FAT BOTTOM GIRL OR DROOPY DRAWERS?

[Liz Birdlover]

Want your advice for my
FAT BOTTOM GIRL
DROOPY DRAWER HEN!
My sweet chunky hen is molting so she's not her best self right now...but as I looked her over & pet her, her bottom felt...saggy.
Weird...droopy like a baby's diaper in need of changing!

No wetness, no smell, not hard or firm, not even mushy, just saggy.
Not the entire bottom, just about the size of an orange.
Not at the vent, her vent itself is fine. In fact, looking at her puffy butt, she looks fine, but there's definitely a saggy area.

It is below where the keel ends but above the vent area.
Most hens are taking a break from laying on a daily basis with the shorter days.
Her section, 4 hens, no one has laid an egg this week.
Am I worried about nothing?

She seems fine, her appetite & weight are good, no odors, no gross poop or bad breath. Her comb is pale, but she's molting.

Is this just her egg area, empty since she isn't actively laying? Maybe she's stretched out from a previous big egg?
I hope it's nothing to worry about. What do you think?

 

[azygous]

Read your thread yesterday, but couldn't figure out where on your hen you were talking about. Two areas can become "droopy", and both are a health concern. One is the area just below the vent behind the legs. The other is in the abdominal area just in front of the legs.

Since the thread has remained an orphan, I thought I'd give it a shot and assume you mean the pouch of fat some hens acquire sooner or later, especially if they manage to hog the feeder.

This is true of a one-year old hen I have, a Black Sex-link named Wanda. She does enjoy her food overmuch. She was barely mature when she put on this weight and poop began to accumulate on this "shelf" below her vent. That's one way you will notice a hen putting on this extra weight. Slim hens manage to shoot the poop beyond the butt fluff and stay clean.

Bottom line (pun intended), it's not healthy. But trying to restrict how much a hen eats is about as easy as restricting a teenager that is growing a bit too plump for her own good.

The other area in front of the legs can become droopy due to fluid buildup caused by liver failure. This is serious. No cure. Eventual death sentence.

 

[ackie]

Bottom line (pun intended), it's not healthy. But trying to restrict how much a hen eats is about as easy as restricting a teenager that is growing a bit too plump for her own good.

I noticed today that one of our squirrels is fat, but try telling him to not eat the 625252627 acorns in the yard.

 

[Liz Birdlover]

Read your thread yesterday, but couldn't figure out where on your hen you were talking about. Two areas can become "droopy", and both are a health concern. One is the area just below the vent behind the legs. The other is in the abdominal area just in front of the legs.

Since the thread has remained an orphan, I thought I'd give it a shot and assume you mean the pouch of fat some hens acquire sooner or later, especially if they manage to hog the feeder.

This is true of a one-year old hen I have, a Black Sex-link named Wanda. She does enjoy her food overmuch. She was barely mature when she put on this weight and poop began to accumulate on this "shelf" below her vent. That's one way you will notice a hen putting on this extra weight. Slim hens manage to shoot the poop beyond the butt fluff and stay clean.

Bottom line (pun intended), it's not healthy. But trying to restrict how much a hen eats is about as easy as restricting a teenager that is growing a bit too plump for her own good.

The other area in front of the legs can become droopy due to fluid buildup caused by liver failure. This is serious. No cure. Eventual death sentence.

Thank you for responding...I was beginning to think no one had input because this must be odd LOL.
This girl is older & she has been a chunky gal.
I do feel that this droopy area is slowly diminishing in size, now it feels more like a tangerine.
So, I am still learning, we learn something every day, don't know if it may be the area usually busy laying big eggs, now suddenly not laying due to shorter days, was just used to accommodating an egg and now is just slow to shrink or spring back as fast as a younger hen? That's the only thing that seems to make sense in her case. I don't know.
I mean most living creatures stretch a bit somewhere, to accommodate an egg or fetus...then it takes a bit of time to revert or shrink back. I'm no expert there Lol, but she did lay a monster egg, the last egg she laid last Sun. She's taken an egg laying break now, but so have the majority of my hens. I do not put lights on to encourage eggs, I believe in giving my girls a rest, especially during molt, they've earned it, little sweeties laying daily all spring & summer.

She is molting, I now see her gorgeous new feathers growing in as the pin sheathing flakes off, her comb is not as pale & she not acting like a wimpy, whiner with sensitive pin feathers like last week. I've supplied mealworms, soldier bugs, calcium, vitamins & a mineral peck, so everyone's enjoying those.

I rotate apple cider vinegar, garlic, oregano in water every other day.
I gave her some probiotics, too.

I pick her up & pet her on my lap daily, so I can feel that droopy pouch is shrinking. I will keep an eye on her. She's a sweet hen, no way of knowing how old she is, she was a rescue, looked ancient when I rescued her 2 yrs ago. She didn't even lay eggs for quite awhile. She looks great now, compared to when I 1st got her. I suspect her previous home was not a nice, nurturing one.

 

[azygous]

One explanation for the fatty pouch shrinking is molt. Chickens' appetites generally decrease during molt and many lose weight during this period, regaining appetites and weight toward the finishing of molt.

I had two rescue hens over the years, and they were the sweetest hens. As with dogs rescued from a shelter, I have a feeling that rescue hens also know they've been rescued for a better life.

The "mineral block" you speak of, is it the same as a salt and mineral block for cattle and deer? If so, there is a danger of chickens consuming too much salt. They are especially vulnerable to this and it can cause gout.

 

[Liz Birdlover]

One explanation for the fatty pouch shrinking is molt. Chickens' appetites generally decrease during molt and many lose weight during this period, regaining appetites and weight toward the finishing of molt.

I had two rescue hens over the years, and they were the sweetest hens. As with dogs rescued from a shelter, I have a feeling that rescue hens also know they've been rescued for a better life.

The "mineral block" you speak of, is it the same as a salt and mineral block for cattle and deer? If so, there is a danger of chickens consuming too much salt. They are especially vulnerable to this and it can cause gout.

No they're for chickens, they last a long time, too.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/purina-flock-block-25-lb?cm_vc=-10005

https://zoomed.com/chicken-banquet-mineral-block/

Because I have these mineral pots left over from my Homing Pigeons minerals, I reuse the empty pots for the chickens, when the stuff in their mesh type hanger gets too small to effectively peck at. I have the clay pot filled with their stuff to peck & it's wedged between the wall & landscape stone that the big flock block sits on. This keeps the terracotta pot from getting kicked over & their stuff all over the floor.
So far so good These are the little terracotta pots, useful & cute.

https://globalpigeonsupply.com/products/pick-pots-red

https://foyspetsupplies.com/naturals-pick-pot/