Hen in distress please help

[Mtnchickens]

One of my hens has her tail feathers spread in a fan shape like a turkey's tail feathers all the time. She won't stop clucking. In the past two days she has made clucking noises that I have never heard before. They were loud and piercing over a period of time. We thought she was in trouble and found her on a nest of eggs soundeding like chicken screaming. Her vent pulses open and closed in rhythm with her clucking. She appears to be in distress. Chirper (her name) is more than willing to tell you she is upset with you which is frequent but this is more than normal. Her vent rythmically opens and closes with her clucking. I am concerned she is egg bound but I don't know. I followed what I read in my chicken care book and put my finger in the vent and tried to push out the egg but I cannot reach the egg externally as it is at her rib cage level. Her egg does not feel very large. She was attacked about two months ago and has no feathers on her underside and her skin is bright red. She seems to have her normal level of energy. She is pooping normally except that it is gathering on her feathers. Her vent itself does not seem to be inflamed but the skin about 1/2 inch away is. We have no local vets who know anything about birds so please advise. My kids love her very much.

 

[Kim95037]

Are you sure shes egg bound?? Its pretty normal for a vent to pulse open and close when they chirp. Sometimes if you put the chickens bottom in some warm water and soak her for a little while, and gently rub her abdomen you can help her get the egg out. Check out these threads.....

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/639665/egg-bound

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/638868/egg-bound

 

[Kim95037]

Heres a bunch more threads on egg bound chickens, hope you can help her!!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/se...or+egg++bound+chicken&currenttab=All&start=10

 

[Mtnchickens]

Thank you, I am going to try a warm bath. I appreciate your help and I hope I can help her too.

 

[Mtnchickens]

I am not sure she is egg bound. I don't know what is going on. I have never experienced this before. All of her feathers remained ruffled and the tail feathers spread like a Turkeys with the vent exposed and pointed upward. She was chirping in the coop after the rest of the hens were asleep for two hours. She calmed down in the warm water and is sitting calmly in my arms tight now. Is there something more I should be doing or looking for. We lost two hens from an attack about a month ago and I am not wanting to loose another.

 

[Fly 2006]

Are you sure shes not just broody? She will make a lot of noise and be annoyed at being disturbed, I would put some sudocrem or other cream or spray on her inflamed skin to try and settle that, it is probably just because she is sitting for so long, make sure she is eating and drinking and keep removing her from the nest box, keep her clean or she could get fly strike, hope this is all it is and nothing more sinister X

 

[TeamChaos]

Might sound goofy, but if you found her sitting on a clutch of eggs and she's acting like a mad turkey, she sounds broody to me.

 

[TeamChaos]

Also, if she is broody- she'll pluck whatever belly and chest feathers she has to line her nest with.. and if I understand correctly, those feathers might not grow back until her next molt.

 

[Mtnchickens]

So if she is broody will she go around as a mad Turkey even when she is not on the nest? As far as I know she wasn't on the nest the majority of today. It seems quite possible she is broody. As I was drying her there are no feathers on her chest and belly and it is very inflamed. The warm bath worked very well at calming her down. It is the most calm I have ever seen her. She has quite the grumpy and talkative personality maybe if she is broody she just took it up a huge notch. I do hope that is all it is. My hens just keep on teaching me and I feel I have much to learn. Thank you all for your help. I will keep you posted. I have come to this site for several years to gather information, and this is the first I have posted. How wonderful to have a resource of people who love their hens. But then, what is there not to love?

 

[Mtnchickens]

One more question. If she is just broody would her abdomen be swollen? It is much larger (about 2 1/2 times the size) and softer than any of her peers.