Chicken egg bound, but not showing signs.

[Invsochicken]

My 4 year old hen doesn’t really lay anymore. Yesterday I saw her just laying down which is not abnormal for her (different issue). I decided to randomly just check her for being egg bound, because one of our other barred rocks just passed from it. To my surprise I felt an egg in her lower abdomen. We did the epsom bath and it didn’t budge. The thing is she isn’t showing any symptoms, then or now. She is eating, her tail is up, and she is pooping normal poop. I used a lubricated gloved finger to check and sure enough I felt an egg but I didn’t feel the egg shell rather skin or tissue on top of an egg, I don’t really see a way to get to the egg because it’s under her skin and tissue. Which is what I felt with the one who passed. I’m scared if it didn’t show any symptoms then she could have had this egg in her for a while, which is what happened to our other hen who passed. This is around where it is. I’m thinking it might actually not be an egg because it’s not interfering with her and she has made no attempt to lay said egg.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I decided to randomly just check her for being egg bound, because one of our other barred rocks just passed from it. To my surprise I felt an egg in her lower abdomen. We did the epsom bath and it didn’t budge. The thing is she isn’t showing any symptoms, then or now. She is eating, her tail is up, and she is pooping normal poop. I used a lubricated gloved finger to check and sure enough I felt an egg but I didn’t feel the egg shell rather skin or tissue on top of an egg, I don’t really see a way to get to the egg because it’s under her skin and tissue. Which is what I felt with the one who passed.

Welcome To BYC

I'm sorry to hear you recently lost a hen. Did you happen to have a necropsy or do one yourself to take a look at her internals?

If you are feeling an egg shape or mass below the vent in her abdomen, then likely she has laid internally or possibly has a tumor or some other mass in there.
It's likely in the coelomic cavity, so you would not be able to reach it.

If she's perky, eating/drinking, moving about and not showing any symptoms of decline or lethargy, then I'd leave her be. Enjoy her and let her live out her days until it's time to let her go.

When she eventually passes, then do a further examination either by yourself, so you can understand the symptoms better or by having it done through your state lab.

 

[Invsochicken]

Welcome To BYC

I'm sorry to hear you recently lost a hen. Did you happen to have a necropsy or do one yourself to take a look at her internals?

If you are feeling an egg shape or mass below the vent in her abdomen, then likely she has laid internally or possibly has a tumor or some other mass in there.
It's likely in the coelomic cavity, so you would not be able to reach it.

If she's perky, eating/drinking, moving about and not showing any symptoms of decline or lethargy, then I'd leave her be. Enjoy her and let her live out her days until it's time to let her go.

When she eventually passes, then do a further examination either by yourself, so you can understand the symptoms better or by having it done through your state lab.

Welcome To BYC

I'm sorry to hear you recently lost a hen. Did you happen to have a necropsy or do one yourself to take a look at her internals?

If you are feeling an egg shape or mass below the vent in her abdomen, then likely she has laid internally or possibly has a tumor or some other mass in there.
It's likely in the coelomic cavity, so you would not be able to reach it.

If she's perky, eating/drinking, moving about and not showing any symptoms of decline or lethargy, then I'd leave her be. Enjoy her and let her live out her days until it's time to let her go.

When she eventually passes, then do a further examination either by yourself, so you can understand the symptoms better or by having it done through your state lab.

Thank you for responding! She is pretty perky and acting normal besides laying down though but that’s just because she hurt her leg. How long would you say she can survive with this tumor or internal egg? Thanks!


Also we did not get a necropsy for the one who passed but we did take her to the vet, and they did take an X-ray of her. The vet explained that she was egg bound for a long time, but she had only recently showed signs of it. So long in fact that the egg had actually cooked to her internal body temperature. They told us that she had a 70% chance of not making it from surgery so we opted to put her down. I included a file of the X-ray if you look closely you can see the egg around a inch from inside her vent.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Sounds like the hen that died had Salpingitis.