Hen With Hard Large Abdomen!!!

[seminolewind]

My 5 year old Jersey hen has been a bit sluggish today but e ating well. I examined her and she has a swollen hard area like a baseball behind her legs underneath. It's tender. What do I do first? I'm at a loss, she's real special.

 

[seminolewind]

With a swollen hard abdomen like that, it looks like internal laying, I guess. I wonder how I can make her comfortable.

 

[twoscrambled]

Seems like a warm bath, soaking, would be a good place to start. Maybe you could see what you were dealing with a little better then. Wish I could help you more, I know it's hard when you're not sure what to do

 

[seminolewind]

Thanks, Twoscrambled. I went out to check on her and she's on the roost with the others. I guess I'll pick her up tomorrow and take a better look.

 

[seminolewind]

She acts normal. Coming for treats, eating. Her comb is nicely red. I guess I'll keep watching.

 

[seminolewind]

Tonight it's about the size of a softball and still hard. But she is acting pretty normal so far.

 

[Michael Apple]

If the hen is egg bound, try to get your hands on some Metacam. Metacam is a canine anti-inflammatory which causes contractions in hens to release the egg. A vet showed me this with an egg bound hen I had once. 1 cc down the throat of a 6 lb hen did it in about a half hour. I hope that is the case rather than an oviduct cyst or tumor. Two years ago I was nursing a sick hen to find out later from a necropsy that she had oviduct cancer. Some folks use mineral oil in an enema to help the hen pass the egg.

 

[gallusdomesticus]

She could be an internal layer or egg bound or have a blocked oviduct. I had a hen with similar symptoms that I had a vet diagnose as a blocked oviduct. The surgery was successful...her oviduct was full of egg yolks that had hardened. Hope she's just egg bound.

 

[seminolewind]

I do think she's an internal layer or has a blocked oviduct. Can you tell me some more about surgery?

 

[welasharon]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...ences-on-egg-reproduction-production-necropsy
best info I know is gathered here