possibly egg bound chicken/salpingitis?

[Chickenslol]

Hi everyone, looking for help with my 2 yr old australorp chicken. picked her up to mover her today and saw that there was a large bump on her abdomen. i felt it, it felt like an egg, so i assumed she had to lay, the next morning no egg, so i gave her an epsom salt bath and some time to herself and the egg was laid, but the bump did not go away. it is in her lower abdomen, not usually where eggs are formed, so my next worry was an intestinal blockage, but i’ve had chickens with intestinal blockages and this is not it, it feels like an egg, just in the wrong spot. i should note that she is eating and pooping normally, so her intestines are not blocked. the only abnormal poop was after i gave her a bath and she pooped mud, which freaked me out but i realized it was probably her trying to get calcium to lay the egg. all poop has been normal since. would love to know what is going on

 

[Chickenslol]

@Eggcessive @Wyorp Rock

 

[Wyorp Rock]

How does she behave? Is she lethargic, not eating/drinking or pooping?

 

[Chickenslol]

How does she behave? Is she lethargic, not eating/drinking or pooping?

her behavior is completely normal aside from the lump, i probably wouldn’t have noticed it if i hadn’t picked her up to move her

 

[Chickenslol]

i was looking into salpingitis, maybe the “egg” that im feeing is lash material in the abdominal cavity? it’s not blocking her intestine because she is pooping normally though

 

[LaFleche]

What exactly and how much are you feeding?

The "bump" might just be some accumulated fat (fat pad) in her lower abdominal region as often happens with older birds.

 

[Chickenslol]

What exactly and how much are you feeding?

The "bump" might just be some accumulated fat (fat pad) in her lower abdominal region as often happens with older birds.

i feed layer crumble, and free choice fruit and veggie scraps 2-3 times a week. i’ve previously been mixing oyster shell and grit with their feed but i think i’m going to stop that after reading about it. I would be totally on board with it being fat but it really feels like an egg, hard like a rock and you cannot squish it at all, which is so confusing.

 

[LaFleche]

Where exactly is the bump situated? Could it just be her overly extended gizzard containing lots of grit and oystershell?

I would not try to squeeze or otherwise manipulate the bump as one can do a lot of harm by doing so.

As long as she seems fine eating, drinking, laying eggs and behaving normally, I would not worry too much.

 

[Chickenslol]

Where exactly is the bump situated? Could it just be her overly extended gizzard containing lots of grit and oystershell?

I would not try to squeeze or otherwise manipulate the bump as one can do a lot of harm by doing so.

As long as she seems fine eating, drinking, laying eggs and behaving normally, I would not worry too much.

Yeah, I’ve been really careful, had to move her into the coop last night and was so worried she would try to fly away, fall and the thing inside her would break. the lump is situated in her lower abdomen, right where the small intestine would be, but it very well might be her gizzard.

I think i might give her another epsom salt bath, just to be super safe, but i should probably just monitor for now.

 

[LaFleche]

but i should probably just monitor for now.

That is what I would do.