- May 21, 2017
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Sine June, and possibly even before that, my bantam hen Olive hasn’t been laying eggs. At first I assumed it was because she was out of her laying years, but I looked closer at her abdomen and noticed it seemed slightly larger than usual.
Pictures from June 9th.
It wasn’t causing problems so I gave her a quick soak and didn’t do anything else. Now it is causing problems.
Things that have changed:
-she hasn’t been roosting for the past several weeks
-her abdomen is definitely larger. It’s not overly squishy or overly hard, but feels a bit overfull? I can’t feel any eggs or other material in it.
-she breaths more with her mouth open, though only when she’s picked up (which isn’t unusual for her), sometimes when she bends down to peck at something, and occasionally when she dustbathes
-she dustbathes a lot more and for a longer time
-her butt is messier than before
Things that haven’t changed:
-she’s eating and drinking the same amount
-she hasn’t gone any lower in the pecking order (I know this because I only have four hens)
-she still hasn’t laid an egg or any egg-like material
-doesn’t really act lethargic, but maybe less active than usual?
Recent pictures (taken while dust-bathing).
I’m thinking that she has ascites/water belly. Is that correct? What’s the best way of treating that?
Pictures from June 9th.
It wasn’t causing problems so I gave her a quick soak and didn’t do anything else. Now it is causing problems.
Things that have changed:
-she hasn’t been roosting for the past several weeks
-her abdomen is definitely larger. It’s not overly squishy or overly hard, but feels a bit overfull? I can’t feel any eggs or other material in it.
-she breaths more with her mouth open, though only when she’s picked up (which isn’t unusual for her), sometimes when she bends down to peck at something, and occasionally when she dustbathes
-she dustbathes a lot more and for a longer time
-her butt is messier than before
Things that haven’t changed:
-she’s eating and drinking the same amount
-she hasn’t gone any lower in the pecking order (I know this because I only have four hens)
-she still hasn’t laid an egg or any egg-like material
-doesn’t really act lethargic, but maybe less active than usual?
Recent pictures (taken while dust-bathing).
I’m thinking that she has ascites/water belly. Is that correct? What’s the best way of treating that?