[Chookaholic]

Well I did it!I clipped my chookie's wings this morning.Hope I cut enough off.They were out in the garden all day,& I had no flying onto our 6ft fence,which was a relief!They had their first dust bath under a bush,which was nice to watch.They had a lovely day free ranging,& all were in bed by 8pm!
Thanks aunt Sally for encouraging me to do it,it was easy,like you said!

[Aunt Sally]

Good stuff Chookaholic.  It's often the unknown that worries us.  It was easy wasn't it  

[Chookaholic]

Well I've gone from one worry to another!I think one of my chooks has overly endulged on the greenery,her crop area is very large on her right side,I noticed it this evening.It feels solid,& it's ball shaped,but on one side only.I read the crop advice page,& posted a thread on hen house,& have concluded I must wait until morning to see if it's empty.Hope it is!So now I'm a bit worried about that!They have all been stuffing their beaks constantly,so it won't surprise me if she's just over indulged! :shock:

[Aunt Sally]

What do you think she has eaten too much of ?

[Chookaholic]

maybe grass & weeds?She's been in the garden most of the day today & yesterday,eating loads.Apart from that she's only had mixed corn & pellets.They have been eating loads in the garden,ants,worms,grass & weeds.They really are mini JCB's

[Aunt Sally]

Was it long or short grass ?

[Chookaholic]

my lawn is short,but our strimmer has broken so the edges are long.

[Aunt Sally]

Doesn't sound too serious to me.  Feel her crop in the morning before she eats anything and it should be deflated

[SnooziSuzi]

as I work during the day and my chooks are left to free-range all day long, when I come home and feed them they gorge themselves on pellets and often end up with full crops that are hard to the touch but this is normal.

I have found that they are greedy and will pack in as much as possible to prevent the other hens from getting any and this causes the compaction.

It's always gone again by a short while later so if that's what is happening with yours I'd say there's nothing to worry about - they're just being chickens!

[Chookaholic]

Thanks snoozisuzi   oh well,I'll see in the morning,nothing I can do until then.I'll just try not to fret... :?

[westie]

Our two new girlies had very full crops when they went to bed tonight. They've been nibbling on all sorts since this afternoon, but I'm fairly confident they'll be fine.
I've seen my old hens do the same and they were always ok the following morning. It does help to have had that previous experience!

[Chookaholic]

Hi
I checked her crop this morning, & it had gone down to quite a little bulge.I could still feel it,but it had gone down alot.Tonite it was huge again,after another day free ranging.I think it is her crop,but why does it always look huge at the end of the day,when the other chooks crops don't look so big?They all seem to eat the same amount during the day.Also,their crops seem to be more to the right rather than the left,especially the one with the bigger bulge?I read in a book that the crop is  normally positioned slightly to the left. :?

[Jellyhead]

I havent really noticed what side gets big and bulgy :shock: just that one side does after a day of indulging  and as for the chickens :roll:      

[Chookaholic]