Chicken with large mass on belly

[aussieslover]

We noticed that are 4 year old Buff had a large mass on her belly on Sunday. She seemed to be walking, eating, drinking ect...When we got home from work yesterday (Tuesday) she was laying on the floor of the coop and could not get her feet under her. We put her in a large crate and haven't noticed much improvement as of this evening. She is unable to stand without falling over due to the size of the growth. Any thoughts are appreciated.

 

[peeps7]

Call the emergency vet. If you don't want to take her then I don't know. Is it like a giant bubble?

 

[aussieslover]

Yes it's like a gaint bubble. Unfortunatley we have no emergency vet locally. They're 100 miles away would be the nearest possiblity.

 

[ruth]

Are you talking about her crop?

 

[ruth]

Quote:
O.K. Sounds like you're talking about her crop - it's a pouch on their breast where the food is stored until it is processed to and through the gizzard. It can be soft and squishy if they've had a lot of water or hard and crunchy if they've eaten a lot of dry feed. Normally it goes down at night while they sleep. If her's is not going down at night she could be impacted. You'll need to keep her from food and water tonight and see if it's down by morning. There are remedies for impacted crops but unfortunately I don't have experience in that area. You can do a search on this forum but you shouldn't do anything until you know that's what it is.

 

[aussieslover]

No it isn't her crop. It's below her breast in between her legs.

 

[silkiechicken]

Good luck, if you know it's not her crop and it is literally an air bubble.. it could be ruptured lung sac too.

 

[ruth]

Oh dear - I have no idea - but could be egg bound or broken egg inside. When did it first appear? Did it start and slowly get larger or just suddenly there? DLUnicorn is the resident expert here - find her/his link and see if there is an e-mail address if they don't respond here quickly. Normally they check this section and respond to all - often late at night.

 

[peeps7]

Well my only suggestion is cut it off and if it starts to bleed then put a rag on it to stop the bleeding, sorry I can't help more.

 

[ruth]

Quote:
What????? No, don't do that.