How can I tell if my hen is eggbound?

[Red Raider Ranch]

Found the culprit. My one Production Red named Reba.

 

[Red Raider Ranch]

Is it ok to keep her in a cage in the coop? Or keep her separated from the flock? I am going to try and get her or her feces to the vet tomorrow.

 

[aart]

Is it ok to keep her in a cage in the coop?

Sure, that's the best place for her.
If she is ill, they've already been exposed to it.

Check her crop tonite just after dark, then again in the morning to see if it's emptied.

 

[rebrascora]

If the bird you have caged, is doing the occasional frothy poop, but otherwise looks OK, I would not be taking her to the vets. I've often had spells where birds had frothy yellow poop and it settled down again without treatment. I would be more concerned about Glory spending so much time on the roost through the day. I'm not saying don't take a faecal sample in for testing, but if they insist on seeing the bird, I would suggest you send the sample off to an independent lab or try a different vets. I think there are labs in the USA that do mail order poop analysis.... there certainly are here in the UK and cheaper than the vets.
Of course, if she is acting sick and producing frothy poops then of course seek veterinary advice, but if you start taking them to the vets every time one of your girls has an unusual poop, you may run out of money fast!..... Just don't want you to throw money away unnecessarily on a veterinary appointment. Here in the UK a faecal worm egg count is about £12 at a lab and you usually get next day results.

 

[biophiliac]

What about Glory? Is she fine now?

 

[Red Raider Ranch]

Thanks for the info. I'll keep her in the cage toonight and monitor her. Not sure of any mail order poop checkers. Glory seems fine, she still hangs out inside. I renovated the coop this morning and built the nesting boxes on the outside of the coop. I'll see in a few days if she lays.

 

[Ravynscroft]

Thanks for the info. I'll keep her in the cage toonight and monitor her. Not sure of any mail order poop checkers. Glory seems fine, she still hangs out inside. I renovated the coop this morning and built the nesting boxes on the outside of the coop. I'll see in a few days if she lays.

Ask @casportpony she probably has links to labs that you can send the fecal sample off to...

 

[Red Raider Ranch]

Ok, so this is weird. I put each bird in the cage separately until they did their business so I could find out who it was. Well, I just checked on her and her poop is normal now. Is it possible to have diarrhea at one point and then go back to normal and then diarrhea again?

 

[aart]

Is it possible to have diarrhea at one point and then go back to normal and then diarrhea again?

What she had was not really diarrhea.....it was called a foamy cecal.
Cecal poops happen a few times day, they are usually tarry, shiny, sticky and very stinky. Sometime they can be foamy, occasionally is fine, constantly foamy could be a problem and a fecal test is in order.



Good visual references for all kinds of poops,
just do not jump to any terrible conclusions too quickly:

http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/02/whats-scoop-on-chicken-poop-digestive.html

http://chat.allotment-garden.org/?topic=17568.0

 

[Red Raider Ranch]

Well according to the pictures, her cecal looks normal. I will still keep her separated until I can find a place to send a sample out to. Oh the joys of raising. Im getting worked up over every little thing. Like having 13 new puppies lol.