4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[Snoxy]

Hello...I hope someone can help me please?

 

Our , Princess Leia laid yesterday...i noticed today that she has a pretty big bulge below her vent with an ugly looking sore on it (see photo below)...possibly caused by pecking? The bulge is soft to the touch. She is absolutely fine in herself and it doesn't appear to be bothering her at all at the moment. I tried to separate her from the other girls and put her in a box with shredded paper on top of a hot water bottle...but she seemed more upset to be separated so I put her back with the others.

 

She has always laid very thin shelled eggs...i often find the remnants of her eaten eggs in the nest box. Despite giving her calcium supplements and plenty of grit I think she is just one of those hens that lay eggs like this.

 

This is the first time I've noticed the bulge so i am assuming it's new...feathers appear to be missing around the area.

 

Has anybody seen anything like this before and do you have any advice on what I can do?

 

Thank you.

 

Lou

 

 

 

[Hen Watch]

I can't really see properly from the picture.

 

However, have you got any Gentian Violet spray to hand (or buy some in a horse supply shop). If you spray it on her the other chooks won't peck at the red area. I did this will Stella when she had a prolapse and some blood which the others pecked at.

 

Difficult to say what problem is. Egg bound.. Peritonitis. Somethime else entirely.....?

 

Have a look at the photos of my Henny's swollen abdomen I put on this post below. She gets this swollen abdomen and then it goes (sometimes with vet medication and just a few days ago without). She is old and has stopped laying so I think my girl gets sterile peritonitis on and off.

viewtopic.php?t=46120

[Plum]

Could it be an abcess but doesn't look inflamed around it. could be peritonitis as Hen Watch says.

 

Pressure from abdomen resting on the bars because it is swollen could cause a sore. If it is a sore the girls will have pecked at it to make it worse. They can't help themselves. Is the sore superficial? Do you think there is something going on under the sore apart from the soft swelling?

 

Sorry only guessing. Probably best to get a vet to check it out if it's not obvious what the cause is.

[Snoxy]

Thank you ladies for your advice...the area near the sore was warm to the touch...which could be infection of some kind?...i will be up at the crack of dawn tomorrow to check on my girlie...i will defo get some gentian violet spray tomorrow morning.

 

Very best wishes to you...

 

Lou

[chelsea]

That looks like it could possibly be sterile peritonitis to me.... My Ella has had it for about 2 years now and is swollen under the vent (especially in the summer laying season) as it is the build up of fluid. In the winter she absorbs the fluid and is not swollen. I would maybe go to the vet for an exact diagnosis.

 

In the meantime I would suggest cleaning up the area and spraying on some purple spray to prevent pecking. Seperating her until the wound is healed may be a good idea also. If it is sterile peritonitis the skin area under the vent becomes very thin and "tight" as the fluid expands so she will need lots of TLC that im sure you'll give.

[Plum]

Do you ever get it drained Chelsea?

[chelsea]

Do you ever get it drained Chelsea?

 

It did drain accidently in February when Ella had her torn bowel accident. Luckily with about 6 weeks of Baytril she recovered. Apart from that, no...we haven't. The vet advised against it. He said she wasn't half as bad as some of the hens he had seen with the condition. Considering it's summer now she isn't that swollen at all this year. She even laid her annual egg last weekend! And she's still as gobby as ever!

[Plum]

Bless her what a star

[Snoxy]

Hi...just a quick update...Princess Leia is still her usual perky self...and her 'purple' rear end area doesn't seem any bigger/worse...so fingers crossed all will be well.

 

Thank you so much for your help.

 

Best wishes to you all.

 

Lou X

[Janty]

Was the egg she laid yesterday huge?

 

I had a similar problem when I first started and rushed Sporty Spice to the vets. It turned out that she had laid an egg twice the size of her usual ones and she was extremely swollen. She had then rubbed herself up against something causing an injury. Next day she was fighting fit again.

[Snoxy]

Princess Leia is only laying softies/very thin shelled eggs at the moment...one every other day on average...she has always laid very thin shelled eggs despite always having access to plenty of grit and being given a calcium supplement in her water.

 

Think she is just 'one of those chickens' that lays in this way.

 

Very best wishes

 

Lou