I got at same time and he’s a GIANT (Lucy because he was supposed to be a she).
He went thru a molt, she didn’t….she’s a beautiful golden color w/ gorgeous feather patterns. He’s beautiful black w/ green hilites.
My 2 other girls, Minee & Minerva, also Auracauna, are molting hard, they’re 4 y.o. and they’re with my rescue Bantam rooster Chauncey who’s lost so many feathers he’s just got fuzzy ones on him. I bought Feather Fixer food but the wild birds get more of it I think….these 3 are allowed to free range. I can’t let Lucy out as he will attack little Chauncey and visa versa….Lucy is quite aggressive.
All the items I’ve read about feeding scraps doesn’t work here…they’re fussy. Hate lettuce and anything resembling it, seem to like foods w/ seeds (apples, melons, squashes)….They get premium food and before I moved from MT. to AZ. I had eggs all year and all free range on nice green grass and weeds….now I’m hi desert w/ dust and more dust….any suggestions? I use Braggs cider vinegar in water most (not all) of the time..I drink it too. Any suggestions since this will be first AZ winter….I’m worried about Chauncey getting full feathers back in time for cold….they have a wonderful coop they sleep in at night. They 3 put themselves up and I just go lock it up at dusk….
Thanks,
Linda Corbin
jstamesngr@gmail.com
Hi Linda, It sounds like you have a good set-up. In my experience (and I do NOT have experience with high desert) –I’ve found that if chickens become used to the weather gradually and they have protection from drafts, predators, “elements”–they will probably be fine. It’s just getting cold here, and most of my flock are still covered in pinfeathers–my coop isn’t heated–but they are doing ok. I make sure the litter is dry and that there’s a bale of straw in the door of the coop during the day, to keep the wind from whistling around the corners. You might try some meal worms for protein, if you can find them, and maybe even some oatmeal with raisins?My dad (a farmer, too) always says to add some warm water to the feed for them. You could try…:) Good luck.
Oh, and I love that you have a rooster named Lucy. We had a lovely black hen named Jimmy for a while.
Meredith