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Chick with soft, swollen crop?!

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Lee G:
At least I think it’s the crop that’s swollen…but there is definitely something else (air?) under the skin.  :o



Slight swelling under the right wing as well...




The chick is 5 weeks old and acts completely normal otherwise, eating and drinking and running around. Everyone else in the group is fed the same feed (both dry and fermented) and have access to grit as well. Could it be an internal injury of some kind? I checked the chick over, but couldn’t find any kind of outside wound...

So weird. I’ve just never seen anything like this before. I'm debating whether or not to cull...and of course it's one of my import chicks. :-\

Any advice/opinions would be most appreciated, thank you!

Sharon Yorks:
Have you noticed whether or not it is (or has) eaten any shavings? I had a young pullet eat a bunch of shavings earlier this year and did the same thing. You may want to put it on wire for a little while to see if it goes down. And mine was full of air, too. Not sure why. I've also dealt with a few sour crop issues that looked similar to this. There may be a different reason for why this happens, and if so, maybe someone else will chime in.

What I would do if it were mine... (especially if you are considering to cull it) I'd take a small syringe and "slowly" squirt/drip some water into it's mouth (about 3 ml total) but not all in just one squirt. You have to give them water slowly or you may drown them or get air in their lungs through that little slit in the top of their mouth. After you have given it the water, massage the lump a lot to help break up any clumps of stuff that might be clogging up things. Can you feel anything in there now? And does it smell sour at all when you mess with it now?

Once you've gotten the water in it and have massaged the lump quite a bit, tip the bird forward to about 4:00-5:00 (120 degrees) Hopefully that makes sense...just don't turn it totally upside down...the slowly mash and squeeze on the lump and the bird will/should throw up. The bird will lift its head up to keep from choking. That's okay! Once it starts throwing up, the stuff will keep coming out as long as you keep squeezing the lump. Don't over do it, though, especially if the bird struggles when it throws up. I've had to do this to about 5-6 birds over the past 3-4 years and 2 fought it and would shake their heads and make a mess, throwing the yuck all over the place (don't wear your good clothes) Just sayin. The others stayed real calm as though they welcomed the relief it gave them. After it's finished throwing up, you should be able to see whether there is anything like shaving in it. If so, repeat the process another 1 or 2 times, depending on how your bird is taking it. Don't stress it too much.

It may also be helpful to evaluate the lump early in the morning before the bird has a chance to eat or drink anything. The lump may/should be smaller and you may be able to feel if there is a hard mass in there. If this all sounds confusing, feel free to call me and I can maybe explain it better over the phone if you want to try this. There are a few other helpful things I've done that you may want to try when doing all of this. 

Clif Redden:
The swollen crop looks like its crop is bound, you can Google crop bound and get instructions on how to treat that. The other issue this chick has is an infection between the skin and flesh. I have treated this successfully. You have to release the air, the way I did that is to remove the plunger from a syringe and place it in the puffy area, you may have to push lightly to get the air to escape. You may have to do that 2 or 3 times over the course of treatment. I also gave LA-200 every 3 days until the air sack was gone for good. for a chick this small I would use a diabetic needle and only give a couple units at each treatment.

Lee G:
Thank you Sharon, Clif, for your help.  :)

I researched ‘bound crop’, and managed to get the chick to regurgitate. (Sharon, your step by step instructions were invaluable here, thank you so much!) Nothing came up out of the ordinary that I could see…and no sour odour either. I’m not sure I got enough stuff out though, so am going to try again this morning…just need to work up my java courage first.

I also did as Clif advised and let the air out from under the skin with a small needle and syringe. It literally deflated like a punctured balloon! And I think you’re spot on about the chick having an infection Clif, because its skin is quite warm to touch. The only antibiotic I have on hand is Pen-G, so may try that until I can get to town, and the local Agro that carries oxytetracycline. Kicking myself for not having some around!

Sharon Yorks:
Keep us updated on how the chick is doing. I would still suggest trying to get a good look at it early in the morning. I'm "guessing" that you may be able to evaluate things a little closer. My reasoning would be that if it's crop bound related, the lump would be smaller in the morning (after digesting all night) and you might feel a small mass before the chick has time to fill it back up with food and water. If it's an infection of some kind, I don't "think" the crop/lump would do anything but get larger as time goes by. Just something to think about.

If you try to make it throw up again, just add a little more water and message it a little longer before you try it. And sometimes it seems to help if you do it two times in a row. Kind of like priming the pump, I guess  :-\

But it sound like Clif's thoughts are a little more spot on, especially if it deflated completely. Can you tell if it's in the crop or just under the skin somewhere near the crop?

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