"عسى أن تكون علما ينتفع به"

1. Avian Crop Affections

2. Avian Digestive System
Chickens are active creatures, always
pecking at something they've found on
the ground and chasing flies and other
insects around a yard.

3. Avian Digestive System
 Chickens scratch around in the ground and when they find
something they like, they take in their beaks ready to be
swallowed.
 This food then makes its way down the esophagus to the
bird's crop where it's not only stored but rendered moist too.
 A chicken's crop has a specific function which is to sort food
out like a holding tank.

4. Avian Digestive System
 When the food is ready and sorted out in the crop, it passes
into the proventriculus or the gizzard.
 The “easy” to digest food goes to the proventriculus where it's
broken down by hydrochloric acid as well as digestive
enzymes.
 Food that's harder to digest and which needs to be
“mechanically” broken down passes to the gizzard to be
processed - this is where muscular contractions combined
with some small stones (grit) are needed to process food.

5. Crop
 A chicken's crop is found in the
middle of the bird's upper chest.
 When the crop is full, it should feel
nice and firm to the touch.
 Healthy crop should be around the
size of a plum when full.

6. Cont. …
 Chickens sleep with nice full, firm crops and by the morning,
they should be empty.
 A full crop on the morning indicates a problem.
 Empty crop stimulates a chicken‘s appetite.
 Full crop is the signal to bird to stop eating.
 An impacted crop will stay firm and can get as large as a
tennis ball and a little tender.

7. Cont. …
 The capacity of normal crop is 45cc, so
chicks eat in small increments all day
long.
 After eating, the crop feels swollen and
slightly firm, but shrinks as feed is
moves to be digested.

8. Crop Status
Normal crop status
1. Empty, the crop can't be felt.
2. Full, the crop feels swollen.
3. Over filled, the crop feels over swollen but swelling goes
down overnight.
Abnormal crop status
1. The crop feels hard and swelling, but it does not go down
overnight.

9. Crop Affections

10. Crop Affections
There are three common problems that occur in the crop which
are as follows:
1. Impacted crop
2. Sour crop
3. Pendulous crop

11. Cont. …
There are certain signs on chicken indicating crop problem:
1. Weight loss
2. Lethargy
3. Difficulty turning their head side to side
4. They prefer to be on their own

12. Impacted Crop

13. Causes
1. Chicken eat:
a) Big or tough piece of food
b) foreign objects and this includes plastic,
rubber bands and metal
2. A fungal or bacterial infection
3. The chicken may be suffering from a
pendulous crop.

14. Treatment
1. Isolate the affected chicken into a large cage.
2. Try and empty the crop by gently massaging it with your
fingers.
3. Chicken could be fed a little soft bread that's been soaked in
olive oil. The oil will act as lubricant which should help to
empty the crop.

15. Sour Crop

16. Causes
1. Crop does not empty correctly, takes longer time.
– Food sitting in the crop will start to ferment and this
causes a yeast infection (fungal) to develop.
2. Impacted crop could be partial or complete.
3. Fungal infection.
4. Worms may be slowing down the rate of digestion.

17. Clinical Signs
1. The crop which will be large but not firm to the touch as with
an impacted crop.
2. The crop will be quite tender to the touch.
3. Gurgling noise can be heard after gently moving the crop
around.
4. Chicken's breath will smell quite fermented and “yeasty”

18. Treatment of Sour Crop
1. Isolate birds in question.
2. Clean and sanitize feeders and waters.
3. Flush the crop.
4. Treat the fungal infection.
5. Feeding your chickens probiotics will also help avoid the
problem.

19. Pendulous Crop

20. Cause
 Muscles of crop may get damaged due to having suffered an
impacted crop or from eating very “heavy” food.

21. Clinical Signs
 So, when the crop is full, it dangles down towards the ground
and may sway from side to side.
 You need to make sure the crop is emptying overnight or it
might lead to the bird suffering from an impacted crop making
the problem even worse.

22. Treatment of Pendulous Crop
 Allow birds to drink water for 24 hours and no food so the
crop gets to rest.
 After this you should give the chicken some regular feed.

23. Tips To Keep a Healthy Crop

24. Tips To Keep a Healthy Crop
1. Avoid feeding chicken large hard to digest food.
2. Avoid using metal water containers that may rust.
3. Feed your flock plain yogurt with live and active cultures to
help promote the good gut bacteria.
4. Add probiotics to feed.
5. Avoid feeding chickens sugary human food.
6. Inspect chickens crops regularly.