Ok, I posted here about a week ago that a dog had got into the coop and attacked my hens and killed 3 (2 immediately and 1 died afterward from injuries). Anyways, since then my other 5 hens have not been great. One was broody already at the time and 4 have been off and on laying since then. 2 of the hens may or may not have laid eggs since then (13 days ago). One of the hens has poop on her feathers and her bottom area seems swollen. I checked for an egg (glove and KY) and couldn't feel anything in the vent, but the whole area below (between her vent and legs) seems tight and swollen. I am wondering if maybe it has to do with the dog attach, or if it is just because the other hen is broody and kicks everyone out of the nesting boxes? We don't have any vets in the area that treat or specialize in chickens. We are making a broody box for our one hen as she doesn't seem to be getting better and it is causing stress for the other hens. Hoping they will all start laying again in normal rotation, I am getting so stressed out. Any ideas for me?
The dog attack was definitely a stressor for them. That may be a cause for the on and off laying. Sometimes it takes a good while for them to settle down and resume to "normal". The broody may not be helping with the stress level as well, so if you don't want her sitting/hatching eggs you could try to break her of it. Now your girl with the swollen bottom, is she standing differently- like a penguin, is she eating and drinking - pooping? You may want to separate her so you can monitor her food/water intake and evaluate her overall actions. It's possible she could have an internal laying problem like Peritonitis. Any other symptoms from her, shortness of breath, etc.? You may also want to add something like Nutri-Drench for poultry to their water for a couple of days, this may help give them a little boost. There are many article/threads/video of how to break a broody - this is just one: http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/05/broody-breaker-when-hens-mood-to-hatch.html Internal laying - Peritonitis info: http://luckyhensrescuenorthwest.weebly.com/egg-bound-henegg-peritonitis-help-sheet.html http://www.hobbyfarms.com/6-causes-of-swollen-abdomen-in-chickens-2/
thank you for your response. She seemed much better yesterday, was pecking and scratching with the rest of the hens. Was not walking funny or resting as much as she had been the day before. We have broody in a separate area now and so they have easy and undisturbed access to the nesting boxes (although no one laid eggs yesterday). Hoping our coop gets back to normal soon.... I will try the nutrients to add to the water though.
