Impacted Crop

An Impacted Crop is caused by a blockage in the crop of a bird. Often, the blockage is caused by woody / tough stems of grass that cannot pass downwards from the crop to the proventriculus. Chickens cannot chew of course so tough stems cannot be broken down in the crop.

Diagnosis

If you examine the chicken, the crop will feel very full, as if it is full of dough. The best time to do this is first thing in the morning (before the chicken has had a chance to eat any food). The crop should empty overnight.

Treatment - Mild Cases
This condition needs treating to prevent the bird from starving to death. In mild cases, the contents of the crop can be softened before emptying. Whilst this sounds difficult, it is in fact quite straight forward and usually successfull in mild cases of crop impaction.

It is a two person job, you will need to turn the bird upside down to empty the crop through the beak. First, pour either Liquid Paraffin, warm water or a couple of teaspoons of Olive Oil down the throat and massage the crop for 5 minutes. Whilst holding the bird firmly, turn the bird upside down and massage the contents out through the beak for a short while - the bird needs a rest to breathe! 10 seconds or so and no longer at a time, before turning the bird back up the right way. If you are not confident in doing this, you should of course take the bird to a poultry vet.

Treatment - Serious Cases

In more serious cases, when the crop cannot be emptied easily, you will need to take your chicken to the vet. A vet will usually cut the crop open, empty the contents and stitch the bird back up afterwards if they cannot empty the crop themselves.

Preventative measures
Keeping grass cut short can help prevent this condition and also help to prevent worms (worm eggs are killed by ultraviolet from the sun)

Similar conditions

Sour Crop is caused by a yeast in the crop, recognised by a putrid smell coming from the beak. Pendulous crop is when the crop appears to be hanging (swinging as the bird walks) and is related to this condition, the muscles in the chicken's crop have weakend so much, they are unable to hold the crop up any more. An impacted gizzard is similar. If the bird is kept on short grass, then it is more likely to be impaction of the gizzard. This is a much more serious problem where the blockage is in the intestine just before the gizzard. Young growers kept on grass are prone to this as their gizzards haven't developed sufficiently to cope with the grass yet. Seek professional veterinary help for this condition but you may find the bird has to be culled.