HELP! BO with yolkless slimy egg!!

[Eggcessive]

Many vets have little experience with chickens. Some may be good if they know chickens. Vets are expensive, so make sure to find one who knows about chickens. These conditions are very common in chickens.

 

[WalnutTree]

@Eggcessive Alright. Im just very serious about keeping this particular hen. Are all of these things treatable? I heard if its a hernia only surgery can fix it.

 

[Eggcessive]

Most reproductive disorders and ascites are eventually fatal to hens, unfortunately. I have had some with large lower bellies who lived a couple of years. Most had stopped laying. Hens who develop ascites might be drained occasionally if they develop labored breathing. That is not without risk. When they start having problems where their crop doesn’t empty, it can be because of the pressure inside the abdomen. Unfortunately many of us do not know exactly what is going on, until we can do a necropsy after we lose them. When I lose one, I do a home necropsy. I have found different problems, such as internal laying (salpingitis,) cancer, fatty liver disease, and ascites.

I’m not an expert on any of these, but I found we learn as we go over years with chickens. When we have a hen with broken or soft shelled eggs, we try to give them calcium with vitamin d to help get those shells hard again. A balanced diet of layer feed or all flock feed with crushed oyster shell separate is good. But some need extra calcium when egg shells are soft. If they have broken eggs inside, an antibiotic such as enrofloxacin or amoxicillin can help.

 

[NatJ]

@Paz
I refelt the spot and it almost feels like intestines or some thing ropelike thats kindof softish.
It was fluidish/firmish. She didnt seem hugely discomforted by me feeling it.

Heres pictures
The last picture was from a week ago.

Just to check the obvious-- your other hens don't have a spot that feels like that, do they?

Chickens have some really weird shapes and textures, and I can't count the number of times I or someone else has been worried about something that turned out to be perfectly normal. I've learned to compare with several other chickens before worrying about any physical feature I find on a chicken.

 

[WalnutTree]

@NatJ
I felt one of her sisters of the same breed and she definitely doesnt have the same thing unfortunatly

 

[NatJ]

@NatJ
I felt one of her sisters of the same breed and she definitely doesnt have the same thing unfortunatly

Good thinking but disappointing results
It's always nicer to find that the "problem" is not a problem after all.

 

[Paz]

Looking at the three photos, it looks like the swelling has gone down a big, and from your description of: ”almost feels like intestines inside.” Sounds like a hernia. Ascites doesn’t go away without some sort of treatment, be it draining or “RUTIN” or something else. And the rest of the things I don’t really know, so I can’t help you. Hernias are manageable, make sure she doesn’t eat too much, keep her in the shade so she doesn’t lay too much, and make sure she’s comfortable, she might live for a couple years.