Doughy crop on 5 week old chick - help please!

[newbiechickenmamma11]

Hi all! I'm raising 16 chicks for the first time and have a very small 5 week old cuckoo marans chick, less than half the size of its hatchmates. I've been keeping an extra eye on it and over the past few days I've withdrawn food from the brooder overnight to double check its crop in the morning.

For the last two mornings, I've noticed this chick has a doughy feeling crop!! It literally feels like bread dough you could need, and is a big lump that does not go down overnight. I did some research online and can't figure out if it's sour crop or doughy crop.

It's eating a proper chick starter feed (which includes small mashed up pieces of grains in it) but when I feel the crop I feel no solid bits, only soft feeling dough. A few days ago I also fed it some scrambled egg hoping it would help it to grow. It's on wood shavings for bedding, and is living in an indoor brooder.

I tried to give it a massage the crop to help it digest but it doesn't go anywhere. The chick is otherwise spritely and active, but it's tiny for 5 weeks and felt like a failure to thrive chick. I've attached some pics of the chick, and a comparison of it with its cuckoo marans hatchmates, who are much larger.

How can I help it / treat this issue? The chick starter has chick grit in it, but it often falls to the bottom of the plate as its the smallest bits. Would offering grit in a separate dish help?

Thanks so much for your help - really appreciate it. I really want this chick to survive and grow well!

 

[AGeese]

I would keep the grit separate, how large are the shavings and have you seen them picking at them?

 

[newbiechickenmamma11]

I would keep the grit separate, how large are the shavings and have you seen them picking at them?

Hi thanks for your reply! Okay I will keep the grit separate - will eating grit help break down the doughy-ness?

The wood shavings are pretty large and they're the screened and dust extracted type. I have seen it picking at wood shavings, but usually it's to find food that has fallen out of the feeder (at least that's what I think it's doing).

Just now I found an article about mixing lemon juice, cayenne pepper, baking soda, ginger and cinnamon together in water and feeding it, and am trying that as well.

Is there anything else I can do?

 

[AGeese]

Just wondering in case you had mini flake which is a lot smaller. I wouldn't know much about that particular mixture. Baking soda makes me wonder. You could probably continue to crop massage carefully a few times a day. You could try a few drops of ACV if they would take it from a dropper.

But, basically the chick is eating and drinking normally and seems fine otherwise?

 

[newbiechickenmamma11]

Just wondering in case you had mini flake which is a lot smaller. I wouldn't know much about that particular mixture. Baking soda makes me wonder. You could probably continue to crop massage carefully a few times a day. You could try a few drops of ACV if they would take it from a dropper.

But, basically the chick is eating and drinking normally and seems fine otherwise?

Hello yes, there would definitely be mini flakes in the wood shavings too. Would eating those cause it to have a doughy crop?!

I will also try a few drops of ACV. It is otherwise an active and spritely bird (though very small for its age), and I believe it is drinking/eating normally but haven't observed specifically. However, the doughy mass in its crop is very large and smooth and I can't feel any of the chick starter in it. So I wondered if this issue was causing it to not grow like the other chicks. Thanks!

 

[AGeese]

They can eat mini flakes, I've seen mine do it. I personally haven't had an issue with it. I know some people recommend against using mini flake though for that reason. So it is smaller than the rest then? I imagine that's a possibility.

I'll have to defer to other members experienced with crop issues in chicks as I've not seen it myself.

 

[NatJ]

However, the doughy mass in its crop is very large and smooth and I can't feel any of the chick starter in it.

Have you felt the crops of any of the other chicks? If so, does this chick's crop feel the same as theirs or different?

The chick starter has chick grit in it, but it often falls to the bottom of the plate as its the smallest bits.

The tiniest bits in the chick starter, that fall to the bottom of the dish, are not grit. They are not big enough to grind food in the gizzard. I think they are some of the mineral supplements, but I'm not positive about that.

Pieces of grit should usually be about the same size as the bigger pieces in the chick starter, or bigger yet as the chicks grow.

Would offering grit in a separate dish help?

Grit may help, and it will probably not do any harm.

 

[newbiechickenmamma11]

Have you felt the crops of any of the other chicks? If so, does this chick's crop feel the same as theirs or different?


The tiniest bits in the chick starter, that fall to the bottom of the dish, are not grit. They are not big enough to grind food in the gizzard. I think they are some of the mineral supplements, but I'm not positive about that.

Pieces of grit should usually be about the same size as the bigger pieces in the chick starter, or bigger yet as the chicks grow.


Grit may help, and it will probably not do any harm.

Hi! I have felt the crops of other chicks and aside from one that has a bit of an impacted crop, the other dozen are all okay. But this chick is the smallest out of all of them.

Also - thanks for letting me know about the tiniest bits - I learnt something! I had a closer look (as the packaging says it contains grit) and I think I can see crushed up shells, but I am guessing it's not the grit it needs. It's hard to find insoluble grit in Australia but I will try and see if I can get some in addition.

BUT, UPDATE!!!
So I ended up trying the baking soda, lemon juice, chilli powder, cinnamon and ginger mix in water, and fed it a little bit of that liquid 3 times today. I also separated it and only allowed access to water (with a bit of leftover mixture in it as well as tiny bit of olive oil)

I had low expectations but I had tried everything else with no avail and I can't believe it.. the doughy mass cleared!! What I noticed was that it did huge poops for her size after I fed it that liquid and throughout the day, and over the course of the day it has pretty much all disappeared. I'm really surprised about it, and so proud of her (I'm hoping it's a pullet!). I'll continue to keep an eye out and see if it returns.

I have attached a photo of the chick and one of its proud big poops. Still shocked it worked.

 

[newbiechickenmamma11]

Hi all, thought I'd share a happy update. After I removed the doughy crop it didn't come back, and the chick grew at lightning speed over the past 2 weeks and is as big as no#2. Shocked and very happy to report!

 

[NatJ]

Hi all, thought I'd share a happy update. After I removed the doughy crop it didn't come back, and the chick grew at lightning speed over the past 2 weeks and is as big as no#2. Shocked and very happy to report!

That is great news!

Thank you for updating