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Elliebop

Is the crop supposed to completely empty overnight?

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Hello all,

 

I'm new to chicken keeping, having looked after neighbours' chickens over holidays for years and deciding I wanted some of my own, and have 3 bantams (2 bantam brahma/ pekin crosses and 1 pekin) who came to live with us in early Oct. They're called Olga, Tatiana and Anastasia and are now aged about 23 weeks.

 

They live in a Classic and I occasionally let them out into the garden, but tend to just do this when I can supervise them.

 

I'm concerned that Olga's crop has not completely emptied over the past 2 nights. She's been a bit more vocal than usual, following me about and shouting at me! She's very cuddly and during an early afternoon cuddle on Wednesday, I felt that her crop was very full, more so than I've felt before. So I checked her fist thing yesterday and could still feel it, though much less so. I was then out all day yesterday, so couldn't do anything else. I checked her fist thing this morning and can again still feel a smallish lump.

 

I've mixed some of their pellets in with natual live yoghurt this morning, and she took a little warmed olive oil from me.

 

Should I be concerned? Any advice would be most welcome as I feel like a worried new mum!!!

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I don't think it sounds like anything to worry about. She's probably more vocal because she knows your the treat lady. Olive oil is a good idea, you can mix it with their pellets too. If she starts looking a bit down in the dumps then maybe it would need more investigation. :D welcome to the chicken world, bet your loving it :lol:

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Thanks for your prompt reply!!

 

Yes I am loving chicken-keeping, but agree with some posts I've read on this forum, that it is a bit nerve-wracking to begin with. Can't wait until I feel that I know what I'm doing, at least a bit!!

 

Most of my neighbours have chickens, but I live way out in the Somerset countryside, and the attitude of my neighbours is very much that a chicken is alive or dead. The ones I've spoken to think I'm a bit mad to be concerned about anything to do with my chickens, so it's good to have somewhere else to turn to to chat about these things.

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The best guide to your chickens' health is their behaviour. If Olga is shouting, running for treats, and generally looking bright and 'busy' then there's probably not much wrong with her. Although chickens can conceal ill-health fairly successfully, in order not to lose their place in the pecking order, a sick chicken is likely to be hunched, very static and not moving much, looking dull and not interested in food. I wouldn't worry too much - impacted crop is relatively rare. Don't forget that people tend to post on here and on other forums when they have a problem, so it sometimes looks as if illnesses are mroe common than they really are - we don't come to the forum to report that our hens are all healthy and active!

 

It's like any other animal - you will learn what is 'normal' and you'll soon spot anything untoward, so trust yourself and enjoy your hens.

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