Can anyone tell me what the heck is going on?

[Droelfs]

Hello,

I have had my hen Barbie for about 2 years, never had any problems until now. Raised her from a chick. This past weekend I was outside admiring my flock and noticed that her butt was bare and one of the other hens was picking at it so I removed Barbie to her own pen and observed her.

Since then she's gotten worse. She has this bulbous mass under her vent. I tried a warm bath, I thought it was lice so I dusted her....now she's at the point where she sits in the same spot all day, her eyes are now closed all the time and her breathing seems a little labored. I noticed that yesterday she was somewhat labored in breathing too.

I also noticed that her poop looks white ????? What the heck's going on? Does anyone know?

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

BTW, my hens eat commercially prepared layer feed mixed w/ scratch every day and of course have water to drink. They are free range in the day time and in 1 coop at night (I have 5 hens all together). No other hen of mine is exhibiting these problems--they're all acting normal as usual.



Thank you,
Dayna

 

[Pyxis]

She might be laying internally. Unfortunately, there's nothing you can do for that except make her comfortable It's a problem that affects a lot of birds that are from breeds that lay lots of eggs, especially if they're from hatchery stock.

She may also be egg bound, and there's an egg stuck in her vent. A warm bath is a good place to start for that, but if that doesn't work, check out this thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/2528/my-very-first-emergency-egg-bound-pictures-included It even has pictures so you can compare and see if that may be it.

 

[Droelfs]

Awww, that's what I was afraid of. She's an Americauna and I know they are prolific layers. I feel so bad. She's one of my original hens and now think I am going to lose her too. Thanks for the advice, much appreicated.

 

[Droelfs]

This is what I'm talking about.....finally let me upload pics...

 

[Pyxis]

Sorry to give you bad news But definitely try some of the stuff in the other thread, just in case. If she's eggbound and you can get her to pass the egg, she might be fine. See if you can feel an egg in there - a lot of times if they're eggbound you can feel the egg(s).

 

[Droelfs]

Okey dokey, we'll try that. Thank you very much!