Egg bound guinea hen

[GoodGuinea]

She's about 3 years old. A fairly good layer, low-drama guinea hen. I've never had an egg bound bird before, so I'm not 100% sure. She has a large bulge underneath, covered by feathers so I can't see it well. She's not moving with the flock, but sitting on the grass, and it looks like she's rocking back and forth a little. It's unusual. I'm not sure if she was this way yesterday. It was a busy day, and I rushed through chores without paying much attention.

Does it sound like egg binding? What are the chances it'll clear up on its own? My guineas aren't tame. I think I can catch her, but she's not going to be happy with me trying anything.

 

[Kiki]

Bulge....can you go catch her and get pictures of this bulge?

 

[GoodGuinea]

I didn't get pictures, but I have an update. The hen was still waddling around this morning, although she still has a bulge down there and her feet are very swollen. A friend came over to help me.

We managed to catch the hen and hold her. It didn't go well. She cut her head on the gate while trying to get away. We tried the epsom salt bath, but it didn't help. My friend (a fellow chicken owner who happens to also be an OBGYN) did an exam, and concluded it's actually not an egg. She said it's some kind of soft tissue mass, vaguely egg-shaped. Her first thought is that it's a tumor, but she's not sure.

So that's where we're at. I think it might be better to put the hen out of her misery, but my husband wants to wait and see. For now, she's separated from the others by an adjoining door so they can't go after her, but she can still be close by. I don't have much hope that she'll make it through this.

Edit: Someone on another forum suggested it might be salpingitis, so I'm looking into that now.