I checked the chicks and made sure everyone was doing okay, when I checked #4 to make sure he was being fed I felt his crop as I usually do and it's hard, not rock hard but very firm, should I pull him for an hour and let him try to digest it before she feeds him again, or will he be fine?

I would think leave him in for the warmth but check on him more often for the next little while to see if the crip is going down.

she fed him shortly after I posted, his crop is no longer hard though so I'm assuming all is fine, he's still acting alright, I'll keep an eye on him though.

Dingo I did some investigation. If he has a hard crop it means that the level of crop milk in the feed is low. Now depending on how old the chick is, it might be okay. I just lost an eight day old chick due to the same thing. It can occur when the hen is feeding older chicks and doesn't change the formular for the younger ones.

What will happen is that the chick dies from malnutrition even though the hen is feed it. The young chick just can not absorb the nutrients in the feed. Three things you can do.

1. Take over feeding the chick with the proper mixture.
   
2. Foster the chick to a pair that has chicks around it's age and hope they accept it.
   
3. Do Nothing and hope that the chick survives.
   

Let us know what happens.

If you are worried about it being hard and not digesting you can make him take a little flat lemonade/water and gently massage the crop til it loosens up enough to digest. This works when you get a handraised bird that has been fed mix that is too dry or gluggy.

is there any way I can get her to feed him crop milk?

I do have hand feeding formula on hand so if I have to feed any of them I can, fostering isn't an option as she's my only breeding hen right now.

I would have to pull the chick for a few hours if I wanted to try to do feedings, she's been keeping all of their crops quite full.

#4 is 3 days old today.