Impacted crop - help!

[Thalassa9]

Hi all, we got chickens last summer and have really loved having them as new additions to our ever growing family. We are however still very much novices. The day before yesterday I thought one of our chickens looked a little swollen at her front. Today my husband picked her up and thought the same. I have read a fair amount about impacted crop and think it’s likely to be the cause. Is there anything we can do for her? We are by now means experienced...I was thinking of taking her to a nearby poultry vet. Thoughts/advice welcome!

It's normal for the crop to swell during the day but it should be empty in the morning. If it's consistently full in the morning it is probably impacted. You can try crop massage (we call it squishing in our family) - massage the crop gently but firmly for a few minutes, and see how she is later. There are gentle home remedies you can try - look for a poultry vet website or the Omlet chat forum.
If it doesn't settle you'll need to take her to the vet.
Whatever you do, don't turn her upside down and try to squeeze the gunk out as some websites recommend. You can kill them doing that.
Crop massage is definitely the first step (they seem to enjoy it too!)

Yes to crop massage or I go to backyard chickens for help!

Thanks for the tips! I was somewhat alarmed at some of the advice so I’m glad to hear that is isn’t a great idea to hang them upside down. She’s very gentle so I’m sure would let us massage her a little. I’m really hoping she’s okay!

If massage doesn’t shift it after a day or two I’d call a poultry vet. Hopefully it will clear though. You do need to massage firmly enough to break up the compacted stuff. Like squishing a bag between your fingers.

@Thalassa9 How is she?

She is still bright eyed, going about her business. She even laid an egg yesterday. I gave her a little massage and have her booked in at the vet tomorrow afternoon. I’m worrying that it might be more distressing to take her to be seen though. I may postpone another day if I see any improvement tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed for us!

Vet visit shouldn’t be too distressing - best to take her as crop problems can be fatal. Fingers crossed!