My daughter said that one of her hens was acting "weird" last week... When I went to check on her she seemed ok - maybe a little off but nothing that was really noticeable. Then she said that every day she went out to feed/water that this hen was sitting on the nest - She was sitting on other hens eggs and we figured out Friday that she hadn't laid in a while (8-ish days)... So yesterday I had my daughter pick her up so I could check her out (I am NOT a chicken expert so I had no idea what I was looking for - just hoping that something obvious would pop out at me). I noticed immediately that she had lost weight - and when I was feeling around on her body it felt very much like there was a hard lump close to the vent area... well, the part of the lump facing toward the vent felt like an egg and then the part that would have been "pointing" in the other direction felt ragged - like a broken egg... So we called the vet and made an appt for that afternoon.
She had been eating and drinking when my daughter took her off the nest each day to collect the eggs - so I know she was getting some food/water - but unless she was taken off the nest it didn't seem she was doing this on her own.
When we got to the vet they checked her over - commented on her weight being low - then tried to feel if she was egg bound. When the bird was turned over the "lump" that I thought I felt didn't seem to be there (is there another anatomical structure that might feel the way I described in the area that I felt it?). The vet then did check internally to see if there was an egg and that verified that there wasn't. They gave her some IV fluids, told us to seperate her and monitor that she's eating/drinking...
Does this sound like something that anyone recognizes? The vet was honest in saying that she had no idea what it was - but that there wasn't an egg stuck in her - so it wasn't that! We did check her pen and didn't see anything that looked like an egg or egg parts that she may have passed between when we checked her and when we got her to the vet.
I'd love to hear ANY ideas you might have - this is my daughter's pet and she's pretty upset about it.
Thanks,
Christall
She had been eating and drinking when my daughter took her off the nest each day to collect the eggs - so I know she was getting some food/water - but unless she was taken off the nest it didn't seem she was doing this on her own.
When we got to the vet they checked her over - commented on her weight being low - then tried to feel if she was egg bound. When the bird was turned over the "lump" that I thought I felt didn't seem to be there (is there another anatomical structure that might feel the way I described in the area that I felt it?). The vet then did check internally to see if there was an egg and that verified that there wasn't. They gave her some IV fluids, told us to seperate her and monitor that she's eating/drinking...
Does this sound like something that anyone recognizes? The vet was honest in saying that she had no idea what it was - but that there wasn't an egg stuck in her - so it wasn't that! We did check her pen and didn't see anything that looked like an egg or egg parts that she may have passed between when we checked her and when we got her to the vet.
I'd love to hear ANY ideas you might have - this is my daughter's pet and she's pretty upset about it.
Thanks,
Christall
