HELP!! Broken egg in vent, and fly eggs on feathers

[Maggpiefarms]

Ugh I hate the thought of losing one of my leading ladies. This is a girl who will do everything in my power to help my animals.
needless to say last night when I went out to take care of everyone my Elsa (my beautiful full buff Orpington) had more than her usual poop butt so I grabbed her and brought her up to the house to give her a good cleaning. While on her walk I noticed that she had a decent sized broken egg hanging from her vent. I will addpictures. I was able to clean her up well. With her pushing and me gently assisting we got the broken egg out her vent seemed to go back to looking a bit more normal. Also while I was down there cleaning Inoticed there was one pesky fly that was attacking us and every time it landed it left new eggs on her feathers. I removed all the eggs that I say and did remove one of the feathers that was really spoiled and had eggs so she doesn’t end up with full blown flystike.
after I had cleaned her up my children needed to go to bed so I put her down and she seemed off balance. I am not sure if that was because of the way I was carrying her. (Kinda like a baby) because Ididnt want to put any pressure on a potentially sore abdomen. But I did feel higher up in the left side of her abdomen what feels like an egg. I know that they are in a constant state of egg production so maybe that is what I felt. She was able to regain her balance and while I was inside she had left her confinement and waddled back to everyone else in the main coop. I found her on the roosting bar later and brought her back to the house for an epsom salt soaking. We soaked for about 10min until a child inturrupted , after coming back out to close up the coop for the night she was in her usual spot of the roosting bar.
My husband ran out to pick up some more DE to add to the dust bathing area. And some serious fly traps. We also have ducks and I think their stink and the open water attracts more than your usual number of flys.
In April we added 8 new chicks to theflock so when we integrated everyone together in June we switched everyone over to starter feed and made sure oyster shells were available. I just want opinions. What should I do from here?
I am about to head out this morning and let everyone free for the day. We havehad a particularly stressful last week here in CT with that hurricane that passed through. We had about 9 trees topple down and our yard is an absolute disaster.

 

[Dottie the Chicken]

Do they have oyster (calcium) shells available in their house or run? How is she doing this morning? Try to keep her cleaned up. You could stick your finger into her vent a little bit, and see if you feel an egg. If so, or if you just want to be careful in case she does and you just can't feel it, you can soak her bum in some warm water. Try to keep her somewhere somewhat dark and quiet. Do you have a dog kennel you could put her in if necessary?

@aart @Eggcessive @Wyorp Rock

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I would probably clean her up again this morning and make sure there's no more fly eggs - good for you for noticing that! Monitor the fly situation for sure.

She's got a saggy bottom, so she may be starting to have some reproductive issues.
Do you think any of the contents of the egg spilled out in her oviduct? This can make them feel bad and potentially cause infection as well. Up to you whether you think she may need a round of antibiotics to help with infection. Amoxicillin is what I would use.

 

[Maggpiefarms]

So yes oyster shell is available in the run. They have full access to the run at all times. It’s connected to the coop from a walkway.
she is acting normal this morning. Her bum looks a lot less angry. I will soak her again this morning. He abdomen is a lot more soft this morning also.
She was a tractor supply 0.25$ special but the sweetest special ever.
I am not sure about the egg in her oviduct. What should I look for?

 

[Chicalina]

Does that full area below her vent feel like a bag of water hanging down? If so, google ascites.

Eggs getting stuck/broken and poop getting caught on the bulge is a good sign of that.

 

[Maggpiefarms]

Does that full area below her vent feel like a bag of water hanging down? If so, google ascites.

Eggs getting stuck/broken and poop getting caught on the bulge is a good sign of that.

Ok. She is currently in the woods resting amount the rest of the family. Lol. As soon As she ventures back over I will take another feel. I didn’t think it felt that way this morning. It was more firm and much less angry. After I can get my hands on her again I will take some pictures of her bottom to get some additional opinions.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

So yes oyster shell is available in the run. They have full access to the run at all times. It’s connected to the coop from a walkway.
she is acting normal this morning. Her bum looks a lot less angry. I will soak her again this morning. He abdomen is a lot more soft this morning also.
She was a tractor supply 0.25$ special but the sweetest special ever.
I am not sure about the egg in her oviduct. What should I look for?

I usually try to go by behavior, they can seem to feel bad for a couple of days after a soft shelled egg. If she still seems droopy, then she may be having trouble with another egg or beginning of infection. I would keep check on the fly issue too.

 

[Maggpiefarms]

I think you might be right. Def di

Ok. She is currently in the woods resting amount the rest of the family. Lol. As soon As she ventures back over I will take another feel. I didn’t think it felt that way this morning. It was more firm and much less angry. After I can get my hands on her again I will take some pictures of her bottom to get some additional opinions.

Ok so I def think she has some fluid in there. She is acting okay. Her abdomen is softly distended. Def feels like there may be fluid in there. No evidence of any more fly eggs thank goodness. Fairly certain she payed an egg this morning bc she lays very light colored eggs compared to my other BO. She enjoyed her episode salt bath. More than I though. I will add additional pictures for opinions.

 

[Chicalina]

that really looks like ascites to me.

I had a hen that lived for several years with it. I had to drain it every now and then with a sterile syringe. Full of liquid. No infection. But it meant she pooped on it when it got big and then had a manky butt which crusted into her feathers. She wasnt a fan of butt dunking either to clean it up!

 

[Chicalina]

Best to trim her feathers in that area to reduce the poop build up that gets stuck in her feathers