Prominent Breast Bone on Hen

[HannahL]

Hi all. So I just adopted two four-year-old hens from my local MSPCA. One of them is a Rhode Island Red and she is quite the personality! She has settled in very well and the vet gave her a clean bill of health minus a heart murmur. The other one is a Red Sexlink and she is a total sweetheart but she has unfortunately found herself at the bottom of the pecking order. She is very submissive and naturally quite timid. Tends to go her own route when free-ranging, etc. The vet said she is healthy minus a small, baseball sized mass at the bottom of her abdomen. The vet said that since she is otherwise healthy that it isn’t anything to worry about right now. She suspected an ovarian cyst or past scarring that pushed her gizzard down. She’s layed two eggs so far, both of which had quite thin shells and were strangely shaped. I’ve only had her a couple of days so I’m wondering if she just needs to get her calcium up. They already have crushed oyster shells in their food but I’ve added a bowl of them in the corner as well. She is active, eating and drinking, good color, and is alert. When I pick her up however, her breast bone is very prominent. Enough so that I can easily pinch it and it sort of digs into my hand when I’m holding her. It’s not jagged or sharp, but it is very easy to feel. Is this something I should worry about? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[sourland]

I think your good care and adequate feed will work wonders on both of these birds.