seven possums
In the Brooder
- Mar 4, 2023
- 11
- 17
- 44
Venus is a guesstimated 2.5y/o australorp, 3 flockmates - 2 leghorns, Magnolia & Sarge, and another 'lorp, Elvira.
She's not laying, suspect a repro issue that has led to EYP - swollen, bruised-looking belly has drained off 3x, different fluid every time.
Venus has always been broody and plucks her underfront bare at times. She's midway in the pecking order, not aggressive.
Feed: Poulin layer pellets, oystershell, occasional kale or cabbage, BSL (freezedried bugs) as training aids, coconut oil in the winter or when helpful, plus whatever they scour when loose in the garden. Sometimes cooked egg+shell if they seem 'off'.
Always a clean H2O supply, sometimes ACV in it, used to use Rooster Booster electrolytes & vitamins a few times a week but it's vanished. Lately been adding a little B12 to the water occasionally for Venus.
Housing: Wooden coop w/woodchips/hay/PDZ on vinyl-sealed floor and PDZ in poop board, hay in nesting box. Coop is inside a fenced & roofed 25'x10' run, dirt/hay/woodchip ground, occasionally they wander the yard with supervision for an hour or so.
(lost 3 of my last flock to a bobcat, after 20 years of everyone letting their chooks range around freely w/little predation she showed up about 2 yrs ago and cleaned out every flock she could get at on 4 miles of this street within a week. No more free-roaming alone, in Feb mama showed off her three kittens at the farmhouse porch up the way and they posted the pics from the security system lmao. These three adoptees were brought home to give Sarge, my one surviving hen, another flock.)
Over the past few months (despite having a daily sit in the nesting box) both australorps have gradually stopped laying; one, probably Venus, was still laying for awhile after the other, Elvira, just stopped, but then I began seeing shell-less and very thin-shelled eggs - then none. Gave both calcium cit +D for a few weeks; this resulted in a few more nest-crushed or too-thin-shelled-to-pick-up eggs and then several tiny 'fart eggs' in a row, all with tiny meat flecks inside as I'd been seeing in otherwise normal eggs from one of them in the months leading up to this. No bound egg upon gloved palp of vent nor any other masses out of place, no discharge from vent - yolky or otherwise - from either of them. An occasional shelless egg has been found since, usually on the board, a few obviously eaten in the nest.
Venus was getting her usual warm epsom salt soak bath treating the still-gnarly SLM damage on one leg as well as a pressure sore on her abdomen from whatever the poor girl was roosting on. (Smooth roost here now.) and with her feathers wet I noticed her belly was swollen like a balloon. She isn't showing any signs - she's eating, pooping, active, sociable, no penguin stance - so I didn't have reason to suspect until I saw it. Swollen, with redness like bruising, wasn't there the week before when I'd last treated her for the pressure sore & foot. She didn't react in pain on palp, and while the swelling made her belly feel very firm, no board belly. I expected this to be EYP and not ascites due to the faltering-laying progression prior to that night
Gloved up, checked her vent which seems to be constantly puckering/pulsating and red along the lip (No mites that I could see with an 80x loupe), nothing palpable found inside, though she promptly launched a fountain of watery poop after - not unusual for her, it's just her opinion after being poked at. She alternates between normal white-capped-brownish poop lumps and these liquid launch bombs (usually means too much leafy greens, so they don't get more for a few days when those happen.)
Drainage #1, April 5th, yielded quite a lot of dark brown fluid as I expected. Her breathing wasn't as raspy for awhile after.
A week later she looked bloated again after her soak, drainage #2 only yielded a small amount of thick yellow yolk.
Day before yesterday, a few weeks later, drainage #3 expressed a few mL of bloody-red but thick, almost milky fluid one typically sees with progressing blood & pus septic infection, yet she's still acting as though nothing's wrong.
Restarted the cal+D daily, watching her closely, trying to figure out where to get antibiotics and which ones for her now that the local vet I adored has passed away. I don't have the funds for major vet bills/surgery for her so I'm just trying to do what I can to help her fight it and keep her comfortable until I can't, and let her go if/when she's suffering. I'd like to think there was a prayer of keeping her alive & healthy otherwise but obviously she's developed a repro problem, shell gland or otherwise. Constructive suggestions appreciated. I can't think this is anything BUT EYP, plus whatever caused it, but experienced takes on what else it might be are welcome. I do understand the causative issue could be a tumor or who knows what else, causing the meat spots in the eggs and progressively worsening, or something unrelated...again, any voices of experience much appreciated as to what else I can possibly do to help her.
Some photos attached; if other views would help please say so.
Have video of her walking around yesterday, will post a link when it's uploaded.
Thanks for reading!
April 5th vs April 20th (being blowdried after her soak), and one bathtime pic. Hover for alt text, click to open & enlarge.
@azygous @Eggcessive @nuthatched @Wyorp Rock
She's not laying, suspect a repro issue that has led to EYP - swollen, bruised-looking belly has drained off 3x, different fluid every time.
Venus has always been broody and plucks her underfront bare at times. She's midway in the pecking order, not aggressive.
Feed: Poulin layer pellets, oystershell, occasional kale or cabbage, BSL (freezedried bugs) as training aids, coconut oil in the winter or when helpful, plus whatever they scour when loose in the garden. Sometimes cooked egg+shell if they seem 'off'.
Always a clean H2O supply, sometimes ACV in it, used to use Rooster Booster electrolytes & vitamins a few times a week but it's vanished. Lately been adding a little B12 to the water occasionally for Venus.
