- Feb 3, 2010
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- 0
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First, I want to say that there is so much terrific information on this board, thank you all. I've had chickens my whole life, and it's nice to see others passionate about chickens!
I came back from holiday to find my two-year-old Aracauna, Roxie, hunkered down on the floor of the coop. My batty housesitter had left their coop door open about 4 inches, and it froze open for about a week, and it was about -35F for that week. There are lots of heat lamps that the rest of the chickens were under, but Roxie was on the fringe, puffed up and pale. I talked to the housesitter, only to discover they weren't being watered but once a day, and that the water would freeze in an hour, and that she only fed grain, and a bit of pellet, and no kitchen scraps.
Roxie has always been- huge. She has never laid, and in my ignorance, I figured she was sterile or something. She's always had a very big, heavy looking abdomen, but she is extremely vigorous (except a B12 deficiency in her chickhood), and hasn't had any problems other than being the size of a dinosaur.
I brought her inside, fed and watered her. I cleaned her up and looked at her, and her feet were extremely swollen (NOT frostbitten though!) and curled under her. She was walking on her hocks, and had a sore on her keel from doing it. All her feathers were puffed out, and her comb was gray. I checked her vent, and it didn't seem like anything was amiss. It was when I started reading about internal layers that I noticed her abdomen was spongy and swollen- but then again it always has been.
She's very alert, but can't get around. In the last week, she's had all the vitamins I can give, good food (thanks for all the recipes) and water. She has perked up, and hobbled around a bit today, and has more colour in her comb than last week. But other than that, no marked improvement. She eats well, guzzles water, and poops prolifically. Her poop started out green balls, but has more white in it now, but it's almost completely water it seems.
Then today, she passed what I first took to be a lump of cheese. I was shocked to actually find someone else that has no idea (but pictures!) of these...things...
http://www.browneggblueegg.com/Article/WeirdEggs/WeirdEggs.html
It is at the bottom of the post, the butter-yellow looking egg-thing. It almost looks like an ovarian follicle, but it's about an inch long, and she passed two smaller ones. I cut them open, and it had the consistency of a hot dog, with a white interior, and an 1/8 inch thick, yellow 'shell'.
What in the name of God is it? Does anyone know? I 'investigated' Roxie's vent, and didn't feel anything . Thoughts?
I came back from holiday to find my two-year-old Aracauna, Roxie, hunkered down on the floor of the coop. My batty housesitter had left their coop door open about 4 inches, and it froze open for about a week, and it was about -35F for that week. There are lots of heat lamps that the rest of the chickens were under, but Roxie was on the fringe, puffed up and pale. I talked to the housesitter, only to discover they weren't being watered but once a day, and that the water would freeze in an hour, and that she only fed grain, and a bit of pellet, and no kitchen scraps.
Roxie has always been- huge. She has never laid, and in my ignorance, I figured she was sterile or something. She's always had a very big, heavy looking abdomen, but she is extremely vigorous (except a B12 deficiency in her chickhood), and hasn't had any problems other than being the size of a dinosaur.
I brought her inside, fed and watered her. I cleaned her up and looked at her, and her feet were extremely swollen (NOT frostbitten though!) and curled under her. She was walking on her hocks, and had a sore on her keel from doing it. All her feathers were puffed out, and her comb was gray. I checked her vent, and it didn't seem like anything was amiss. It was when I started reading about internal layers that I noticed her abdomen was spongy and swollen- but then again it always has been.
She's very alert, but can't get around. In the last week, she's had all the vitamins I can give, good food (thanks for all the recipes) and water. She has perked up, and hobbled around a bit today, and has more colour in her comb than last week. But other than that, no marked improvement. She eats well, guzzles water, and poops prolifically. Her poop started out green balls, but has more white in it now, but it's almost completely water it seems.
Then today, she passed what I first took to be a lump of cheese. I was shocked to actually find someone else that has no idea (but pictures!) of these...things...
http://www.browneggblueegg.com/Article/WeirdEggs/WeirdEggs.html
It is at the bottom of the post, the butter-yellow looking egg-thing. It almost looks like an ovarian follicle, but it's about an inch long, and she passed two smaller ones. I cut them open, and it had the consistency of a hot dog, with a white interior, and an 1/8 inch thick, yellow 'shell'.
What in the name of God is it? Does anyone know? I 'investigated' Roxie's vent, and didn't feel anything . Thoughts?
