Pendulous crop - Anyone have/had a chicken with it.

[NeuroticVirgo]

So after messing with crop issues for over a month now, I think my chicken definitely has Pendulous crop. This is our first set of chickens so I had to gradually build myself up to things to treat her. We monitored her food and water intake, I vomited her, we treated with monistat twice, and recently we did a flush (and are fairly sure there was no impaction she just fills it up with water/food and it droops) And finally a crop bra. She had the crop bra on overnight and her crop did seem to FINALLY empty all the way and was just a flap of emptiness and up like it should be, but she hurt herself and wouldn't walk. Was covered in poop from not standing the whole night

I bathed her, and gave her a day to see if it was major damage, and she was walking again in a few hours, but as soon as she had access to water her crop was a giant dangling mass again. If I put the bra back on her she falls over and cannot walk (feet stick strait up in front of her). I did notice I think she is so used to the crop issue she walks almost head down the whole time from the weight of the crop. She cannot roost. Its like either no walking or dangling heavy crop are my options. She is so energetic I can't bring myself to put her down for this issue, but watching her today try to walk around the coop (we just put her back today since it seemed like we had exhausted all options, for the last 5 weeks she has been alone in a dog crate so we could monitor her) She couldn't even make it up the board to sleep with the other chickens her crop was so heavy and droopy.

Has anyone had a chicken that just had a big drooping crop, and how long did they survive with this condition? Would it be worth it to put the bra on her and risk injury to try and give the muscles time to fix themselves (if that's even a possibility)

This very much looks like how she does (even the way the chicken is tilted forward because of the weight) I will try to get a picture of her. She didn't start out this way I think it was just a case of sour crop, but now everytime she eats or drinks it just feels up like this.

 

[Duck Drover]

I have a hen with what I fear could be a pendulous crop that I have been treating the past few days but her enlarged crop is not as bad as the one pictured. She had a somewhat solid mass that was too large to get her to vomit up but I did get a bunch of sour grass, digesting feed, and water to come up and then I was able to massage the gravel and hard mass that was still in her crop. She has been on yoghurt and water but I gave her some Flock Raiser yesterday once her crop was emptied. Today the crop is full again but I don't think it is impacted. I read that it can be a genetic issue and I hatch eggs so I need to figure out whether or not she actually has pendulous crop. If it is genetic I will need to find another home for her.

 

[Dominogirl]

So after messing with crop issues for over a month now, I think my chicken definitely has Pendulous crop. This is our first set of chickens so I had to gradually build myself up to things to treat her. We monitored her food and water intake, I vomited her, we treated with monistat twice, and recently we did a flush (and are fairly sure there was no impaction she just fills it up with water/food and it droops) And finally a crop bra. She had the crop bra on overnight and her crop did seem to FINALLY empty all the way and was just a flap of emptiness and up like it should be, but she hurt herself and wouldn't walk. Was covered in poop from not standing the whole night I bathed her, and gave her a day to see if it was major damage, and she was walking again in a few hours, but as soon as she had access to water her crop was a giant dangling mass again. If I put the bra back on her she falls over and cannot walk (feet stick strait up in front of her). I did notice I think she is so used to the crop issue she walks almost head down the whole time from the weight of the crop. She cannot roost. Its like either no walking or dangling heavy crop are my options. She is so energetic I can't bring myself to put her down for this issue, but watching her today try to walk around the coop (we just put her back today since it seemed like we had exhausted all options, for the last 5 weeks she has been alone in a dog crate so we could monitor her) She couldn't even make it up the board to sleep with the other chickens her crop was so heavy and droopy. Has anyone had a chicken that just had a big drooping crop, and how long did they survive with this condition? Would it be worth it to put the bra on her and risk injury to try and give the muscles time to fix themselves (if that's even a possibility) This very much looks like how she does (even the way the chicken is tilted forward because of the weight) I will try to get a picture of her. She didn't start out this way I think it was just a case of sour crop, but now everytime she eats or drinks it just feels up like this.

I have one with pendulous crop who just will NOT wear her crop bra. When I put it on first she falls down and won't move, then she starts freaking out and flipping backwards. She has hit her head on things before--it's really scary. I always end up taking it off because she is so scared. I don't know what to do, either... How do people get their birds comfortable with them??!

 

[Cryss]

I'm late to the party but my Roopecca has always had a pendulous crop. He is one of my original 4 so I was clueless until I came to BYC. Once I got information I was able to clear his sour crop and started him wearing a bra. The bra is a slight learning curve. It's gonna be different with every bird. You'll need to try different applications. Is it better vertical or horizontal? Does it stay in place better if it is tied around the neck and the behind the wings around the back? Or tied criss crossed across the back neck-to-underwing on both sides? You'll need to try all methods allowing your bird to wear it at least several hours before goving up on a method. Yes, Roopecca acted weird at first. Wouldn't walk or walked backwards. Did some stumbling and finally sat down as if he'd never move again. I had to leave the coop. When I came back he was walking fine. Ive noticed since then that each time I replace with a clean bra he does this a bit still although much less. Instead he shakes and stretches and fusses a bit then recovers his balance and is fine. I realize it's all because, much like us ladies, he's learned to adjust his bra! I try to get it on him comfortably but the final adjustments are his. He's now 10.5 months old. Here's before ( about 4-5 months old) and after.

Side view after removing the bra so i can put a clean one on.

Purple Vetwrap bra in place.