Internal Laying?

[5lovelyhens]

My hen is acting, happy, and normal. She runs up to the fence when I come out and digs around with her sisters all day. She's about 1 1/2 years old. I wouldn't suspect anything was wrong with her, but she's gone in the nesting box 2 times in the past 3 days and hasn't layed. 1 month ago she pooped egg white, and acted sick, but the vet gave her a shot and I took her inside and she got better and continued laying. In the mornings she still occasionally acts a little slow, but she's pretty normal the rest of the day.
It's been brought to my attention that she may have internal laying. I'm new to the whole chicken thing so I have some questions about internal laying:
Can they lay eggs, or is that the problem?
How can I prolong her life if that was the problem? I've heard about people who kept them alive for months by keeping them warm. Would that work?
Do they start actually acting sick when they are nearing their death from internal laying?

Does this sound like internal laying? Also, I felt her belly and I don't think I feel any eggs. I also felt her crop in the morning and it felt like my other 3 girls.

 

[Eggcessive]

She also may be taking a break from laying. I have hens who do that sort of thing occasionally, sitting in the nest and coming out without laying. As I said in your other thread, it could be a problem or not. Reading about these problems is very educational since most of us experience it at least once with hatchery chickens. You may want to read some threads by Speckledhen who has a lot of experience with internal layers. Here are 2 shortcuts to reading many threads about internal laying and egg yolk peritonitis:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/newsearch?search=internal+laying+
https://www.backyardchickens.com/newsearch?search=egg+yolk+peritonitis

 

[5lovelyhens]

Okay, thank you! I really hope she is just taking a break. I took her to the vet on December 19th when she pooed egg white and he said she was done laying for the season, but she layed like 6 eggs after that. Just one more quick question. If she was nearing death from internal laying or egg yolk peritonitis, would she be acting sick (depressed, not eating or moving much, etc.) ?

 

[5lovelyhens]

Can they poop when they are internally laying? If so, does it look different?

 

[SuperChickRuth]

I'm wondering about that too. We've got one girl who has a really swollen abdomen, and is getting over sour crop. I'm concerned about egg yolk peritonitis, but she's not acting depressed. She is doing the penguin walk, but you can't feel any eggs. -And she is going to the bathroom.

Has anyone had any experience with this sort of thing?

 

[Eggcessive]

Can they poop when they are internally laying? If so, does it look different?

Yes they will have different color poops and sometimes will be loose and watery, while sometimes may be egg yolk material if laying internally. A bright yellow dropping is sometimes a sign of E.coli infection, which is typical in egg peritonitis. Here are some pictures of poops from chickens with probable EYP:

 

[5lovelyhens]

Here's an update on her behavior as well as a picture of her droppings:

She hasn't been back in the nesting box, and she's digging around and eating. She's acting completely fine, and not sitting in the nesting box at all anymore. Here's a picture of her droppings:

. Does this look bad?

 

[5lovelyhens]

It looks a little more brown in person

 

[5lovelyhens]

I'm wondering about that too.  We've got one girl who has a really swollen abdomen, and is getting over sour crop.  I'm concerned about [COLOR=333333]egg yolk peritonitis, but she's not acting depressed.  She is doing the penguin walk, but you can't feel any eggs.  -And she is going to the bathroom.[/COLOR]

I'm not sure what it is, but I hope you figure it out

[COLOR=333333]​Has anyone had any experience with this sort of thing?  [/COLOR]

 

[Eggcessive]

Here's an update on her behavior as well as a picture of her droppings:

She hasn't been back in the nesting box, and she's digging around and eating. She's acting completely fine, and not sitting in the nesting box at all anymore. Here's a picture of her droppings: . Does this look bad?

It looks a little more brown in person

If it is browner than the picture, it looks pretty normal.