Hen with swollen behind: Eggboud?

[Gtown Farmer]

Hello all,

Yesterday I noticed one of my Araucana hen's egg sack seemed to be drooping a little. she was still running around with the rest so I figured I'd wait a day to see if whatever it was passed. Today it was the same. She's still eating and roosting and not sticking too close to home as they sometimes do when they're feeling down. She also starting molting a few days ago and I thought that perhaps she had lost the feathers around the bottom of her tail and that could be what was making the egg sack seem droopy. This evening I caught her while she was on the roost and she definitely has something in there. It feels like an egg. She hasn't laid an egg in over a week. I assumed that was part of the molt. I think she may be egg bound so I'm going to do the warm bath and lubricate with Vaseline. She's in the dining room now where she'll stay overnight.

Could this simply be something to do with molting? Can anyone offer advice on some other options? I like this hen. She's not very friendly but she's pretty and produces spotted dark green eggs.

 

[CMV]

A warm bath and a lube job won't kill her and may even help her out. Egg-laying gets weird around molt. I have had hens start laying soft-shelled eggs, laying double yolkers with no previous history of such, stop laying completely for months on end, lay eggs that belong in a Dali painting, and some are absolutely fine with no change at all. I have decided that when molt comes around all bets are off and you get what you get in regards to egg-laying.

I hope you can help her out. Good luck.

 

[Gtown Farmer]

Thanks. Have you (or anyone here) ever seen had situations where the hens abdomen and sack gets swollen around molt time?

Thanks folks.