Long term egg bound, I think 🤔

[Momsrgr8]

Hello y'all,
I'm new here.
And I have a girl who seems to be egg bound for awhile. I was told she shouldn't be alive if she is. She looked like a penguin for quite some time before I found out why. So I looked it up and I brought her inside. I did the soak and other stuff but I can't remember... I put her back in the paper lined crate. When I checked on her, she had expelled a lot of blood, but no egg. I have a pic somewhere. Anyway, she eventually went back outside. Never laid eggs. Then she started following me as a free range. Her crop was full and hard so I brought her inside again. Two years after the first time! When I picked her up, she was not right. I think she is still egg bound and it is stuck and encapsulated. It seems to be the size of a and small orange. Now what?? She never showed signs of pain all this time but she has a messy butt. Maybe that's why her crop was full and hard? She's got to be uncomfortable and that's why she doesn't roost. What would y'all do??

 

[coach723]

If she were egg bound she would already be dead. When a bird is truly egg bound they cannot pass droppings either, they don't live long that way. It's much more likely that she has some kind of reproductive problem. The mass you feel could be infectious material from a condition called salpingitis, or from internal laying, or could be a cancerous mass or tumor. They are incredibly good at hiding symptoms, it's survival instinct for them, so often things are advanced before we are aware. Reproductive problems can also slow or stop digestion which can show up as crop issues. It can also cause messy butts since it can make it hard for them to push droppings out. What happened two years ago could have been the start of it, or could have been something else, hard to say. Sometimes with vet care and imaging they can give you a clue what's going on, but sometimes even then it's not for sure. Most of the conditions don't really have good or successful treatment options. Antibiotics can sometimes maybe buy them some time, but it's usually not a cure, especially if it's been going on for a while. In my flock I just leave them be until they are obviously unwell, go off food and water, isolate themselves or get attacked by flockmates. Then I euthanize rather than let them suffer. Often the real answer isn't known until necropsy as symptoms can be very similar between a lot of the possible causes.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Welcome to BYC, @Momsrgr8. Sorry your chicken is having problems. I wish her well.

 

[Momsrgr8]

If she were egg bound she would already be dead. When a bird is truly egg bound they cannot pass droppings either, they don't live long that way. It's much more likely that she has some kind of reproductive problem. The mass you feel could be infectious material from a condition called salpingitis, or from internal laying, or could be a cancerous mass or tumor. They are incredibly good at hiding symptoms, it's survival instinct for them, so often things are advanced before we are aware. Reproductive problems can also slow or stop digestion which can show up as crop issues. It can also cause messy butts since it can make it hard for them to push droppings out. What happened two years ago could have been the start of it, or could have been something else, hard to say. Sometimes with vet care and imaging they can give you a clue what's going on, but sometimes even then it's not for sure. Most of the conditions don't really have good or successful treatment options. Antibiotics can sometimes maybe buy them some time, but it's usually not a cure, especially if it's been going on for a while. In my flock I just leave them be until they are obviously unwell, go off food and water, isolate themselves or get attacked by flockmates. Then I euthanize rather than let them suffer. Often the real answer isn't known until necropsy as symptoms can be very similar between a lot of the possible causes.

Thank you.

 

[Momsrgr8]

Welcome to BYC, @Momsrgr8. Sorry your chicken is having problems. I wish her well.

Thanx