feather loss at crop area?

[mr darcy]

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?

[RichmondHens]

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.

[mr darcy]

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!!