tania Posted May 2, 2014 Share Posted May 2, 2014 I've noticed that one of my girls has a larger than normal area on the right hand side of her chest, roughly tennis ball sized. It's soft not hard.I've looked up impacted crop and thinks it maybe this. I've given her warmed olive oil and some live meal worms. She is eating well, looks lively and is acting normally. She is very difficult to handle but I've managed to catch her twice today and massaged the area. I've read that you should turn them upside down so the impacted food can come out, I feel this will terrify her. I'll see what it's like in the morning but wondered if anyone had any advice? Many thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted May 2, 2014 Share Posted May 2, 2014 If it goes down overnight, then there is nothing to worry about. I'd check her first thing in the morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gavclojak Posted May 2, 2014 Share Posted May 2, 2014 A few of my girls crops always look massive towards the end of the afternoon, as Egluntyne had said just check on her in the morning. If it is still full I would only try holding her upside down if you are confident as an inexperienced person doing this can easily kill a chicken by causing suffocation from the procedure and/or aspiration of crop contents into the lungs. If you have any doubt you can do it successfully then take a trip to the vet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lavenders_Blue Posted May 2, 2014 Share Posted May 2, 2014 I agree - check and see if it has gone down in the morning. My guess is that it will have. An impacted crop will feel hard, not soft, and sour crop will feel like a water balloon. If it does turn out to be an impacted crop, then turning the hen upside down will do nothing. You will need to give the crop a good, hard massage to try and break the lump up, and you can also feed white fishing maggots which will chomp their way through the impaction. Last time I had a hen with impacted crop I couldn't get hold of any fishing maggots, so just massaged the crop several times and it went away very quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tania Posted May 3, 2014 Author Share Posted May 3, 2014 Well the lumpy has gone so panic over! Must just have been having one of those greedy days. Thank you for the help you posted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gavclojak Posted May 3, 2014 Share Posted May 3, 2014 Ah that's good news. Can be alarming when you see it so expanded. When doing our hen rehoming i always tell new hen keepers not to panic, they will soon see what is normal for their girls and occasionally they do look bigger than "normal"....always something to worry about, the only thing consistent about keeping hens is the inconstancy of them!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
