Chapter 4: The Perils of Cuteness (also known as "Hey Kids, Let's Learn About the Chicken's Crop!")

 Tammy the Chicken accessorizing her comb with (and eating) a matching watermelon rind--smashing!

Yesterday was the chicks' fourth week birthday, and today is the 28th day that I've had them. I have been well aware that I have been neglecting Tammy (their soon to be coop-mate and the chicken responsible for my newfound love of chickens) since I've had the chicks. Despite my awareness, I have not pulled myself away from taking photographs of the chicks, writing about the chicks, talking incessantly about the chicks or asking my dog where the chicks are, to make sure Tammy has her free-range time. I mean, the chicks are just so f#*%@>& cute, after all!

Whereas Tammy is beautiful, elegant and seemingly both extraterrestrial and prehistoric. Those were a few of my observations as I watched her yesterday evening strutting around the roof deck, eating the cantaloupe and scratch I had brought her to try to make up for my inattention over the last month. And, in addition to all of those things, she was lumpy! A large lump that I hadn't noticed before protruded from the right side of her breast. There goes that falling sky again!

Maybe her feathers were just out of whack on that part of her body, I thought. But the more she walked around, the more it became apparent that there was a large mass in her breast area. She didn't seem to be in pain. She was eating food and small stones heartily. When she asked to go back into her pen by crowing and clucking softly, like she always does when the sun begins to set, I picked her up and felt the lump. Though not rock hard, it was substantial. Definitely not ruffled feathers. At least not hers.

Thinking in human terms (which, I am learning is usually not useful when it comes to chickens, as theirs is a very different world), I worried that she had been developing a painful and life-threatening tumor while I had been overloading on the cuteness of the chicks these past few weeks. Back in her pen she went, and onto the internet I went. A search of "lump on chicken's breast right side" provided a wealth of information on the wonder's of the chicken digestive system, and the crop in particular.

A chicken's crop is similar to a chipmunk's cheeks, or the extra fuel tank on some trucks. It is a place where food the chicken takes in by beak is held until it later moves through the rest of the digestive system.

It's believed that the crop developed in chickens and other birds so that they could quickly stock up on food in open areas, where they were more vulnerable to predators. Upon filling their crops, they could move to a safer area, to allow the digestive process to continue at a more leisurely pace.

The crop can become impacted if a chicken eats too quickly and too much, which is more likely to happen if food is withheld from a bird for an extended period of time, or if a chicken eats long and fibrous plant material that gets bound up within the crop and cannot pass through to the rest of the digestive system. Therefore, chickens should always have access to food and, if allowed to free range, should not be allowed to range in areas where the grass has recently been mowed.  Chickens can safely eat growing grass because they pluck small, easily digestible pieces from it; however, chickens are more likely to ingest full blades of mowed grass, which can get bound up in their crops.

This morning, the lump on Tammy's right side had subsided to the extent of barely being noticeable, and this evening it was again large and full of feed. So, the sky has not fallen and lodged itself in the right side of Tammy's chest. But if one day it does, and she or one of the chicks has an impacted crop, I will know what measures to take to remedy it (which I will not go into here, as there are instructions on what to do readily available online by others far more knowledgeable in these matters; just search "impacted crop"). Though, I do urge chicken enthusiasts to learn more about a chicken's anatomy here so you might avoid the sort of unnecessary worry I experienced over Tammy's crop functioning normally. Despite the many typos, the information is very thorough.

Moral of the Story No. 4:  Cute is only fuzz deep and a few weeks long; true love is lumpy and requires attention.