Dominique hen has lump

[rbum]

My hen hasn't been laying eggs much ans sitting down often but doesn't look ill. She feels very light weight and has a lump on her breast right side. Should I be concerned?

 

[Teila]

Hi there rbum

I am sorry no-one has responded to your post earlier and wonder how your girl is doing now?

First up, I am not an expert when it comes to what ails chickens and I hope that someone with more experience in this area chimes in.

However, before helping with a diagnosis, they would probably need more information.

The lump you are feeling, could that be her crop or something else?
With the little symptoms provided it is hard to diagnose but she may be having crop issues. This is a link to an article on diagnosis and treatment of sour and impacted crops:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/impacted-slow-and-sour-crops-prevention-and-treatments

Is she pooping OK, do they look normal?

These are a couple of poop charts that may aid in diagnosis:

http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=17568.0

http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/02/whats-scoop-on-chicken-poop-digestive.html


Do you worm your flock? Have you checked her for parasites [lice or mites]?

How is her comb colour?

Does she appear to have a good appetite and drinking enough?

How old is she and how long ago did you start to notice these symptoms?

 

[rbum]

She looks perfectly normal red comb, no mites, eating well. I worm them with cayenne pepper in their food normally ut wife hasn't been using it by mistake. She is about 2 yrs old. Poop normal but she finally laid egg this morning. Just unusual for her not to be very active. Thanks for the info. I was concerned she may be getting ill. I plan on worming them this week and vaccinate for maerks.

 

[coach723]

I would go ahead with the worming as that is a very common cause of weight loss.
Herbals are fine for prevention, but will not cure an infestation/infection, at least in my experience.
Another reason for not laying could be either a molt, or the decreasing hours of daylight, or both.
Some chickens molt so gradually that it is almost unnoticeable. Check her over for any pin feathers coming in. Usually easy to find around the neck, tail and under the wings. If you find that she is in a molt, increasing the protein in the diet can help. Making feathers uses a lot of protein, and they will normal stop laying during this. You can use feather fixer or a flock grower that is higher protein, just make sure they have oyster shell available as the calcium in the higher protein feeds is not enough for laying hens.
Also, after about 2 years their laying does start to taper off. As they age it takes longer and longer to form an egg, until eventually, if they live long enough, they will stop completely.

Mareks vaccine needs to be given at 1 day old.

Hope this helps.