Poorly chicken

[Shaf]

Hi all,

I have had chickens now for about 7 weeks as a first time keeper. A few weeks in I noticed one of the hens had a larger crop and didn’t go down overnight. I kept her away from food for 48 hours and emptied her but her crop had to began to droop so I think she has pendulistic crop.

Roll on 3 weeks later and same again but this time the crop was really hanging, again I have kept her away from food for today and got some nystatin as well. I’ve emptied her as well and brown fluid came out on both occasions.

She hasn’t laid an egg for nearly two weeks but before I caged her she was alert, eating and drinking but no eggs and huge crop.

I have also got a crop bra ready too in case it helps but is there anything else I can do? I don’t have a vet nearby either so gotta do what I can myself.

She will be caged tomorrow as well and then let put but if it happens again I can’t keep doing this.

I can’t seem to upload any pics otherwise would show 

 

[Beantree]

I our experience simply keeping them on water and massaging their crop lightly and frequently until the lump has gone completely has resolved it. If there is any rotten food left in the crop anything added will rot again, so no food until it is empty. Is she pooing any food out and if so what does it look like? When her system is empty she will just poo water, so a white liquid. Often we have found that the crop has emptied but a small solid lump remains. This is a lump of rotting food and must be broken up by massaging. An attempt to empty it up may well result in her suffocating?

I've heard of 'pendulistic crop' and suspect it is simply the result of eating too much. We had a chicken that picked up stones and ate them, so her crop hung down a lot. They do pick up grit, so it is normal to have some in the crop and you may be able to feel it?

Long term you may have to limit her food intake. It is normal when laying to eat as much as possible, but the crop must be empty in the morning.