Chicken Health: Impacted Crop

Chicken Health: Impacted crop

Your chickens digestion starts in the crop. The crop is a part of the oesophagus and found at the base of the neck. If you feel it, you can sometimes feel food contents inside it.

Crop impaction is when food does not move from the crop into the stomach. This can be caused by a blockage preventing the food from passing, or a neuromuscular disease like Mareks disease where normal muscle contractions fail and the food is not moved down the oesophagus.

An impacted crop can be a serious condition.

Symptoms

• lethargy
• dull
• no appetite
• firm impacted crop

Treatment

• Giving fluids
• Surgery to remove the blockage
• Antibiotics if there is an infection

If you are concerned your chicken has an impacted crop, bring them into the vet for an evaluation. Albuquerque Vetco treats chicken!