Housing: Wooden coop w/woodchips/hay/PDZ on vinyl-sealed floor and PDZ in poop board, hay in nesting box. Coop is inside a fenced & roofed 25'x10' run, dirt/hay/woodchip ground, occasionally they wander the yard with supervision for an hour or so.
(lost 3 of my last flock to a bobcat, after 20 years of everyone letting their chooks range around freely w/little predation she showed up about 2 yrs ago and cleaned out every flock she could get at on 4 miles of this street within a week. No more free-roaming alone, in Feb mama showed off her three kittens at the farmhouse porch up the way and they posted the pics from the security system lmao. These three adoptees were brought home to give Sarge, my one surviving hen, another flock.)
She was adopted with another australorp and a white leghorn from an abuse case rescue at approx 1 y/o; the three of them didn't have a good start in life and came to me skinny, unsocialized and scared, with SLM, plucking/pecking injuries, missing huge swathes of feathers on their backs, small size/rough condition told me their nutrition wasn't great either. They've improved a great deal since but a few issues remain as they will from poor conditions early on. One of Venus's legs is still wildly 'overgrown' from SLM damage; yes they're dead, but the overgrowth and warped scales are bad enough to still need soaking/debriding as new ones grow in clean.
Venus has also always sounded congested/sneezy/noisy breathing. No bubbly eyes/nostrils, no dripping fluid, & a full course of doxycycline last year changed nothing there. Vet wondered if some kind of injury from her previous situation; MSPCA didn't suspect myco when I adopted them & nobody else has those symptoms. Magnolia had the horrendous prolapse last year for example, but has since made an excellent recovery. My red leghorn Sarge, I hand-raised from 5 weeks and the size/health differences between her and the 3 adoptees are jarring even now. There's been no recent trauma/injury/illness.
Venus has also always sounded congested/sneezy/noisy breathing. No bubbly eyes/nostrils, no dripping fluid, & a full course of doxycycline last year changed nothing there. Vet wondered if some kind of injury from her previous situation; MSPCA didn't suspect myco when I adopted them & nobody else has those symptoms. Magnolia had the horrendous prolapse last year for example, but has since made an excellent recovery. My red leghorn Sarge, I hand-raised from 5 weeks and the size/health differences between her and the 3 adoptees are jarring even now. There's been no recent trauma/injury/illness.
Over the past few months (despite having a daily sit in the nesting box) both australorps have gradually stopped laying; one, probably Venus, was still laying for awhile after the other, Elvira, just stopped, but then I began seeing shell-less and very thin-shelled eggs - then none. Gave both calcium cit +D for a few weeks; this resulted in a few more nest-crushed or too-thin-shelled-to-pick-up eggs and then several tiny 'fart eggs' in a row, all with tiny meat flecks inside as I'd been seeing in otherwise normal eggs from one of them in the months leading up to this. No bound egg upon gloved palp of vent nor any other masses out of place, no discharge from vent - yolky or otherwise - from either of them. An occasional shelless egg has been found since, usually on the board, a few obviously eaten in the nest.
Venus was getting her usual warm epsom salt soak bath treating the still-gnarly SLM damage on one leg as well as a pressure sore on her abdomen from whatever the poor girl was roosting on. (Smooth roost here now.) and with her feathers wet I noticed her belly was swollen like a balloon. She isn't showing any signs - she's eating, pooping, active, sociable, no penguin stance - so I didn't have reason to suspect until I saw it. Swollen, with redness like bruising, wasn't there the week before when I'd last treated her for the pressure sore & foot. She didn't react in pain on palp, and while the swelling made her belly feel very firm, no board belly. I expected this to be EYP and not ascites due to the faltering-laying progression prior to that night
Gloved up, checked her vent which seems to be constantly puckering/pulsating and red along the lip (No mites that I could see with an 80x loupe), nothing palpable found inside, though she promptly launched a fountain of watery poop after - not unusual for her, it's just her opinion after being poked at. She alternates between normal white-capped-brownish poop lumps and these liquid launch bombs (usually means too much leafy greens, so they don't get more for a few days when those happen.)
Drainage #1, April 5th, yielded quite a lot of dark brown fluid as I expected. Her breathing wasn't as raspy for awhile after.
A week later she looked bloated again after her soak, drainage #2 only yielded a small amount of thick yellow yolk.
Day before yesterday, a few weeks later, drainage #3 expressed a few mL of bloody-red but thick, almost milky fluid one typically sees with progressing blood & pus septic infection, yet she's still acting as though nothing's wrong.
Restarted the cal+D daily, watching her closely, trying to figure out where to get antibiotics and which ones for her now that the local vet I adored has passed away. I don't have the funds for major vet bills/surgery for her so I'm just trying to do what I can to help her fight it and keep her comfortable until I can't, and let her go if/when she's suffering. I'd like to think there was a prayer of keeping her alive & healthy otherwise but obviously she's developed a repro problem, shell gland or otherwise. Constructive suggestions appreciated. I can't think this is anything BUT EYP, plus whatever caused it, but experienced takes on what else it might be are welcome. I do understand the causative issue could be a tumor or who knows what else, causing the meat spots in the eggs and progressively worsening, or something unrelated...again, any voices of experience much appreciated as to what else I can possibly do to help her.
Some photos attached; if other views would help please say so.
Have video of her walking around yesterday, will post a link when it's uploaded.
Thanks for reading!
April 5th vs April 20th (being blowdried after her soak), and one bathtime pic. Hover for alt text, click to open & enlarge.
@azygous @Eggcessive @nuthatched @Wyorp Rock
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