Strange object from pullets bum - pictures **Final UPDATE post #37**

[patandchickens]

Wow. Euww. Poor hen!

I have not seen chicken tapeworms but I have seen a variety of other species tapeworms and they always look pretty much exactly like, well, tapeworms (white, and very flat and tidy and regular-looking, with mild to strong segmentation). So I would bet enormously against this being any sort of internal parasite.

Unfortunately, my best guess would be that she has shucked an ovary, or possibly a growth that was growing on the ovary. It has more or less the right tissue-like look to it. If that is the case, I would think the chances would be fairly good that (eventually fatal) internal infection would set in... but you never know.

(e.t.a. - it doesn't look like the congealed yolk material that I've seen from my two internal-layer hens... that was much more uniform in color and texture, and not at all translucent, and not tissue-y looking. I might be misinterpreting the photo of course.)

If it were my hen and she was still looking pretty perky and not very sick, I think I would be inclined to give her the benefit of the doubt. Actually I might even try a broad-spectrum antibiotic -- and mind you I am really NOT one to go flinging antibiotics around. OTOH if she were pretty sickly and unhappy-looking, and nobody came along with a better theory for what was wrong with her, I fear I'd be inclined to call it 'probably terminal' and put her out of her suffering. None of that is *recommendation*, it is just what I would do.

Very best of luck to you and the hen,

Pat

 

[WoodlandWoman]

I thought it might be her ovary, but I guess it could be a jumble of stuff that was in her ovary. The white tube hanging out, makes me lean more towards thinking it's her ovary, though. Certainly not healthy tissue.

Poor girl. Hopefully she will feel better in a few days.

 

[speckledhen]

I wanted to add that I agree with Pat; it really doesn't look like the congealed egg material we cut out of three hens when we did a layman's necropsy on them. It does look like something related to her ovary. Chickens have two of them, but one is never active, I understand.

 

[silkiechicken]

Yeah, I think it's the left one that develops, and the right one that shrivels up. It could be an ovary, but if I remember the post about the ejected ovary, you could see the undeveloped yolks attached!

If she seems to be improving, I would let her be. But if she continues to feel sick, I'd let her go. She probably had a rough start and is happy to have you as her home now.

 

[TimeMist]

Well I just went to check again and another strange set of events. This is the bit that fell out after that large ovary shaped thing.

This is what had been attached to the ovary type struture.

The when I looked at buttercup 5 minutes ago, I saw what looks like egg white hanging out of her back end. On the ground was this

It appeared at first to be a very deformed egg (same colour as the eggs her flock mates lay) but slightly spongy and if I squeeze it there is white egg white type stuff inside. It also has a strange hole like structure a bit like the first one had, which you can see on the right.

 

[cjeanean]

U posted pics before I posted this....now I'm editing it....LOL!


Hmmm....I have no idea. My first thought was the same as a lot of the other posters in that it was part of her girly stuff. Then again, it might not be. I think it looks more like a sack of skin, and a chicken ovary would look like something that was meant to be up there, you know, veins, or just a smooth, glossy, fragile surface. Something that's meant to be protected inside of her body. It could, however, be a tumor or growth, which would explain the funky texture. Like the other poster said, when chickens are bred for mass egg production a lot of problems can occur. I know that out of the 15 or so hens that I processed I NEVER saw anything that looked like that, so it might be a tumor/growth. When was the last time u got an egg from her? I would put her in a darkened room to stop her laying cycle, cause even if her stuff isn't working properly her body will still be telling her to lay, which can cause problems. Until this is figured out or she goes back to normal eating/drinking/pooping I would definately cause cessation of lay. All u gotta do is restrict the light to about 6-8 hours, cause hens need 12-14 hours of light to stay laying. Keep us updated!!!

Okay, now that you've posted more pics, I have another brilliant opinion. LOL! I don't know what a hen's egg laying tract looks like, but is it possible that what you're seeing is mouled to the shape and pattern of her laying tract? The surface of that thing looks like it's coated with something, and I'm wondering if something's malfunctioning up there and the stuff that would be the eggshell is getting caked onto a mixture of what would be the yolk and egg white. The round thing could be an egg with an eggshell-gone-wrong. Is she getting enough calcium?

According to the other posts a hen only has one working ovary, so she couldn't have passed two ovaries that look the same. One would be shriveled up (I think that's what was described as happening to the unused one) so maybe you can rule that out.

The other question I have has to do with how long these chickens are bred to be productive. What if she's going through menopause?

 

[patandchickens]

Well, if it is not tissue, I think it is most likely indicative of things seriously wrong up there (like infection, salpingitis, that sort of thing)

I'm going to stick with 'if she seems happy enough, let her be and give supportive therapy, but if she seems to be suffering there's a good chance it's going to be fatal so you might think about what you want to do in that event'.

My two internal layers did pass a *little* bit of more pinkish sort of material, vaguely like that, in addition to the congealed-looking yolky stuff. (Internal laying, salpingitis, whatever, I am not trying to draw fine diagnostic distinctions here). Before, ultimately, dying

Sorry not to have something cheerier to say, but good luck,

Pat

 

[TimeMist]

Well she's certainly not appearing very well. Her crop seems bigger even though I have not fed her, and she only has access to very short grass (under the wire on the bottom of the cage she is in) She is also all puffed up and not wanting to move.

I think the best thing is to dispatch her. I'm going to wait till my husband comes home so that he can watch the children (2 girls 3 and 6), and I will make the decision then.

Why did it have to be one of the childrens two favourite chickens. She is such a lovely friendly chicken. But I suppose this is just one of the downsides chicken ownership.

Thanks everyone for your help, I'll update again later.

 

[Poulets De Cajun]

I think you might have an egg in a bag there.....

Check out this link and look at the first two photos. Other than the fact that your's is a little more shriveled, they look the same...

http://www.browneggblueegg.com/Article.html

You may have to scroll down the menu on the left and click on weird eggs....

 

[Poulets De Cajun]

This is also a quote from Peter Brown: (from www.browneggblueegg.com)

Sometimes when a bird lays an egg it does not come down the oviduct as planned. Usually due to a Hormone Imbalance it will reverse course and fall back into the body cavity and at some point in time may or may not be reabsorbed by the bird's body.

This egg appears to be one that was not absorbed in the body cavity but managed to make its way back into the oviduct and finally make its way out of the bird's body.

When the body tries to absorb an egg it will try to wall it off and surrounds it with a Calcium like material. This is one of the reasons why it may appear that several shells have been laid down.

It is also possible for an egg to be fertile and have the same reverse course episode. When these eggs are opened it may appear that there is tissue in the egg. They usually have somewhat of a foul odor but are not totally rotten.

Birds that are internal layers may have several ova back up into the body cavity. The body tries to absorb them and lays down the calcium. Upon opening the egg it will appear to have several eggs within an egg.