Chickens are gifted with a unique anatomical feature: the crop or “craw. ” The crop is the gateway to a chicken’s stomach and a vital element to your chicken’s health. Knowing how to recognize, prevent, and treat crop problems in backyard chickens should be on every chicken keeper’s bucket list. A crop that has been damaged is one of these problems that can kill a chicken if it is not fixed right away.
Learn how to recognize and treat crop impaction in your chickens, so you can be ready in case one or more of your chickens suffer from this common health concern.
The crop is an important part of a chicken’s digestive system. Located near the base of the neck, the crop is a pouch that stores food before sending it on to be digested Understanding the crop’s function helps chicken owners ensure their birds stay healthy.
An Overview of the Chicken Digestive System
Chickens, like other birds, have a unique digestive system that allows them to eat quickly and digest later. They don’t have teeth, so they swallow food whole. The chicken’s digestive tract consists of the beak, esophagus, crop, proventriculus, gizzard, small intestine, ceca, cloaca, and vent.
After swallowing food, it travels down the esophagus to the crop. The crop is a storage pouch that holds food. It slowly releases the food to the proventriculus and gizzard where it is ground down. From there, food moves to the small intestine for nutrient absorption.
The ceca are two empty sacs near the end of the small intestine that let plant matter ferment. Lastly, any waste that is still there is passed out of the body through the cloaca and vent.
The Role of the Crop
The crop serves a few important functions
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Storage: The crop stores food and water that have been swallowed temporarily. Since chickens don’t have teeth to break down food, they rely on their crop to hold a lot of food until their digestive system can catch up. This allows chickens to eat faster than they can digest.
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Softening: Food softens as it sits in the crop. This makes it easier for the gizzard to grind up and digest.
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Moistening: The crop adds moisture to dry food, helping it go down more smoothly.
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Giving chicks food: Mother hens make crop milk, which they regurgitate from the crop to feed newly hatched chicks before they are ready for solid food. The crop milk has nutrients and antibodies that are important for the health and growth of chicks.
Signs of a Healthy Crop
You can check on your chicken’s crop health by:
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Feeling the crop in the morning before birds eat. The crop should be empty, flat, and firm.
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Watching your chickens eat. The crop should fill up as they swallow food and feel soft and squishy.
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Gently massaging the crop. You may be able to feel the texture of food inside.
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Checking that the crop empties overnight. Food should not still be felt in the morning.
Common Crop Problems in Chickens
While crop issues are relatively rare in backyard chickens, being able to identify and treat them quickly leads to better outcomes. Here are some common crop problems:
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Impacted crop: Occurs when indigestible material gets lodged in the crop. Signs include a full, hard crop in the morning.
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Pendulous crop: The crop stretches out of shape and cannot empty properly. The chicken has trouble digesting food.
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Sour crop: A crop infection caused by bacteria or yeast overgrowth. The crop has a foul sour smell.
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Crop worms: Parasitic worms that infect the crop. Birds lose weight and may show breathing difficulty.
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Crop stasis: The crop stops functioning and moving food to the digestive tract. Can be life threatening.
Caring For Chickens With Crop Issues
If you notice any signs of illness, isolate the chicken immediately. Provide water but no food to allow the crop to rest and empty. Gently massage the crop to help pass blockages. Contact a vet, as antibiotics or other treatment may be needed. Improve conditions to prevent reoccurrence. Prompt treatment by a knowledgeable poultry owner gives the best chance of recovery.
As a storage pouch that moistens, softens, and temporarily holds swallowed food, the crop allows chickens to eat quickly and digest later. Check your chickens’ crops regularly to catch any problems early. Knowing the signs of impacted or diseased crops enables swift treatment. With proper care and prompt attention, chickens can recover well from most crop issues.
How to Prevent Crop Impaction in Your Chickens
Both impacted crop and sour crop can also be prevented using similar preventative measures. Some specific ways you can prevent impacted crop from becoming a problem:
- Make sure your flock always has free access to their feed to stop them from gorging.
- It is important that your flock has access to grit to help break down tough, fibrous foods.
- Don’t let your pet eat too much long grass, fibrous litter, and other foods that are hard to digest.
Symptoms of Crop Impaction in Chickens
A chicken may not show any immediate symptoms of being unwell until the crop blockage starts to cause emancipation due to lack of nutrition. If the impaction is not dealt with, you may notice symptoms, such as.
- A lack of droppings (poop)
- Not laying egg
- Weakness
The chicken will eventually become sleepy and may even have trouble breathing if the blockage presses against its windpipe.
To diagnose any crop problem, you will want to test to see if the crop is properly emptying overnight. To do so, take away your flock’s food and water after they have roosted in the evening.
In the morning, feel the crop of the chicken that you suspect has a crop ailment. If the crop is small, firm, and hard to distinguish, then the crop has emptied properly. If the crop is still large and feels hard or firm, then the chicken has an impacted crop.
Even though sour crop and impacted crop are similar conditions, there are some distinguishing features to help you diagnose one versus the other after you perform the step above. If the crop is sour, it will still feel big, but it will be soft and squishy instead of hard.
Remember that an affected crop can turn into a sour crop. If this happens, the crop will start to feel soft and the chicken’s breath will smell bad.
Draining My Chicken’s Sour Crop
FAQ
What to do with a chicken with a full crop?
You can massage the crop to try to break up the mass and move things along. You can also feed her olive oil, either by soaking some food with it, (if she’s still eating) or by carefully dosing her. (See my YouTube video. ) Crop impaction is serious. I’ve done a necropsy on a hen that died from impaction.
Can a chicken survive an impacted crop?
Chickens can live with an impacted crop for a short time – often a few days. If the blockage isn’t cleared, it can lead to starvation, dehydration, or the development of sour crop. In severe cases, a vet may need to perform surgery to remove the blockage.