Eggbound Hen?

[Yeet]

Hello. So my mother rents out a home thats on a farm and our landlord has several laying hens. I only visit every other weekend and since I have several birds of my own I enjoy hanging out with the other flock.

Ive noticed most of her hens have bare butts with blackened feathers around it which made me a little concerned but figured since they werent acting sick it wasnt my place to comment about it. But today I noticed a small Rhode Island Red standing in a corner with her back end very low to the ground and when I approached her she didnt move at all. Which is very unusual because they rarely let you get close enough to touch them. This peeked my concern and when I picked her up I imediately noticed her lower abdomen/vent area was very enlarged and hard with a lot of missing feathers and clumped white poo. She didnt struggle at all when I took her inside and I'm just wondering what this could be? My first thought was eggbound so Ive let her soak in a warm bath and massaged her a little but she doesnt seem to appreciate me touching the area.

At this point she looks so swollen down there that I'm not sure if theres anything I could even do. I'd just like to know if anyone has any tips or advice on what to do with her before I bring it up to the landlord. She doesnt seem to rlly care about the hens as pets or animals but rather items that benefit her so she would definitely cull her imediately. At this point however I'm not sure thats a bad idea. Shes still drinking and perky but I know chickens love to hide their pain/illness so I can only assume shes miserable.

Sorry for the long post I just hate seeing her like this

 

[ValerieJ]

I have not dealt with this yet in my flock, but if you think she is egg bound then try calcium.

 

[Kiki]

Ive noticed most of her hens have bare butts with blackened feathers around it

This... Is probably lice.

 

[Kiki]

The swollen belly...most likely a reproductive issue.
Internal laying is the first that comes to mind with the swelling.

If she is not active and eating then it's probably best to end her suffering.

 

[Downtown Chickens]

Sounds like water belly. How old is the chicken?

 

[Yeet]

Shes eating and drinking but her eyes are squinty and overall just looks so sad. Just came across another chicken who was bleeding from its vent profusely so sent an urgent message to the landlord. Hoping she takes care of them because I dont want them having a long painful death

The swollen belly...most likely a reproductive issue.
Internal laying is the first that comes to mind with the swelling.

If she is not active and eating then it's probably best to end her suffering.

 

[Yeet]

Sounds like water belly. How old is the chicken?

Im not sure but i would guess a few months by her size.

 

[Yeet]

This... Is probably lice.

Yeah after her soak I checked her for that and theres definitely an infestation in the flock which explains the feather loss. Could that affect her enlarged abdomen though?

 

[chkncrazy]

Yeah after her soak I checked her for that and theres definitely an infestation in the flock which explains the feather loss. Could that affect her enlarged abdomen though?

don't know if you ever resolve this problem but they seem like two different issues, I hope it has resolved itself but definitely treat the lice with water belly or egg binding or internal Lang there's not much anyone can do there's lots of home remedies but for me wasn't worth all the work.... Good luck to you in the future and hope the problem has cleared up.