Good work. If your hen recently started laying, she might be kind of irregular in laying for a while. But it is possible that she just has a tendency to lay double yolkers. I guess you will have to keep an eye on her.
If she won't accept the smaller pieces without a struggle you could hide the pieces in a treat. I gave my goose pills by wrapping them in a piece of lettuce. For my chickens, putting the pill in a small piece of bread worked. Others have hid medicine in dried fruit. Good luck.
Hmm... It does sound like she is egg bound. The flesh sticking out, on the other hand, sounds like it could be a bit of a prolapse, which could lead to swelling and the tail down, too. In this thread they also discussed giving easily absorbed calcium, either in the form of something like Tumms...
Since her tummy got big fast then it is not just an accumulation of egg material that missed the oviduct in her peritoneal cavity. So maybe the antibiotics will help decrease the size of her tummy eventually. I'm glad you have a good vet who understands chickens. Too bad the vet isn't closer...
My hen could waddle around. The size of her belly increased gradually over a year or maybe more. Her belly was big getting big before we even diagnosed her. I don't know if your hen's belly got big gradually or all or a sudden. I wonder if it was a more sudden increase in size, if it is more...
The size of her belly did not subside. It was not a mushy belly but a pretty solid feeling big belly. If your hen has some mushiness to her belly then perhaps that can reabsorb some liquid and decrease a bit in size. My hen was a few years old when her belly was really getting big and she was...
Fortunatly, I don't think it is the most likely cause of her symptom. If things don't get any better by next week or we don't figure out what is ailing her and how to treat it, then it might be time to bring her to the vet. The sooner you can figure out what her problem is, the sooner you can...
I had a hen with egg yolk peritonitis (EYP) who lived for well over a year with the condition. If a bad infection does not settle in, than they may be able to survive with the condition. I suppose it does become more and more uncomfortable for the hen as it continues, but the hen may produce...
I feel for you and your hen. I know what it is like to have a hen acting under the weather, and how difficult it is to figure out what is wrong with her. It doesn't sound like she is broody or necessarily egg bound.
Does her crop feel either mushy like a water balloon or harder than the...
I have had many broody hens over the years. They have big poops when they are off the nest, but they are not green and they don't tend to be runny. My broody hens have always accepted food when they are off the nest (Usually mine even take treats even when in the nest box).
The green poop...
The photo that was posted earlier in the thread of the peacock's throat gives a good idea of the trachea hole, but it is smaller in a chicken.
So the esophagus is the big tube/opening to the crop, and the trachea is the smaller opening at the base of the tongue. It is like looking at a smaller...
If you can encourage her to eat something nutritious on her own like scrambled eggs or yogurt mixed with ground chicken feed and vitamins, then that is easier than tube feeding. My chickens love scrambled eggs, so they really have to be sick to reject cooked eggs.
If she is really not...
Poor little Turkey. The thing is if you can't confirm through an exam by feeling an egg, you don't really know that she is egg bound. There are lots of reasons that a hen could stop laying for a while. I had a hen inside when she was ill for a few weeks (it happened to be a crop issue) and...
It sounds like you are doing the best you can for her under the circumstances. The link provided before about potential causes for a swollen belly is helpful: http://www.hobbyfarms.com/livestock-and-pets/6-causes-of-chicken-swollen-abdomen.aspx
Aside from egg impaction, which you may have...
One reason you might want keep her in the dark is you want to reduce the chance that another egg will get produced and will get stuck behind the first stuck egg, like an egg traffic jam.
But hopefully the liquid calcium will work, and she will be back to normal.
Perplexing.... I guess that could explain why she is not panting or acting ill since Wednesday. But that leaves you with the question of what the lump is.
Wow, it sounds really frustrating. At least your poor henny penny is still active and eating so far, but electrolytes and vitamins likely would be helpful since she is under such stress.
Perhaps something like a heating pad or a hot water bottle would be good for her enclosure, since you...