Egg bound hen?

[awintemu]

I've got a 1 1/2 year old buff who appears to be egg bound. She was staying on her nest for two days now. When you out her on the ground all her feathers stay ruffled and she flaps her tail like she's straining to lay. The others are pecking her face. She is not prolapsed. I do not feel any egg shaped mass at her vent. She is currently in a handmade chicken sauna in hopes that the moist heat will help her pass an egg. She's not broody. Her comb may be slightly less red that her coop mates.

Any thoughts? Other ideas if the steam doesn't help her lay? Should I be lookin for something else? She is our smallest hen and we have gotten a handful of irregular eggs that look like they got stuck at some point in their decent, so they may be from her.

Thank you!

 

[Judy]

Unfortunately another possibility is that she is an internal layer, another that she has ovarian cancer, particularly if she is a hatchery bird. this thread discusses internal layers

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/79443/tell-me-about-your-internal-layers/80_20#post_6235380