Egg stuck in vent? Swollen and Bloody.

[SarahKate]

Hi there. I'd appreciate any help I can get. I have a one year old Red Star that is having some severe complications. A few days ago I noticed her out free ranging and it looked like an egg was in her vent ready to come out. I had never seen that before on her, or any of the other chickens.

Tonight, I went in to give my girls their routine booty haircuts and once again I saw an egg in the vent on the same chicken. Her vent also appears swollen and is a little bloody. She has laid for the past two days, so I'm a little unsure what is happening. The egg looks stuck, but if she's laying than they can't be getting stuck. Anyone else had this issue? Is there anything I can do for her? She seems to be fine otherwise. It has been extremely hot in our area (110 degrees!), but she has found a lot of shady places to stay and has access to water. I'm stumped, and very upset. Our chickens are our babies, so I really want to help her!

 

[lilchick]

Try placing her in a bucket of warm soapy water for 20 minutes. This will relax her as well as clean the area. Then dry her off and take olive oil on your fingers and run around edges of opening as well as just inside. Do not try to push or pull the egg out or break it as this could result in infection and death.
I have done this a few times with my hens and they have passed the egg by the next day. I also give them a baby aspirin for the pain and to reduce the swelling. Good luck!

 

[SarahKate]

Thanks, lilchick, for your answer. We let her sit in warm soapy water for twenty minutes or so. That cleaned her up enough for us to be able to see the problem was not a stuck egg, but some sort of fluid building up below her vent. Luckily I was able to find some answers here on BYC through some people who have had the same experience. We are going to attempt to drain it ourselves. *Crossing my fingers that this fixes our baby*