- Jan 4, 2015
- 34
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Hello BYC,
I have an ailing hen with egg-bound / internal laying / mild ascites symptoms. I've attached images at the bottom. I'm worried this might be urgent as I've lost a hen to EYP earlier this year. Hoping someone here can weigh in!
Summary / what I've done for treatment so far:
- Weak hen getting more lethargic over past few days, very weak yesterday / today
- Treated for bumblefoot yesterday with ES foot soak + foot wrap
- Treated today with entire body bath after spotting yolk in droppings
- Inspected and noticed some swelling (resembling ascites)
- Within 30 min of bath / towel off, hen dropped a shell-less egg resembling a cooked yolk (see images below)
Full details:
For the past few days I've noticed one of my hens acting a bit lethargic. At first I chalked it up to molting—all of our hens seem a bit under the weather and are shedding like mad.
Yesterday, this particular hen seemed exceptionally weak. Usually one to spring for treats, she shied away from them even when I placed them next to her. I picked her up after dark to inspect.
First thing I noticed was that she had the bumblefoot scab, so I soaked her in epsom salt right there for ~30min and wrapped her foot up with some Neosporin. I figured that might have been what was causing her lethargy. I placed her back with the other hens on her perch.
The next morning, her comb lost much of its saturation. She ate and drank a bit, but something was clearly off. I figured she just needed some time to recover so I let her be.
Fast forward ~9 hrs, I decided to see if she might be egg bound. I couldn't feel an egg stuck past her vent, but noticed some runny poo with a bit of "yolkiness" to it.
The most alarming aspect of this was that I noticed some swelling in her abdomen resembling ascites, but the extent of this swelling seems limited.
As I had done with past hens, I immediately got a warm basin of water with dissolved epsom salt and soaked her for ~20 min. After toweling off, I placed her in a cardboard box with a dry bed to let her sleep indoors.
In the time it took to clean up the bath area / prep her food and water (another ~20 min), she laid a shell-less egg. The egg is without a shell but looks like it has a shriveled membrane attached. I've seen shell-less eggs drop before from other hens, but this one was a solid mass of yolk, as if cooked.
See images below.
I've lost a precious hen to EYP earlier this year so I've been vigilant. Even then, this hen didn't have the "penguin" stance and when she did run, didn't have a limp or strange gait. Nothing really suggested egg-bound / internal laying until today.
Solid mass dropped resembling cooked yolk w/ membrane
Top down angle of above
Pic of hen roosting just moments before I picked her up for ES bath
I have an ailing hen with egg-bound / internal laying / mild ascites symptoms. I've attached images at the bottom. I'm worried this might be urgent as I've lost a hen to EYP earlier this year. Hoping someone here can weigh in!
Summary / what I've done for treatment so far:
- Weak hen getting more lethargic over past few days, very weak yesterday / today
- Treated for bumblefoot yesterday with ES foot soak + foot wrap
- Treated today with entire body bath after spotting yolk in droppings
- Inspected and noticed some swelling (resembling ascites)
- Within 30 min of bath / towel off, hen dropped a shell-less egg resembling a cooked yolk (see images below)
Full details:
For the past few days I've noticed one of my hens acting a bit lethargic. At first I chalked it up to molting—all of our hens seem a bit under the weather and are shedding like mad.
Yesterday, this particular hen seemed exceptionally weak. Usually one to spring for treats, she shied away from them even when I placed them next to her. I picked her up after dark to inspect.
First thing I noticed was that she had the bumblefoot scab, so I soaked her in epsom salt right there for ~30min and wrapped her foot up with some Neosporin. I figured that might have been what was causing her lethargy. I placed her back with the other hens on her perch.
The next morning, her comb lost much of its saturation. She ate and drank a bit, but something was clearly off. I figured she just needed some time to recover so I let her be.
Fast forward ~9 hrs, I decided to see if she might be egg bound. I couldn't feel an egg stuck past her vent, but noticed some runny poo with a bit of "yolkiness" to it.
The most alarming aspect of this was that I noticed some swelling in her abdomen resembling ascites, but the extent of this swelling seems limited.
As I had done with past hens, I immediately got a warm basin of water with dissolved epsom salt and soaked her for ~20 min. After toweling off, I placed her in a cardboard box with a dry bed to let her sleep indoors.
In the time it took to clean up the bath area / prep her food and water (another ~20 min), she laid a shell-less egg. The egg is without a shell but looks like it has a shriveled membrane attached. I've seen shell-less eggs drop before from other hens, but this one was a solid mass of yolk, as if cooked.
See images below.
I've lost a precious hen to EYP earlier this year so I've been vigilant. Even then, this hen didn't have the "penguin" stance and when she did run, didn't have a limp or strange gait. Nothing really suggested egg-bound / internal laying until today.
Solid mass dropped resembling cooked yolk w/ membrane
Top down angle of above
Pic of hen roosting just moments before I picked her up for ES bath
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