*UPDATE* Advice Needed! Eggbound/ Prolapsed Hen???

[pwand]

Have you done more warm baths and more calcium? Don't break the egg.

 

[casportpony]

Broody behavior is sometimes a sign of EYP or an impaction that's been there awhile. If you can, take her to a vet.

 

[casportpony]

Have you done more warm baths and more calcium? Don't break the egg.

X2

 

[MamaManda]

Have you done more warm baths and more calcium? Don't break the egg.

We have. She's been getting about 3 a day, and 1000mg of calcium daily. My husband is a Dr, although not a vet of course, and has been doing the most work with her. After further research, and looking at pictures, he believes what he's feeling inside is the result of an internal layer. He isn't able to sweep his finger all the way around the mass, and describes something fibrous attached to the "egg" (or mass) and the side of the oviduct. He also believes that the reason the "mass" feels like it keeps being sucked back up her oviduct at the end of her push, is because it is attached to the oviduct, which would require surgery for removal.

This would also explain her lack of laying for the past 4+ months, and what I thought was her 2nd broody stage in 6 months, where she sat on an empty nest for almost 2 months.

I have received experienced opinions from other chicken owners that have dealt with this issue in Wyandottes and feel she may live comfortably for awhile with the condition, but will begin to deteriorate quickly at some point due to weight loss/infection, and that if the problem were surgically removed, it is likely to happen again. At this point I think I may stop the baths and calcium tomorrow, and concentrate on the prolapse, at least until she begins to show signs of distress...which may be soon anyways, as she seems to be making more attempts at pushing.

 

[MamaManda]

Broody behavior is sometimes a sign of EYP or an impaction that's been there awhile. If you can, take her to a vet.

My husband talked to the vet (an acquaintance) who recommended euthanasia, as she suspected Belle may also be cancerous based on my husbands report of the exam, and said the likelihood of it recurring is high. Belle is also very thin, and she fears she would not survive the surgery.

 

[pwand]

I'm sorry to hear this, I know this will be a hard having to put her down, this seems very common, I had a chicken that had this looking back not knowing what' was going on. She died about four months later. Here is a good link just to read, I did have another link which shows what it looks like. I will try to find it. Will you and your husband open her up when she passes to have a look? If so, can you post picture, good learning tools.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/744228/hen-puffed-up-and-listless#post_10470722

 

[pwand]

Here's another link with the picture.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...eath-by-rubber-egg-graphic-pics#post_10663793

 

[MamaManda]

Here's another link with the picture.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...eath-by-rubber-egg-graphic-pics#post_10663793

Thanks pwand, I suppose my husband will want to open her up and take a look afterward....the pictures others had posted really helped him determine the problem, so we will try to get some of her situation as well. Speckledhen,( who posted in your link above about her genetic/hormonal problems with Wyandottes being internal layers) is one of the site members that I contacted to get advice. She didn't think Belle's situation was one that would be successfully remedied either.

This will be our very first chicken loss. SO sad! As beautiful as Wyandottes are, I may avoid them in the future to not have to deal with loosing or having to put down another hen due to internal laying. I am curious to see what happens down the road with her baby, Olive, that she hatched last August. (Just started laying about a month ago.)

 

[pwand]

First one will be hard, they are our babies and we love them dearly. I don't feel there's is much hope either, sorry. It can happen to any hen, out of the many hens I have had in 10 yrs, it happened once. Hopefully the baby won't get it. Give lots of free choice of calcium. Again, I'm so sorry for this hard decision.

Casp: I realized I posted the same info you did, sorry about that.

 

[MamaManda]

It's now been a year since poor Belle's "sickness." Surprisingly, she is still with us. I couldn't bring myself to put her down, and wasn't sure she was suffering enough or that the situation was hopeless enough to warrant it. We decided to give her some time, and if she continued to go downhill as she was, we'd cull.
So we continued to treat her, and when her prolapse was finally corrected, we put her back outside in a side yard to let her "live out her last days" in peace, by herself. Then eventually, she began to gain back her weight, and we put her back in with the rest of the flock. I did notice a strange poop one day in the coop that looked like it had a bloody hard mass in it, but it did not look like an egg, so I don't know what it was.
She does not lay, as far as we can tell. We never see her in the nesting boxes, and her eggs were our smallest and lightest in color, which we haven't seen since. I think we have determined that she was an internal layer, and that something happened, either from that mass or from our trying to get it loose, that caused her to stop laying. I am really VERY surprised that she has survived this long, but we're so very glad she has! Thank you to all of you that helped and advised us! You kept her alive!