Maman Poule

What is the crop?

The crop is a muscular sac located at the base of the hen’s neck, which stores food for the day and can sometimes be impacted or have a bacterial imbalance.

Sour crop

Caused by moldy food, this phenomenon is noticeable when handling the crop. It’s soft and full of liquid, instead of feeling like grain. The chicken may also have bad breath.

The liquid is an accumulation of bacteria trying to break down the contents of the crop, leading to an imbalance inside the crop.

Outward symptoms may be that the crop is full first thing in the morning, before the hen has eaten anything, or that she is unwilling to eat much.

This problem can easily be dealt with at home, if care is taken.

The one time I encountered this problem, I discovered that the cause was moldy feed pellets in the bottom of the feeder, which I quickly removed. The chicken needed help to “vomit”, which she can’t do naturally. This involves holding her upside down for 5 seconds at a time and massaging the liquid out of the crop. Don’t exceed 10 seconds, as they can’t breathe during this time. I repeated the “vomiting” several times over a period of 2 to 3 days, until there was no more liquid.

Caution: make her vomit outside her enclosure, to avoid the vomit being eaten by her or others!

Meanwhile, I also provided healthy bacteria to help her recover – a simple probiotic yoghurt added to delicious pieces of banana or other soft fruit she loves.

She can stay with the other hens, except for the treats that are reserved for her.

Impacted crop

Unlike sour crop, affected crop is simply blocked. The crop will be hard and full first thing in the morning. This problem can be treated at home by using olive oil from the kitchen and gently massaging the crop. Repeat 2-3 times and also offer her the same solution as for a sour crop: a simple probiotic yoghurt added to delicious pieces of banana or other soft fruit she loves.

Make sure she has fresh water constantly.

It’s advisable to assess the cause to avoid a recurrence. In this example, the cause was grass that was too long (overgrown by about 8-10cms).