Bloated chicken

[Sian]

After just managing to nurse Marjorie back to health after her serious bout of worms, one of my other chickens, Alfonso, has almost doubled in size over the weekend. I was away for the weekend leaving my boyfriend in charge so the difference was seriously noticable to me but not to him. I'm guessing this means there is a possibility she is egg bound? She is pecking round quite happily but gets listless at times and spends a lot more time sitting than usual. She is also struggling to pass poo, this morning she magaged to 'squirt' a liquidy bit out but nothing substantial, her feathers below her vent are dirty too which she has never had before, and certainly weren't like that last night.

I know that the advice is to give them a bath/hold over steam. having never done this before I am a little anxious. How easy is it to give a chicken a bath? Is it something she is likely to enjoy or am I going to be facing a bit of a battle? My hens are all very affectionate and love sitting next to you in the garden, having a stroke etc. but are not to keen on being handled. Also, if I need to used oil around her vent to help the egg come out, how far should I go? Is it likely I will be able to feel the egg in situe?

Thanks in advance,

Sian

 

[chrismahon]

Just egg bound isn't going to cause that rate of expansion Sian. She's full of gas sounds like, or fluid infection. I'd get her to the vet immediately anyway as removing a stuck egg and breaking it can result in infection and you may well give her antibiotics as a precaution. That's what I'd be doing with her based on your description.

 

[Sian]

I'm pretty sure she has been the one laying really thin shelled eggs with seriously rough calcium deposits, which must be incredibly painful to lay so I decided not to have a go at seeing if I could coax the egg out and oil her vent just in case I caused any damage. I gave her a bath and she didn't look half as bloated as I thought when she was wet! She is waddling and can't really run though. I think I'll get her to the vet first thing if there are no signs of improvement.

 

[foxy]

Sorry your hen is poorly, I agree with you Sian, probably best left for a vet to have a look at her, poor hen she must feel very uncomfortable.
It does sound like an egg laying problem, the bloated, waddling are characteristics of a laying issue as well as a history of thin poor quality egg shells. Possibly the egg contents have gone the wrong way and caused an inflammatory response which can result in fluid accumulation in the abdomen. The problem is of course if she is still laying there could be a back log which causes serious complications as well as the potential for infection.