I have read on here how some have had small chicks that had air trapped in the crops. I had never had that experience before, but some days ago I had a chick that was about two weeks old, with pinfeathers, it was the middle chick of a batch of three. All had been well but then one day when I inspected the nest box, the middle chicks crop was a massive size, like a balloon with little feed in it. I gently pressed on the crop & most of the air was expelled, some bubbles occurred in its nostrils. I then returned it to the nest, the next day it was exactly the same. This day I did nothing. I searched on the net, but didn’t find that much & mostly what I found was on small chicks & chicks that were being hand reared. On the third day the amount of air was much reduced, so I just left it in a couple of days it was back to normal. I removed the smallest chick to another batch, as I thought it might help in some way, whether this had any effect I don’t know. Anyway all seems well again, so I thought I would just let you know for your knowledge…has anyone got any thoughts on the matter or had similar cases.

Great post Norm. I had a similar situation in my last clutch. I think it was the middle chick of 5 and it was under 10 days old. It had a small air pocket in the top corner of its crop. I tried to lightly press it out, but not wanted to cause damage, I didn't do it hard enough, and therefor nothing changed. Over the next few days, the amout of air slightly increased and decreased. It was all gone in a matter of days, and all was fine after that. None of the other chicks had this problem and it never came back.

Hey Norm, my babies have sometimes gotten little air pockets which were more noticeable looking down at the bird ( see the air from the sides of the neck) it was tooooo big I had the babu upright and kept it's head and throat in line and gently squeeze the air upward you should hear little popping sounds... I haven't had anything com out of their nostrils though? - Keep an eye on this one, good thinking to foster to another box. Keep us posted on this little one :hap:

Thanks guys, seeing I had never had it before, at first I was worried that it was like a disease, but as it appears normal now it must be just a simple problem, I will note it on it’s records & watch out. I read on some sites that it can be cause by inexperienced parents that could be the case. The mother is a bird I bought, because of her age she must have been a first timer & the first time she had babies the first two died, from her not feeding them & I removed further chicks to foster Mum’s & gave her some larger chicks which she successfully raised. She is the hen that was very aggressive with cocks & she had a few infertile batches, but I introduced a new young cock, who I had to introduce with a wire screen between them as she was chasing him at first, but after two days they have got on well, but he doesn’t enter the nest too much, maybe it is his first goes at feeding causing the problem.

I had a 2 week old baby with air in crop and each time i expelled the air it just came back double time, and each time i did that i had the same liquid in its nostrils. The chick ended up dying from other reasons but since then i have noticed alot of my babies with the air in crop but i have chosen to leave them and they are all doing fine now? So if there is not a huge amount of air in there i would say leave it but if there is alot just take it to the vet -better safe then sorry.

I have seen small amounts of air in a number of chicks - i leave it and there are no ill effects - i thought it was them just swallowing some air during feeding :hap:

Its important how you hold the baby while expressing the air as it can aspirate. My belief is its from inexperienced parents not delivering the food correctly and baby is sucking air while beak is open expecting the food.

I've had several that just suck in air and blow their crops up, not whilst being fed or anything.

I personally think it's a loose crop pipe or something that lets in air until they grow into it. Watching them inflate themselves like a balloon made me re-think the feeding theory. When it's extensive amounts of air i'll squeeze it out to releive a bit of pressure, but i have found it'll right itself it is can.

Yes Kaz and Norm, Spot on the 2 hens that did this were first time ones too!! which also seem to be messy feeders too, If they are MAssive i leave them :budgiedance:

I’ve had this happen several times. It’s common when hand rearing chicks (without parent assistance). It’s usually because the feeder is not matching the pace at which the chick swallows food. This is an easy blunder to make.

Don’t be alarmed by it. Also, there’s no need to express the air from the crop. Surprising as it sounds, the chick will correct the problem with its own flatulence.

...yes, that’s right. The chick will just have gas until it’s successful farted away all that excess air.

You may notice some soft popping sounds, that are eerily similar to the sounds a chick makes when it is aspirating. It’s unsettling at first, but that’s the same sound chicks make when they’re farting.

If you have  doubt about whether a chick has gas, or is aspirating, just look for these particular signs :

1- Is the chick spasming into a weird L shaped  yoga position, then curling up into the fetal position, only to spasm again repeatedly? If yes, your chick is aspirating.

2- Is your chick desperately gasping for air, in at irregular intervals, with a wide open mouth that resembles a koi fish feeding at the surface in a frenzy? If yes, your chick is aspirating. 

3-  Is your chick sleeping peacefully, while breathing at a normal rate, all while little popping sounds occur simultaneously with frequent puckering of the chicks vent? If so, your chick has gas. It’s fine. Just pretend your chick is actually a drunk friend, and let the chick sleep it off.

Attempting to force air out of the chicks crop, may result in the chick’s crop bursting like a balloon. It can also potentially do damage to the crops sphincter. 

Hope this was helpful!

I am hand feeding a  baby cockatiel who is 3 days old. I got some air in it’s crop. So I massaged it and it’s not coming out. Is it safe if I just leave it alone?