- Feb 28, 2012
- 8
- 0
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Hi Everyone,
I'm new to the forum, but not new to chickens. I've cared for adult chickens for several years at a farm that I ran, but this past year my husband and I decided to raise our own flock from chicks. Our babies arrived in May of 2011, in the mail from a hatchery. So they're just about 10 months old.
Late in December, one of our (then) 9 month old Ameraucanas, Daisy, didn't look right. Upon inspection, we realized that her belly was hanging low from behind her legs to her tail. She walked sort of upright like a duck, and held her tail pointing slightly downward. Her butt was crusted with poop. I figured she was egg-bound. We brought her inside and gave her a good long warm soak, which she loved, and cleaned off the crust. All looked fine, so we toweled her and set her up in our bathroom in a large box to monitor.
The big belly stayed, but she ate, drank, talked and pooped like any other day. After two days and one escape, in which she trashed and shattered many items in our bathroom, she quietly laid a perfect blue egg, so the next day we put her outside again. She's been laying fine since then, but still has had the low-hanging belly.
Last Friday morning when I went outside to feed them and let them outside, I noticed Daisy on the floor in a corner of the coop. Uh oh. I crouched down to see what was wrong, and noticed spots of blood. I picked her up and OH NO! blood everywhere on her belly and shavings underneath her. I brought her right inside and put her in the tub with warm water to clean her up and see what the injury was.
Her vent looks fine. There were some large v-shaped tears or flaps on her skin, so I'm thinking she cut herself jumping down from her roost, or outside the evening before and we didn't notice it. Her belly hangs low so it wouldn't be noticable unless we were on the ground. Dried her off, let her spend the night inside her box in the bathroom, and sprayed herbehind with Blue-Kote, partly as an anteseptic and partly to cover any red from the bleeding (which had almost completely stopped except for a little oozing) and put her back out with the rest of the flock. Now she is a yellow chicken with a purple butt.
Saturday my husband noticed the other hens were picking on her, so we put her in a large wire dog crate inside the coop so she could still be with the rest of them while she has a chance to heal and get plenty of food without interference. She ACTS fine, eating, drinking, talking, showing me the door of the crate each time I go in the coop, as if to say "look, stuppid, this is how you get me out of here". But Imn keeping her in there until I am sure she is ok, or at least until she lays an egg.
So she's been in the crate since Saturday afternoon, it's now Tuesday evening, and no egg. Her round purple belly is almost to the ground, but she does not appear to be in pain except she walks a little funny because she's so big. Poops looks pretty normal. She seems alert and bright eyed, pecking, scratching and shows interest in the other girls, but is so big and I think really should have laid an egg by now.
There are no vets in this area that deal with chickens although one "exotic animal" vet has offered to put her down for us. I prefer not to do that as she is a pet, and so young I'd like to give her a chance. I'm attaching a photo of her with her low-belly in December, when she had her first issue. The dark purple Blue-Kote on her belly now makes it hard to take a photo that shows much, but she is bigger now than she was in this picture from about 6 weeks ago.
From what I've read, it seems like this may be internal laying, but I'm not clear on how to help her. Or could it be something else?? Any advice would be greatly appreciated, just please don't tell me "put her in the freezer"!
Thanks,
Lin
I'm new to the forum, but not new to chickens. I've cared for adult chickens for several years at a farm that I ran, but this past year my husband and I decided to raise our own flock from chicks. Our babies arrived in May of 2011, in the mail from a hatchery. So they're just about 10 months old.
Late in December, one of our (then) 9 month old Ameraucanas, Daisy, didn't look right. Upon inspection, we realized that her belly was hanging low from behind her legs to her tail. She walked sort of upright like a duck, and held her tail pointing slightly downward. Her butt was crusted with poop. I figured she was egg-bound. We brought her inside and gave her a good long warm soak, which she loved, and cleaned off the crust. All looked fine, so we toweled her and set her up in our bathroom in a large box to monitor.
The big belly stayed, but she ate, drank, talked and pooped like any other day. After two days and one escape, in which she trashed and shattered many items in our bathroom, she quietly laid a perfect blue egg, so the next day we put her outside again. She's been laying fine since then, but still has had the low-hanging belly.
Last Friday morning when I went outside to feed them and let them outside, I noticed Daisy on the floor in a corner of the coop. Uh oh. I crouched down to see what was wrong, and noticed spots of blood. I picked her up and OH NO! blood everywhere on her belly and shavings underneath her. I brought her right inside and put her in the tub with warm water to clean her up and see what the injury was.
Her vent looks fine. There were some large v-shaped tears or flaps on her skin, so I'm thinking she cut herself jumping down from her roost, or outside the evening before and we didn't notice it. Her belly hangs low so it wouldn't be noticable unless we were on the ground. Dried her off, let her spend the night inside her box in the bathroom, and sprayed herbehind with Blue-Kote, partly as an anteseptic and partly to cover any red from the bleeding (which had almost completely stopped except for a little oozing) and put her back out with the rest of the flock. Now she is a yellow chicken with a purple butt.
Saturday my husband noticed the other hens were picking on her, so we put her in a large wire dog crate inside the coop so she could still be with the rest of them while she has a chance to heal and get plenty of food without interference. She ACTS fine, eating, drinking, talking, showing me the door of the crate each time I go in the coop, as if to say "look, stuppid, this is how you get me out of here". But Imn keeping her in there until I am sure she is ok, or at least until she lays an egg.
So she's been in the crate since Saturday afternoon, it's now Tuesday evening, and no egg. Her round purple belly is almost to the ground, but she does not appear to be in pain except she walks a little funny because she's so big. Poops looks pretty normal. She seems alert and bright eyed, pecking, scratching and shows interest in the other girls, but is so big and I think really should have laid an egg by now.
There are no vets in this area that deal with chickens although one "exotic animal" vet has offered to put her down for us. I prefer not to do that as she is a pet, and so young I'd like to give her a chance. I'm attaching a photo of her with her low-belly in December, when she had her first issue. The dark purple Blue-Kote on her belly now makes it hard to take a photo that shows much, but she is bigger now than she was in this picture from about 6 weeks ago.
From what I've read, it seems like this may be internal laying, but I'm not clear on how to help her. Or could it be something else?? Any advice would be greatly appreciated, just please don't tell me "put her in the freezer"!
Thanks,
Lin
