Bulge between chick's legs

[rebrascora]

Hi I'm just reading this post for the first time and finding it very interesting.
I'm delighted to read that she is still alive and thriving without intervention.
As regards egg laying, I would say that, either she is a late developing cockerel or she is already ovulating with a comb that large and bright red. It is hard to assess hackle and saddle feathers with her being black and that camera angle but it is an impressive array of red head gear which just puts a slight doubt in my mind about gender. If she is a pullet, then she may well be internally laying if she is not producing eggs. The red comb usually indicates that she is fertile and the ovaries are releasing eggs.

Does she often stand with her tail down like that?

 

[centralcaligirl]

Hi I'm just reading this post for the first time and finding it very interesting.
I'm delighted to read that she is still alive and thriving without intervention.
As regards egg laying, I would say that, either she is a late developing cockerel or she is already ovulating with a comb that large and bright red. It is hard to assess hackle and saddle feathers with her being black and that camera angle but it is an impressive array of red head gear which just puts a slight doubt in my mind about gender. If she is a pullet, then she may well be internally laying if she is not producing eggs. The red comb usually indicates that she is fertile and the ovaries are releasing eggs.

Does she often stand with her tail down like that?

Yes she sure does have quite a comb! In terms of stance I think it was that she was standing on a towel. She has a "sister" who is a black Austrolorp of the same age who is currently laying. This has been invaluable for comparison. I just worry because I know chickens don't show pain as visibly as other animals might. Here are a few more pictures from this morning!

In the picture with her sister she is the one in the foreground.

 

[rebrascora]

Yes, both beautiful pullets and those red combs suggest they are both laying. Has she shown any interest in the nest boxes? I would start monitoring her weight and abdomen regularly. A steady increase in weight over a period of a few weeks would probably confirm internal laying if you are not seeing eggs from her.

 

[centralcaligirl]

That is an excellent idea. I will start weighing right away.

She went into the nest box for about 10 minutes once last week and otherwise hasn't shown any interest at all. See mostly stays outside and does her own thing in the morning while the others are laying.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Oh Wow! I just noticed your thread and the update
Both girls are lovely, Miss Peep has filled out nicely hasn't she?!

Barbara has given a great suggestion to monitor her weight to see if she is laying internally.
She may just be a late bloomer as well - which is always a hope. I've found even if I have 2 of the same breed they can be weeks apart when they begin laying - so at 25wks she not too awfully off course at the moment.
Please keep us posted.

 

[centralcaligirl]

@Wyorp Rock I didn't do a very good job of keeping everyone posted! She has done so well we sort of forgot she even has a hernia.

Three years later, Peep is still alive and laying 2-3 eggs a week. She waddles when she walks and doesn't run well because of the bugle between her legs. We also removed basically everything in the run and yard above 18 inches high so that she couldn't tear the hernia more by jumping. She doesn't roost, she sleeps in a nesting box in the coop, which I think is safer anyway. She has never had normal tail feathers, I'm not sure if that's related to the hernia or not.

I have learned from this that it is possible for a chicken to live a full life with a hernia that never gets repaired. We will let her live out her life, as long as it may be, happy in the garden. I'm glad that she has made it so long. She's the smartest of all my chickens, and the most aggressive forager.

I really appreciated all of the help everyone on the forum provided while we were trying to figure this out.

Here's a picture of her from last week, hanging out with me in the evening:

 

[reddogmaster2]

The vet said that the bulge is actually her gizzard which is protruding through the rupture in her abdominal wall. So the options are surgery or euthanasia, because once she starts laying eggs they will put more pressure on the rupture and cause further interval damage. The surgery would be to open her up and put the gizzard back into the cavity and then stich the rupture closed and she should be fine. Which would be okay except that most vets are apparently not trained to do that procedure on chickens, just dogs and cats and other household pets. So she would have to go to the university hospital for the surgery

This is my 10-year old daughter's chicken and she was really upset, so we came home and were talking about the different options as we aren't wealthy and I'm sure the surgery would be expensive although we don't exactly know yet what the cost would be.

My daughter had been planning to have a birthday party at the end of this month with her friends. She said she was going to cancel her birthday party so we would have the money for her chicken to have the surgery.

So please say a prayer that we get some good news tomorrow that the surgery isn't outrageously expensive because now all my daughter wants for her birthday is for her chicken, Peep, to survive.

I pray that everything turns out well.

I had Hernia surgery a few years back, I don't remember how much it costs but I believe my wife was contemplating putting me down vs having the surgery! Woman finally came to her senses that I was the one working and she was the one doing yoga and going out to lunch with her gal-pals every Tuesday and Friday and it didn;t pay nearly as much as my job...

So we opted for surgery and not euthanasia.

I'm fine now, had some issues dropping a duece for a day or 3 but Metamucil and laying off the pain killers helped!

I highly doubt I'd pay for a chicken hernia surgery and I think it would be a good time to teach the young'un about the Circle of Life thing. Maybe buy her a new chick or 3 and let her raise up some new ones?

Anyway, thought I'd share! My very best to y'all!

PS I still don't lift heavy weights or things like that. Having a surgeon do the things they do down around a man's nether-region makes a man rethink picking up heavy things!

Keep us posted, thanks!

 

[murgiyan]

@Wyorp Rock I didn't do a very good job of keeping everyone posted! She has done so well we sort of forgot she even has a hernia.

Three years later, Peep is still alive and laying 2-3 eggs a week. She waddles when she walks and doesn't run well because of the bugle between her legs. We also removed basically everything in the run and yard above 18 inches high so that she couldn't tear the hernia more by jumping. She doesn't roost, she sleeps in a nesting box in the coop, which I think is safer anyway. She has never had normal tail feathers, I'm not sure if that's related to the hernia or not.

I have learned from this that it is possible for a chicken to live a full life with a hernia that never gets repaired. We will let her live out her life, as long as it may be, happy in the garden. I'm glad that she has made it so long. She's the smartest of all my chickens, and the most aggressive forager.

I really appreciated all of the help everyone on the forum provided while we were trying to figure this out.

Here's a picture of her from last week, hanging out with me in the evening:
View attachment 2276229

She's beautiful!