My sweet RIR, Venus has a huge lump between her legs.
She is a hatchery chick that I've raised since she was a day old and she will be 2 yrs old in April.
The flock eats Purina Layena crumbles & Purina Flock raiser crumbles. Most the time they have free choice oyster shell & most evening they will get black oiled sunflower treats before bedtime, but not every night. They don't get cracked corn unless the weather is extreme and will get some before bed time.
They were getting avian charge in their water this fall to help older girls boost immunity during their molt, but I've been out for several months and keep forgetting to order more.
They are housed in a coop w/ a connected run of 20' x 14'. They get free range time in the late afternoon on some evening before bedtime.
I'm not sure if she has even been laying or not anyway. When the older girls were molting I'd only get 2-4 eggs from them a day out of 14 layers. Then this Dec I combined my other pullets with the older flock, so hard to know who is laying. From the looks of it I still only get 2-4 big eggs and the rest are pullet ones from the new girls.
I knew Sun. Venus didn't feel well when she didn't want to run to freedom for her afternoon forage time. It was a beautiful day and she was in the corner of the run with that I don't feel so good ruffled look and her bottom was messy. I was worried b/c I've seen that look before when I lost another RIR, Rosemary to internal laying this past fall.
So Sun night when I brought Venus inside to give her the warm bath is when I noticed the large lump between her legs. I massaged it as she took her bath, but can not feel an egg. I didn't even notice it when I first picked her up to check her vent b/c her feathers were covering it. I guess I need to pick up all my chickens more often, but my RIR's are not my cuddliest ones. The swelling is different that what Rosemary had. I gave her a second warm bath and blow dried her and put her in a cat carrier my dark quiet basement for the night.
Mon I decided to put her on a protective heating pad w/ heat above her in a dark quite corner in my basement.
I've been offering her cooked egg yoke, feed, vit water. She has been eating & drinking. I finally found some electrolytes, so she'll get that today to.
She is feeling much better, more mobile and doesn't want the heat any more. She wanted to share my toco last night, so I knew that she was feeling better.
She is getting antsy, but still hasn't expressed an egg and still has the lump. I don't think she is egg bound unless it is a soft shell one or another case of internal laying. I don't feel a thing when I touch it. I called the Mo extension and they didn't offer much more suggestions than what I'm doing already.
When doing a search I ran across a post that Ruth has to drain one of her chickens fluid sometime, so I PMed her.
Please if anyone can shed some light what Venus has or what my next step should be I'd appreciate it.
Sorry soooo long!
Here's some pics.
She is a hatchery chick that I've raised since she was a day old and she will be 2 yrs old in April.
The flock eats Purina Layena crumbles & Purina Flock raiser crumbles. Most the time they have free choice oyster shell & most evening they will get black oiled sunflower treats before bedtime, but not every night. They don't get cracked corn unless the weather is extreme and will get some before bed time.
They were getting avian charge in their water this fall to help older girls boost immunity during their molt, but I've been out for several months and keep forgetting to order more.
They are housed in a coop w/ a connected run of 20' x 14'. They get free range time in the late afternoon on some evening before bedtime.
I'm not sure if she has even been laying or not anyway. When the older girls were molting I'd only get 2-4 eggs from them a day out of 14 layers. Then this Dec I combined my other pullets with the older flock, so hard to know who is laying. From the looks of it I still only get 2-4 big eggs and the rest are pullet ones from the new girls.
I knew Sun. Venus didn't feel well when she didn't want to run to freedom for her afternoon forage time. It was a beautiful day and she was in the corner of the run with that I don't feel so good ruffled look and her bottom was messy. I was worried b/c I've seen that look before when I lost another RIR, Rosemary to internal laying this past fall.
So Sun night when I brought Venus inside to give her the warm bath is when I noticed the large lump between her legs. I massaged it as she took her bath, but can not feel an egg. I didn't even notice it when I first picked her up to check her vent b/c her feathers were covering it. I guess I need to pick up all my chickens more often, but my RIR's are not my cuddliest ones. The swelling is different that what Rosemary had. I gave her a second warm bath and blow dried her and put her in a cat carrier my dark quiet basement for the night.
Mon I decided to put her on a protective heating pad w/ heat above her in a dark quite corner in my basement.
I've been offering her cooked egg yoke, feed, vit water. She has been eating & drinking. I finally found some electrolytes, so she'll get that today to.
She is feeling much better, more mobile and doesn't want the heat any more. She wanted to share my toco last night, so I knew that she was feeling better.
She is getting antsy, but still hasn't expressed an egg and still has the lump. I don't think she is egg bound unless it is a soft shell one or another case of internal laying. I don't feel a thing when I touch it. I called the Mo extension and they didn't offer much more suggestions than what I'm doing already.
When doing a search I ran across a post that Ruth has to drain one of her chickens fluid sometime, so I PMed her.
Please if anyone can shed some light what Venus has or what my next step should be I'd appreciate it.
Sorry soooo long!
Here's some pics.
