Please Help! My hen is very sick!

[Simmons Homestead]

Can you catch her and get a picture of her from behind?

I can try.

 

[casportpony]

Does she look bloated like this:

 

[Simmons Homestead]

I don't know, because her feathers are covering her behind. These are the pics I managed to get

 

[casportpony]

Can you catch her and feel it?

 

[Simmons Homestead]

I can feel something between her legs, but her vent doesn't seem swollen. Her "backside" doesn't seem too swollen either, it's just a little behind her legs that I'm feeling the most swelling. She doesn't seem to be in pain, but then again, chickens are good at hiding their ailments...

 

[blackandtan]

She has a bit of a dirty bum, you said you gave her a bath before, why? Has she had a messy bum for awhile? Can you clean her up and take a pic, check her vent, look for swelling, check skin colour etc

 

[Simmons Homestead]

Yes, she does...I gave her a bath because she was dirty and I thought it might help her feel better. She's only had it since she got sick, so...a few weeks? Yes, I can, and I will do that as soon as humanly possible. Her skin looked okay when I checked her vent today, but cleaning her up will help confirm that. It's a bit late, so I will see if I can give her a bath tomorrow morning. Hopefully she'll be okay until then...

 

[blackandtan]

When you wash her you can clip those feathers too, it will be easier to see and much easier to clean; I haven’t had an egg bound hen or anything like that but over the years I have had two get flystrike and it started with a poopy bum, I didn’t even know that could happen! Check for injuries or discolouration

 

[Simmons Homestead]

When you wash her you can clip those feathers too, it will be easier to see and much easier to clean; I haven’t had an egg bound hen or anything like that but over the years I have had two get flystrike and it started with a poopy bum, I didn’t even know that could happen! Check for injuries or discolouration

Okay, I'm afraid to clip them because she doesn't like holding still and chances are, I'll be doing it alone. I will still try though. I will check and maybe take a few pictures because I've never had something like this before. (I mean, I've had an egg-bound hen, but never something that could be internal laying.)

 

[blackandtan]

If she’s squirmy lay out a towel and put her in the middle, head at one corner and legs at the other, wrap the other two corners around her body nice and snug then you can cover her head (loosely!) with a corner to help calm her down, should be able to trim without too much trouble