I had a year old RIR hen that I had thought was egg bound. Her abdomen was very swollen and she wasn't eating, causing her to lose weight drastically. I had soaked her in very warm water twice, which she seemed to enjoy very much, but it didn't help. I could not feel an egg close to her vent, so today I decided I had to put her down. Afterwards I did a necropsy and found she had some sort of intestinal blockage. She had in her abdomen a very large mass. There was no grass or grain or pellets in it, it was a tan color and had a firm and dense texture (similar to cooked liver). It was about 3 cups in amount. I broke the mass apart to see if there was any undigested food or anything else in it and there wasn't. Has anyone else ever had an issue like this? I just hated to put her down, but she was not getting any better no matter what I did. Now I know that only surgery could have helped her. I feed my hens layer pellets and let them free range most of the day. On my days off I will throw them a couple of handfuls of scratch or BOSS. I discovered this problem by checking the girls on the roost at night. I will go in and feel their crops and check their body condition. I first noticed her crop would be almost empty at night. I started watching her during the day and noticed she was not as lively as the other girls. Then when I realized her abdomen was swollen, I thought she must be egg bound. Is there some treatment I could have tried?
