Help! The area directly beneath the opening of her vent looks swollen.

[Luckybaby]

Yesterday, I noticed that my golden laced bantam cochin, have a swollen area directly under the opening of her vent. The swollen area is larger today, but the area under the left and right side of her vent opening, is not swollen yet. There are no other signs, that something is wrong with her. She still walks normally, breath normally, still eats a lot of feed,her wattles are red, and drinks normally. Her poop looks normal too. Last week Saturday I saw scattered yellow colored yolk on their roost, and 1 egg with few pimples(the egg is not stained with egg yolk) at about 8pm. One or two hens, laid an egg on 8pm. The scattered yellow colored yolk, doesn't appear to have any poop in it, so I assume, that someone laid a shell less egg, and they peck on it, in an attempt to eat it, and it burst. Note, that I rarely find shell less egg, and I strongly believed that a shell less egg, was laid, since I also saw sticky clear colored substance on the sand, which might indicate that some fell down, while they are eating the white thin stuff that covers the whole egg, on a shell less egg. I checked her vent at around 8pm on that day, and I didn't see any part of an egg yolk around her vent. She is 1 year and 1.5 month old. She started laying egg at about 6 month of age. Some of my hens stopped laying eggs, since last month, and I am not sure, if she also stopped laying eggs. I control the amount of feed that they eat, but I think I gave them more than enough. Their feed contains 16% protein, and 3.25-4.25% calcium, while the other feed that I am giving primarily for the roosters contains 20% protein and 0.8-1.25% calcium. When I try to feel the swollen area, it feels like there is liquid inside.

She is lives in a pen(way bigger in area than the required minimum) along with my other chickens, and they can do things in there as if they are free range chickens.

* The egg is actually a soft shelled egg. I have never seen my chickens lay shell less egg.

 

[emmaie892000]

It's possibly she has fly eggs in there (fly strike). You'll know very soon, if they hatch into maggots. If they do so, there are lots of threads that can help you with cleaning and treating the area.
If you don't think its fly strike, how does the area feel? Does it feel fluid filled, solid, etc? I could possibly be a stuck egg, but you'd most likely feel a lump on the front of her abdomen in that scenario.

 

[fluffykitty12]

cold also be asceties, a buildup of fluid in the abdomen. You can google it- I generally treat by draining the fluid through an 18 gague needle with a syringe.

 

[Luckybaby]

Is the syringe with needle, luer lock? Is it possible to feel an egg, if it is inside the chicken's uterus? Maybe that is the reason why it became bigger, since I feel like there is an egg in there today, but I didn't feel it 2 days or maybe 1 day ago.

Why should I use 18 gauge instead of higher number gauge?

Everything else is normal, and she ate a lot today. Her crop is almost at maximum capacity.

 

[PrudentPrepper]

Sounds like some sort of infection. I'd definitely lance and drain if it feels like it is fluid in there. The needle is probably your best bet. Vents do a lot of work - passing eggs and feces/urine - and an infection could easily gain a foothold in this area.

 

[Luckybaby]

I don't think that I felt an egg in there, since the same hard part that I felt on my other hens without swollen abdomen is present.

It seems that her abdomen didn't noticeably grow bigger today and yesterday. It is obvious that the size is abnormal, but it is considerably smaller than the photos of ascites that I saw on the internet. Maybe the size is about 3/4 to 1 inch(radius) larger than normal. How to know for sure that it is ascites or abscess, without using veterinary equipment.

Do you guys know how to properly insert the needle on her for drainage? I don't want to damage the small or large intestines, since that might cause a major infection if the area is contaminated with feces.