My poor little baby isn't very well. She has an impacted crop.
This happens when they eat something which gets stuck in their crop and causes a blockage. As more food is eaten, it just adds to the blockage, and the poor chicken can't actually get food from the crop to her gizzard. This results in a very hard ball on her chest.
I noticed it around lunchtime on Wednesday, but she'd probably had it for a couple of days by then. I started the recommended treatment of feeding her live white maggots (which, in theory, should then eat the blockage), and some liquid paraffin. A few cc's of this, then massage the crop to try and break up the lump.
Today it looks a bit smaller, but it still isn't right. As it's Friday today, I don't want to risk leaving it over the weekend, so I'll try phoning the Vet to see if I can get an appointment today.
Update: the only appointment available was late this evening, so I've booked that. During the day I've had Scarlett in twice for drops and massage. One of my chicken books recommends warm water, so I switched to that.
It's looking less bad now, but I think I'll still take her to the Vet this evening, just in case.
This happens when they eat something which gets stuck in their crop and causes a blockage. As more food is eaten, it just adds to the blockage, and the poor chicken can't actually get food from the crop to her gizzard. This results in a very hard ball on her chest.
I noticed it around lunchtime on Wednesday, but she'd probably had it for a couple of days by then. I started the recommended treatment of feeding her live white maggots (which, in theory, should then eat the blockage), and some liquid paraffin. A few cc's of this, then massage the crop to try and break up the lump.
Today it looks a bit smaller, but it still isn't right. As it's Friday today, I don't want to risk leaving it over the weekend, so I'll try phoning the Vet to see if I can get an appointment today.
Update: the only appointment available was late this evening, so I've booked that. During the day I've had Scarlett in twice for drops and massage. One of my chicken books recommends warm water, so I switched to that.
It's looking less bad now, but I think I'll still take her to the Vet this evening, just in case.
