I have a 3 year old Speckled Sussex hen who has a swollen bulge under her vent. I noticed that she was laying in the woods about three weeks ago but she was still eating and roosting at night. When I looked closer, she had the beginning stages of a poopy bottom but I left it as is as she was trying to clean herself.
About a two weeks ago, she stopped roosting and started sleeping on the ground of the coop (so she was still going out and coming in, just not jumping up to roost). I started to notice that she had major diarrhea and that it was running down her bottom. I washed her off and made sure they had ACV in their water and added probiotics to their food.
Last week, I noticed that she didn’t go out for the day so I brought her inside for some further TLC. I trimmed her butt feathers and gave her a nice warm Epsom bath to soak. While she bathed I gave her crushed up calcium pills in water (she devoured it) and yogurt. After her bath, I dried her off and put some Vaseline by her vent. I put her in a crate inside with extra food, treats and water and she happily munched in all of the fresh food.
I repeated these daily soaks for about 5 days and as the weather was nice, I would let her out to free range with the others during the day and bring her in at night for her soak and bedtime.
Today she is not any better. I have not seen any sign of eggs, her poop is no longer straight diarrhea, it has small chunks but it is not “normal”. Her energy is still quiet and she prefers to be inside when not free ranging. She will eat just a little bit with the others but I have noticed that she is quite skinny.
I am not sure what else to do as I don’t believe she is egg bound based on the timeline alone. I did not witness any specific trauma to her to associate this bulge with and it seems to bother her if you massage it. I am wondering if anyone has thoughts/ideas/suggestions on what else I can do for her. She does not seem to have any breathing issues and her nose and eyes are clear. I am attaching photos below. Thank you in advance!
About a two weeks ago, she stopped roosting and started sleeping on the ground of the coop (so she was still going out and coming in, just not jumping up to roost). I started to notice that she had major diarrhea and that it was running down her bottom. I washed her off and made sure they had ACV in their water and added probiotics to their food.
Last week, I noticed that she didn’t go out for the day so I brought her inside for some further TLC. I trimmed her butt feathers and gave her a nice warm Epsom bath to soak. While she bathed I gave her crushed up calcium pills in water (she devoured it) and yogurt. After her bath, I dried her off and put some Vaseline by her vent. I put her in a crate inside with extra food, treats and water and she happily munched in all of the fresh food.
I repeated these daily soaks for about 5 days and as the weather was nice, I would let her out to free range with the others during the day and bring her in at night for her soak and bedtime.
Today she is not any better. I have not seen any sign of eggs, her poop is no longer straight diarrhea, it has small chunks but it is not “normal”. Her energy is still quiet and she prefers to be inside when not free ranging. She will eat just a little bit with the others but I have noticed that she is quite skinny.
I am not sure what else to do as I don’t believe she is egg bound based on the timeline alone. I did not witness any specific trauma to her to associate this bulge with and it seems to bother her if you massage it. I am wondering if anyone has thoughts/ideas/suggestions on what else I can do for her. She does not seem to have any breathing issues and her nose and eyes are clear. I am attaching photos below. Thank you in advance!
