Poorly chicken

[Pru]

Hi,

I have a beautiful young girl that has developed a large pendulous crop. She doesn't appear to fit the sour or impacted crop descriptions though. It is soft and squishy like a balloon, so not impacted, and I can feel grit in it. She doesn't have any white patches in her mouth and her breath smells sweeter than mine - so not sour. She has been happy eating and drinking and running round the garden. Yesterday I withdrew food and water and massaged her several times - which she loves - so definitely no pain or tenderness. This morning, her crop still feels the same, so I have only reintroduced water.

Unfortunately I don't know how long her crop has been like this because we have been on holiday and our hen sitters haven't got a clue.

Any suggestions? Thanks!

[mullethunter]

There is a thing called pendulous crop but I don’t know anything about it other than I’ve seen people make ‘bra’s’ for the crop.

[The Dogmother]

Mullethunter is right, they can get a pendulous crop if the bird tends to gorge on food and it gets over full on a regular basis. The crop doesn't have any muscles to help it snap back into shape; it's like a balloon situated between the skin on their chest and the ribs, which is why it is s easy to feel. When this happens, it can sometimes be helped to regain its shape by supporting it with something stretchy but not too tight - I have seen people use old tights or some sort of stretchy mesh, but there's no guarantee that it won't get baggy again. The most permanent solution is for the vet to operate and trim it down... much like a tummy tuck! This is costly though.

If she seems happy as it is and the crop is emptying properly so that it feels empty in the morning, then I'd be inclined to let her get on with it and just keep a close eye on her to make sure that she's not over eating.