techiebabe
In the Brooder
I posted the other day about my favourite hen having crop problems, but now it's worse and I'm worried I'll lose her.
Please help! Nobody replied to my other post
I've done an awful lot of research before getting hens, but I really need help with this. Or at least to know someone is reading!
Here's the history.
I have 5 hens, ex-battery, adopted 2 months ago after 1 year of lay, living in a large enclosure, free ranging in garden 1-3 hours a day but always fully supervised when doing so.
2 days ago, favourite hen's crop was still full in the morning. I fed her vitamins, massaged it, and stopped all the hens from having any treats that day, just regular food, water & grit on offer.
1 day ago, favourite hen's crop had softened, it was only slightly fuller than the others' when examined at midday, however she was hot on her underside.
Today, she seemed fine in temperature and crop, then I noticed an hour ago her bottom was bleeding. I examined and found many clots inside, plus the top half of her vent is a bit prolapsed and seems to have torn. i assumed that was the cause of the blood but on examining with a lubricated finger it's a mess inside, lots of clots and I can't see any damage causing it but it is hard to see what's what and quite concerning.
Then I noticed this in the nest box which wasn't there an hour ago and I guess was from her - an egg which is intact within the membrane but has no shell around it, just a bundle of shell on the side, so I'm guessing the shell was too thin and slid off and stuck together when she was laying? Picture:
https://mobile.twitter.com/techiebabe/status/734789250416291841
I have washed her bottom with dilute hibiscrub. I have lubricated her vent with vaseline. I have felt inside and found nothing except some clots (and a little bit of poo that came out on my finger).
I have fenced off half the run, and put in it a cat box with bedding, clean fresh water in a drinker, a bowl with a little food, a pile of grit, and a couple of bits of cucumber (she loves them, and I'm worried I'm going to lose her so she may as well be happy). The other 4 remain in the coop and rest of the run.
Throughout all this she has seemed fine. Hasn't done the typical sick hen pose (which another did in the past so I can recognise it). She jumps onto my lap like ever. She's eating, drinking, playing, scratching fine, and begging for treats as per usual.
I'm guessing she had a problem and she's now passed it, so either she'll recover, or have internal infection and not make it? But the whole crop thing over the weekend has confused me; how could that be linked to passing a shellless egg?
Is there anything else I can do for her beyond what I'm doing (isolation, vitamins)?
As an aside, I clean out the coop every weekend and check each hen at least once a week - there's no sign of lice, worms, mites etc on any of them.
I didn't think I'd get fond of a hen. Bother
Please help! Nobody replied to my other post
I've done an awful lot of research before getting hens, but I really need help with this. Or at least to know someone is reading!Here's the history.
I have 5 hens, ex-battery, adopted 2 months ago after 1 year of lay, living in a large enclosure, free ranging in garden 1-3 hours a day but always fully supervised when doing so.
2 days ago, favourite hen's crop was still full in the morning. I fed her vitamins, massaged it, and stopped all the hens from having any treats that day, just regular food, water & grit on offer.
1 day ago, favourite hen's crop had softened, it was only slightly fuller than the others' when examined at midday, however she was hot on her underside.
Today, she seemed fine in temperature and crop, then I noticed an hour ago her bottom was bleeding. I examined and found many clots inside, plus the top half of her vent is a bit prolapsed and seems to have torn. i assumed that was the cause of the blood but on examining with a lubricated finger it's a mess inside, lots of clots and I can't see any damage causing it but it is hard to see what's what and quite concerning.
Then I noticed this in the nest box which wasn't there an hour ago and I guess was from her - an egg which is intact within the membrane but has no shell around it, just a bundle of shell on the side, so I'm guessing the shell was too thin and slid off and stuck together when she was laying? Picture:
https://mobile.twitter.com/techiebabe/status/734789250416291841
I have washed her bottom with dilute hibiscrub. I have lubricated her vent with vaseline. I have felt inside and found nothing except some clots (and a little bit of poo that came out on my finger).
I have fenced off half the run, and put in it a cat box with bedding, clean fresh water in a drinker, a bowl with a little food, a pile of grit, and a couple of bits of cucumber (she loves them, and I'm worried I'm going to lose her so she may as well be happy). The other 4 remain in the coop and rest of the run.
Throughout all this she has seemed fine. Hasn't done the typical sick hen pose (which another did in the past so I can recognise it). She jumps onto my lap like ever. She's eating, drinking, playing, scratching fine, and begging for treats as per usual.
I'm guessing she had a problem and she's now passed it, so either she'll recover, or have internal infection and not make it? But the whole crop thing over the weekend has confused me; how could that be linked to passing a shellless egg?
Is there anything else I can do for her beyond what I'm doing (isolation, vitamins)?
As an aside, I clean out the coop every weekend and check each hen at least once a week - there's no sign of lice, worms, mites etc on any of them.
I didn't think I'd get fond of a hen. Bother
