CHIVE: BR Hen - Red Swollen Butt, but layed an egg! Help? PICS

[fallenleeves]

UPDATE: With Pictures

Just some picture updates on Chive. Took her out and had her on top of the dog crate. She was wagging her tail and preening a lot (reads as happy to me), and she was alert and very curious about the camera. Her back end seems a bit less red today, but it's still about the size of a large orange.

(Click on the pictures to make them larger):






(She was about to poop in the above picture)

 

[SIMZ]

That last picture shows new feathers growing in, doesn't it? -- which would mean that somehow she lost feathers (molt, picking, etc.). I also see some broken-looking feathers.

With my hen, I started to wonder if it really was swollen or if that's how all chickens would look if they had no feathers in that area. You know? Do you see any evidence of mites or lice? Hmmmm......

 

[fallenleeves]

It does, and over the last couple of days most of them have grown in making it hard to tell what's going on down there. I can still see it's red, it doesn't seem aaas red though, so I don't know. Perhaps it was just irritation from feathers growing in combined with cold weather?

Regardless, she's been laying eggs regularly and has maintained the same attitude so, for now I think I'll just let it bide and see what happens. She'll be rejoining the rest of the coop soon.

 

[Porch Chickens]

This is reassuring to see, as my chicken has exactly the same thing. Not nearly as red, but big and squishy. She's also laying, eating well and happy. I'm starting her on Baytril just in case it's an infection, however, after reading all the horror stories on here...

 

[wowkitty1000]

Yesterday in school we learned about something about animal behavior it was called the pecking order the low man or chicken in this case gets all the feathers pulled out of the rear ends