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Birds--General/suspected crop problem&/or mass?
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Question
Help!
We just got home from vacation and we noticed our darling 9 week old Black Silky Bantam-Buddy(really a hen) has a soft, compressible, large distension(larger than a golf ball) on the lower right of the breast/chest in front. She's very sleepy and seems not to be hungry, but is drinking a lot of water. What can we do? We just started raising chickens(to be our pets and for eggs). Buddy is our favorite-soooo sweet! Thank you.
Don't worry about this! It IS her crop. The mass you can feel is food; if you feel it right you can feel the grain and pellets she has been eating. I don't think there is anything wrong with her! If in doubt, take a couple of pictures of it and email them to me at abisheridee@googlemail.com
Look at this diagram and see if it adds up, to put your mind at rest!
http://www.msstate.edu/dept/poultry/pics/anatomy.jpg
Thanks for your question!
edit:
I really am sorry about your loss; I know how awful it is when that happens.
I honestly thought you just meant you'd found her crop and didn't know what it was because you didn't use the word in your question, and I get so many questions about 'a lump on my chickens chest' when people don't know it's their crop.
Again I really am sorry about poor little Buddy, my sister had a leghorn and exactly the same thing happened to her, not with her crop but with the prolapsed rectum/intestines.
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| Rating(1-10) | Knowledgeability = 7 | Clarity of Response = 10 | Politeness = 10 |
| Comment | Thank you for responding so quickly. I did take Buddy to a vet and the culture of her very enlarged, pendulous crop showed a large overgrowth of yeast, along with bacteria. After, having her on Fluconazol and Baytril for 1 1/2 days, I found her with a prolapsed rectum and intestine this morning. I had been keeping her in the house in a carrier and even syringe fed her as the vet had suggested. She was still alert, drinking lots of water, and her crop was more distended than ever, (tennis-ball size) after not drinking all night long. I had her euthanized, as rectum had stuck to her leg and had torn off. We are soooo sad!!!!!!!!!!! | ||
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Answers by Expert:
Abi
Expertise
I CAN'T ANSWER QUESTIONS ON ANIMALS OTHER THAN CHICKENS/DUCKS/GEESE- I WILL TRY BUT THEY ARE NOT MY SPECIALIST SUBJECT- PLEASE DO NOT ASK ME QUESTIONS ABOUT BUDGIES, FINCHES, PARROTS, COCKATIELS OR OTHER 'EXOTIC' BIRDS. I can answer questions on pretty much all CHICKEN breeds, including fancy and bantam birds. I can give advice on how to get the best egg production, brightest yolk colours and darkest egg shell colours, breeding (using broody hens, not incubators), bird problems/illnesses. I can give advice on all aspects of basic chicken care but I breed chickens for my own pleasure only, I do not often show or sell my birds.
Experience
I own and breed a wide range of chickens, but I speciallise in cochins and crevecour bantams; crevecours have a large crest (an afro!) so I can answer questions on problems concerning them; cochins have feathered legs, which leads to no end of problems which I have experienced! I also own a large flock of domestic, rescued 'battery' hens, and a single maran hen, Hilda, who is the matriarch of her flock, so I can give advice on how to get the best colour of maran eggs!
Education/Credentials
n/a
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