Droopy tail, posture, not defecating normally

[Hens_SWCT]

https://imgur.com/a/iMIPNEn

Video of her behavior and droppings

 

[Ebony Rose]

This may sound gross but... I'd give her vent, inside and out, a healthy glob of water-soluble lubricant; something like K-Y Jelly to help her pass any other 'rubber' eggs. Make the canal slippery so that an egg doesn't stick and drag on its way out. Do this AFTER her bath, as it will quickly wash away with water.

 

[Hens_SWCT]

This may sound gross but... I'd give her vent, inside and out, a healthy glob of water-soluble lubricant; something like K-Y Jelly to help her pass any other 'rubber' eggs. Make the canal slippery so that an egg doesn't stick and drag on its way out. Do this AFTER her bath, as it will quickly wash away with water.

Not gross at this point. We’ve already done the vent exam.

 

[Katanahamon]

View attachment 2810675
We haven’t got an egg from our 2yr+ old comet in 2 days, a little unusual for her. Her tail is held low, and she has this puffed up posture. She has not appeared to have normal bowel movements. Just white, slightly watery, and you can see her attempting to go with her hind quarters moving. Appetite was not great, she’s normally our most aggressive feeder.

At first we thought she may have been egg bound, but we couldn’t feel anything on an internal exam (about up to 2nd knuckle, 2” or so).

Right now we have her isolated, about a ml of nutridrench in a few oz of water in the crate with her and some food. We have her a partial corn cob with liquid calcium on it and she ate that pretty well. Any other thoughts?

Help! My Chicken Is Egg Bound​

Updated June 6, 2021
‘At A Glance (Details Below)’ Emergency Care

How To Treat An Egg Bound Chicken​

1. Your chicken is almost certainly not egg-bound- true egg binding is rare
2. When a chicken is egg bound, it is mostly due to poor nutrition such as attempting to feed chickens entirely on table scraps
3. Most cases suspected of egg binding are really egg peritonitis or internal lay

Now dive deeper.​

What Is Egg Binding?​

Egg binding is when an egg gets stuck and a chicken can’t pass it easily. Signs are of repeated efforts to lay, or prolapse of part of the uterus through the vent. It can be nasty and is most often associated with low calcium diets.
What if I said egg binding in chickens almost doesn’t happen? What if most of the internet advice and guide books on how to treat your egg bound chicken are not only wrong and a waste of time, but actually harmful to a sick chook with a completely different problem?
If you have chickens and want to know how to get them to live a long life, or want help choosing chicken breeds, then this is the blog for you. Because the disease that people wrongly think is egg binding is the number one killer of chickens.

Yolk Peritonitis vs Egg Binding​

The REAL disease is egg peritonitis, also called internal lay, when one or many egg yolks are lost into the abdomen. Normally egg yolks are passed from the ovary to the oviduct. However, in egg peritonitis the yolk is either ruptured (we all know how fragile they are) or misses its target. Then it gets infected with E. coli bacteria.
Why does it happen? No one can say for sure, but it may be when birds are spooked, or handled roughly, or laying one egg at the same time as ovulating another. What is important is that it happens mainly to the high-producing breeds.
HyLine or ISA Browns are the commonest point-of-lay pullets sold in Adelaide (one is shown below). They are beautiful animals with unique personalities and become loved like any pets. However, despite the fact that a chicken can live 8 or 9 years (the record is 16!) most HyLine or ISA Browns die of egg peritonitis between two and three years of age.

Treatment Of Egg Peritonitis​

Egg peritonitis looks like any sick chook: quiet, fluffed up, not laying. Any chicken like this should see a vet quickly. Many chicken diseases can be treated, and although success isn’t guaranteed, it’s also true here. However, the longer they go on laying internally, the harder it gets.
Just such a chicken is Cocoa. When she first presented to us with egg peritonitis, we helped her owner nurse her back to health. It took a long course of antibiotics to treat the infection. We also inserted a Suprelorin implant to stop her laying more internal yolks.
There’s a tremendous irony in spending good money to stop a chicken laying eggs. It just goes to show how valued they become as individuals, not just egg producers.

 

[Hens_SWCT]

her chest is bare when you move the feathers. I think her crop is a little distended. Hard to tell.

 

[Hens_SWCT]

We took her to the vet. It’s a tennis ball sized reproductive tumor.

 

[Ebony Rose]

I'm so sorry to hear about her diagnosis.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

I'm so sorry.

 

[Hens_SWCT]

I'm so sorry.

Thanks. The cost of surgery is prohibitively expensive. Our vet offers a foster service, we sign her over and they will take care of her; providing care they see fit. They have staff that keep animals in this way. Seems like the best option for her, despite having to give her up.

 

[Ebony Rose]

That's awesome! Her condition would have her slowly deteriorating over time, with untold thresholds of pain due to the chickens' code of "show no weakness" at any cost mentality. If she were my girl, I'd accept their offer of palliative care. Also, don't beat yourself up over your inability to pay for surgery as anesthesia is highly risky with birds and the doctors won't know what all organs have been affected by her illness or even if her condition would persist once they've removed the infected tissue. These factors make the surgery a craps shoot at best. Will they phone you when she's down to the bitter end so that you could go to her to make your final goodbyes? Would you want them to? With the proper pain medication would you be able to care for her and put her out of her suffering when the time comes?
I'll keep you and your feathered family in my prayers.