Peahen puffed up and in distress..

[chicknmania]

Something is wrong with Sweetpea. She is walking around the barn with her wings out, and puffed up. She acts distressed. I can't tell if she is trying to lay, egg bound, sick, or injured? We have an Ameracauna pullet acting in a similar way, she acts like she is trying to lay, but not in a nest box...puffed up, half sitting, looking distressed. This is scaring me.

Any thoughts? Both of them are just now reaching sexual maturity and just beginning to lay.

 

[casportpony]

FYI, if they do have a stuck egg you will need to get it out or they *will* die. They won't die right away and many *linger* with infection for *months*. Not trying to scare you, but the last time someone posted something similar I didn't speak my mind and that bird died many months later.

So watch very closely and if she looks like the picture Zaz posted and doesn't produce an egg, catch her and check her vent.

-Kathy

 

[chicknmania]

Would she be acting this way if she were broody? Princess, our other peahen that disappeared, never puffed up when she was broody, but she used to pace a lot when she was thinking about setting.

 

[zazouse]

Does she look like this?

 

[casportpony]

It is very easy to tell if they have an egg to lay... If you're worried about it, catch them and check inside the cloaca. With peahens about 1" in is where you'll feel an egg, but be *very* gentle as she might be in the process of shelling it. Large turkeys it's about 2", bantams are 1/4".

Here are some pictures:

-Kathy

 

[chicknmania]

Does she look like this?

Um, yes. uhoh.....

But, I went out there a couple of hours ago, and Sweetpea
was lying in the sun, then later, her feathers were down, and she seemed to be acting normal. The pullet was just having laying pains, she laid hers and she's fine.

 

[chicknmania]

I will keep an eye on her and also look for the egg. Thanks for the warning.

 

[zazouse]

Um, yes. uhoh.....

But, I went out there a couple of hours ago, and Sweetpea
was lying in the sun, then later, her feathers were down, and she seemed to be acting normal. The pullet was just having laying pains, she laid hers and she's fine.

That is what some of my new layers have done haven't noticed it in the once that laid last year.

 

[casportpony]

Green pea was acting quite sick just before she laid her first egg.

-Kathy

 

[zazouse]

Um, yes. uhoh.....

But, I went out there a couple of hours ago, and Sweetpea
was lying in the sun, then later, her feathers were down, and she seemed to be acting normal. The pullet was just having laying pains, she laid hers and she's fine.

Are you sure she has not laid an egg? some of my peas cover their nest , making it very difficult to find them without the hen sitting on them but then many of mine make their nest in the woods or on top of something .
Can you see her in this photo?