FennecMom
Chirping
- Jan 23, 2021
- 31
- 102
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Hello BYC - Please help me figure out how to help dear pet 5mo Maran hen named Fennec.
She started laying within the last month. Since yesterday (and for the 3rd time since going into lay), she has gotten puffed up, stopped eating, and removed herself away from the other girls.
The first time this happened, I separated her into a dog crate where she drank Nutri Drench water, spent the night, lay an egg, and went on her merry way the next morning.
The 2nd time, symptoms seemed to resolve during the course of the day as she went (slowly) about her business in the coop & run. (Not sure if she passed an egg that time.)
This time - 3rd time - started last night. She stayed on the roost before bedtime; she did not come down to eat with her flockmates. Same thing this morning in the coop/run. I've now put her into dog crate. She has sipped a bit of Nutri Drench water, avoided food, and is alert but resting/napping (does not appear stressed or in pain).
Question - What is this small round bulge?
I feel a jelly-like bulge on her lower right. I think it is below her crop (but I am new to this since April & learning poultry anatomy from books). Could it be an egg in transit?
Also - This morning when I pulled her off the roost to check her, there was a broken egg below her in the sand litter. Shell was very thin but "crispy" (not hard like normal). Could not tell about yolk & white because litter.
Her vent appears normal this morning. Pale pink color. Small smudge of poo at lower edge, but nothing extreme.
Since first time this happened, I have been crushing up Tums and putting in a separate water dish in the run. (The girls do not ever seem to touch their bowl of oyster shell.) Fennec drinks regularly from this calcium water, in addition to the regular water kept in run.
Do you think this is an egg problem or could it be something else? Should I soak her lower half in a warm bath?
It seems worrisome that this has happened 3x in a month. What can I do to help her now & also going forward as she continues her egg laying?
Thank you in advance for your help. I really value all the experienced wisdom of BYC!
She started laying within the last month. Since yesterday (and for the 3rd time since going into lay), she has gotten puffed up, stopped eating, and removed herself away from the other girls.
The first time this happened, I separated her into a dog crate where she drank Nutri Drench water, spent the night, lay an egg, and went on her merry way the next morning.
The 2nd time, symptoms seemed to resolve during the course of the day as she went (slowly) about her business in the coop & run. (Not sure if she passed an egg that time.)
This time - 3rd time - started last night. She stayed on the roost before bedtime; she did not come down to eat with her flockmates. Same thing this morning in the coop/run. I've now put her into dog crate. She has sipped a bit of Nutri Drench water, avoided food, and is alert but resting/napping (does not appear stressed or in pain).
Question - What is this small round bulge?
I feel a jelly-like bulge on her lower right. I think it is below her crop (but I am new to this since April & learning poultry anatomy from books). Could it be an egg in transit?
Also - This morning when I pulled her off the roost to check her, there was a broken egg below her in the sand litter. Shell was very thin but "crispy" (not hard like normal). Could not tell about yolk & white because litter.
Her vent appears normal this morning. Pale pink color. Small smudge of poo at lower edge, but nothing extreme.
Since first time this happened, I have been crushing up Tums and putting in a separate water dish in the run. (The girls do not ever seem to touch their bowl of oyster shell.) Fennec drinks regularly from this calcium water, in addition to the regular water kept in run.
Do you think this is an egg problem or could it be something else? Should I soak her lower half in a warm bath?
It seems worrisome that this has happened 3x in a month. What can I do to help her now & also going forward as she continues her egg laying?
Thank you in advance for your help. I really value all the experienced wisdom of BYC!