hen very swollen and hot at her rear end

[roadrunner]

can anyone help, my hen is bright, eating free range and mostly with the others in the flock. however she is slower and looks swollen underneath her vent and between her legs. she is walking about but with wider legs and slower than normal. she is having times away from the others and her tail feathers hand down and she looks to be half asleep. i caught her and it seems hot and like water balloon, she looks as if she ha a full nappy on. she did have some poo on feathers and i've cleaned her. some more little poo markings but not too much. If i take her away from the others she is restless. not too sure if she is laying as all are free ranging. anyone any ideas please?

 

[Anonymous]

She could be egg bound.

 

[roadrunner]

i'm not sure. i've looked at this and may try a hot bath tomorrow if no better. not too sure what i'm doing though! looked it up and says hot baths and placing olive oil in vent? do i warm this and how much do i use is a syringe the easiest way?

 

[victorias poultry]

You could try putting vaseline on her vent over night on a hot water bottle, if no change in the morning I would take her to a vet.

 

[roadrunner]

i'm thinking as i look around this site and others that it is more likley to be egg peritonitis as the swelling is hot as you might think or infection, wide and hangs like a balloon. but she still seems bright? has anyone experienced this and treated it effectively?

 

[tygrysek75]

I wonder if she had eaten something which she should not.I have noticed somtimes my chickens try to eat plastic dig out of the ground.Maybe some plant had you looked at this option?

 

[roadrunner]

seen pic of egg peritonitis on this site and this is her to a tea. As she is still very bright i will give her a chance before making a bad choice to cull her and will be going to vet tomorrow for ab's and to draw off excess liquid? if they know what they r doing about this. cheers everyone.

 

[foxy]

seen pic of egg peritonitis on this site and this is her to a tea. As she is still very bright i will give her a chance before making a bad choice to cull her and will be going to vet tomorrow for ab's and to draw off excess liquid? if they know what they r doing about this. cheers everyone.

Yes this may help, excess fluid builds up firstly due to the egg contents themselves, however, sometimes a hens immune system reacts and causes a lot of fluid to build up, giving a sort of "ballooning" effect. Drawing off fluid and antibiotics therefore may help, and hopefully your hen will be able to absorb the rest naturally.
Good luck with her!

 

[Anonymous]

Bless her. We had a canary which was egg bound and we rubbed olive oil on her bottom. Next day she had managed to lay the egg 17 She went on to raise two babies for us and lived quite a few more years. Good luck little hen.