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feather loss at crop area?

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  • #1

    feather loss at crop area?

    Scarlet is a compulsive eater, she eats till her crop looks like a volley ball, the feather's here are sticking out, a few have even fallen. In the mornings her crop is more or less flat...ish....could she have a problem? or is this all normal? don't want to look for probs but would prefer to be sure. Have stopped feeding bread as I heard it can give hens a yeasty crop?
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  • #2
    It's perfectly normal! The crop should be empty in the morning. They fill up during the day so by roosting time the hens do look like they have swallowed a ball. Then it empties overnight. It's if the crop is still full in the morning you need to worry.

    Feather loss on the breast is sometimes a sign of a bird preparing to go broody. They pull out their breast feathers to allow closer contact with the eggs.

    I haven't heard of bread giving birds a "yeasty" crop, although you shouldn't feed very dry bread as it can cause impaction - always soak it first. It's more the amount of scraps given that can be a problem. A handful or two once or twice a day between several birds is fine.

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    • #3
      Originally posted by RichmondHens View Post
      It's perfectly normal! The crop should be empty in the morning. They fill up during the day so by roosting time the hens do look like they have swallowed a ball. Then it empties overnight. It's if the crop is still full in the morning you need to worry.

      Feather loss on the breast is sometimes a sign of a bird preparing to go broody. They pull out their breast feathers to allow closer contact with the eggs.

      I haven't heard of bread giving birds a "yeasty" crop, although you shouldn't feed very dry bread as it can cause impaction - always soak it first. It's more the amount of scraps given that can be a problem. A handful or two once or twice a day between several birds is fine.
      ok then that's perfect it's still not really empty in the morning but it's not distended like at night. she is spending quite a long time on the nestbox so p'raps going broody? the neighbour told me that fresh bread can be bad for them as it can give them a 'yeasty' crop? as for scraps, yes twice a day, bits of salad etc, they lurvve cooked mashed pots it's worth scrapping for!!

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