Can you feel a stuck egg? or is it something else?

[nes]

ETA: UPDATE, she's fine.


I've got a red star of undetermined age, probably closer to old then not. She's either is molting or is about too (lots of lost feathers) I'm not sure if she is one of the girls laying or not.
(we got a big group of older chickens from a friend in the last few weeks).

This morning she's quite listless, wasn't opening her eyes when I checked under her for eggs (she was in one of the nest boxes, but they sleep in there too).

She's in my kitchen now, still being very quiet, not wanting food or water (for the last 10 minutes, I wouldn't consider that a symptom yet).

I can feed a hard round mass in the back of her abdomen (a.k.a. an egg). My chicken anatomy isn't quite up to snuff, but I would guess it's just finished forming and is ready to be laid.

Is it possible it's stuck? Or can you normally feel an egg that's ready to be laid?

She is quite thin, so we'll just have to hope she warms up and feels better I guess.


(FYI This is a production hen, I'm not taking her to the vet, but I will end her suffering if deemed necessary).

 

[BamaSilkies]

I havent experienced this yet but from what I have read on here some suggest a warm bath.

 

[BamaSilkies]

Maybe offer her some warm oatmeal, scrambled/boiled egg or yogurt.

 

[nes]

She's not very used to being handled, I'm not sure a warm bath wouldn't hurt more then it would help. She's already pretty stressed out from just being in the house, but that is a good idea, I'll try it later if she doesn't get better.

She doesn't really seem interested in food at all in the moment. Her croup is soft but large, I don't know if that's typical for older birds? Or if she just had a good meal.

She's laying in her pen with her eyes half closed and looks now like she's trying to push something out (so a lot of moment in her vent/tail) so maybe it is a stuck egg.

 

[BamaSilkies]

I think the warm bath is done to stimulate her into passing the egg. Not sure. Maybe someone that has experienced this will chime in.

 

[BamaSilkies]

You could try giving her a baby aspirin( only if you are sure there is no internal bleeding of course, blood in stool) for the pain. Maybe if shes not in pain she can relax and it will pass.

 

[top of the hill]

I've read a warm bath to stimulate passing the egg as well as rubbing some olive oil around the vent area.

 

[nes]

She's not getting any better so I gave her a little bath.

I'm not sure if she was drifting off because it was warm or dieing of stress...

'nway she's cuddled up by the fireplace now and we'll keep an eye on her. It's not really looking good though.

 

[nes]

Just noticed the shanks on her legs are risen.

Could she have mites?

Or is it from the bath... ?

 

[nes]

If she has mites I certainly can't see anything, her backside is pretty bare from moult.
ETA: and she's the only one in the coop with raised shanks (I mean at ALL, they are all very flat) so it was probably the bath

A few of the feathers seem to be poking her inside the vent. I don't know if that's just because of the shape-change in her backside b/c of the egg.

Is there any reason I shouldn't trim those feathers?