Killed old laying hen big yellow bulge inside of gut cavity?

[thoeffel1994]

Killed old laying hen and it had a big yellow bulge inside of gut cavity? Any clue what this was from? Perhapd this was why she stopped laying? Any clue?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Pictures?
Where in the body cavity was it?
Could it be fat?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Before any hen starts to lay she builds up excess fat so she has a reserve to live on if she happens to go broody. That fat is kind of scattered all over but she builds what is called a fat pad right in the pelvic area. How much fat is in that fat pad varies from hen to hen but with some it can be huge. It’s where most of that excess “broody” fat is stored. I’ve seen some that I didn’t see how she got the egg through but these are normally my better layers.

If what you saw was fat then I’m confident this is what you are looking at. It is not the cause of her not laying.

 

[thoeffel1994]

Looked baseball size. Location- if breast is facing up go to abdomen where the bone cones to a point (i think its called the keel or something?) I made a cute right underneath the point to make the hole where i pull all the guts out and there it was giant yellow blob

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Likely fat.
Does it look like the pictures in post #15 on this page?
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/934156/can-you-overfeed-chickens/10

 

[Ridgerunner]

To me it sounds like a fat pad. I’ve had some a lot larger than baseball sized.

Have you butchered other older hens before or is this the first one? If they are not laying the fat pad is usually not that big but if a hen is laying it can be huge.

 

[thoeffel1994]

Nope first time. I have two more to do as well