Swollen Chicken

[Anonymous]

Hello We are new to this forum but have looked after a few chickens for several years now. We have a dark dorking with a huge swelling in the area beneath her vent, all the feathers have fallen out and it is the size of a cricket ball and quite heavy. However she is eating, running around and it generally seems to not bother her at the moment. She is a young hen, only just starting to lay but of course not at the moment. Has anyone seen anything like this before please? is it likely to be a tumour? I imagine there is nothing we can do but hoping someone may be able to help.

 

[Davidd]

Hello, could be a tumour- or some kind of reproductory problem- i would take her to a vet if you have a bird/poultry vet nearby- and let them check her over.
regards, David

 

[Tim]

Could do with a vet IMO...

If examined, it might turn out to be Egg Peritonitis... very hard to tell without a good examination by a vet who has seen this sort of thing before. Tumours are quite common in older chickens but there is little research done because commercially they don't need to keep chickens more than 18 months or so...

We have a poultry friendly vets list on the site if your vet doesn't know much about chickens.

Good Luck..