[3Bluebelles]

Can anyone help?

Our Rhode Rock, Janet, who is about 2.5 years old, has been looking really unhappy today. I was first worried about her when she was in the nesting box for hours this morning. At one stage she was standing up, but with her eyes shut. We took her out and had a look, and she had a part of a soft egg shell sticking out of her vent. We very gently pulled it out, and it came in one. It was very soft, and empty, not broken. There are no signs of any damage to her vent but she seems in shock. She has been standing around, hunched up, eyes closed, so we have put her back in the coop on her own, with food and water.

She doesn't appear to have eaten or drunk anything, and is now back in the nesting box, but again partly standing, as if in pain, with her eyes partly closed.

Should we be doing anything else for her? I am really worried as we have lost 2 chickens in the last year to prolapses after broken eggs. They had previous problems with soft and broken eggs though, and Janet has never had anything like this before.

Any advice gratefully received.

[Casey76]

Trying to lay a soft shelled egg can be quite painful for a hen, and they will look miserable for a while.

They are normally back to normal the next day.

[3Bluebelles]

Thank you.

She has just eaten a small amount of fishy cat food mixed with tinned sweetcorn (which is normally her favourite). She did come out of the nesting box for it, and has picked out all the cat food, but now has gone back to sleep. standing.

I am so worried about her, but glad she has eaten something.

[NormandyMary]

Get well soon Janet!!!!

[ChristyRose]

Do you think you should take her to the ver if she is no better in the morning?

[3Bluebelles]

Thanks Mary, and thanks ChristyRose, but I think we have learned in the last few years when a vet can help and when they can't. We try to keep a balance between being practical and sentimental. These chickens were supposed to be livestock rather than pets, although we, like everyone else on here, are very attached to them and would do anything to avoid their suffering, which happens as soon as we name them and start spending time with them. Having had chickens with egg laying problems before, and having spoken to a vet about it, we realise that hybrid chickens have a limited egg laying life, and can be prone to internal problems such as prolapses etc. When this happens there is very little that can be done to cure them without great expense, and in my opinion, causing unnecessary suffering for the animal.

So if there is something that I don't understand, or if they need antibiotics etc, then yes I will use a vet, but other than that, I will make sure she doesn't suffer by if necessary giving her a quiet and peaceful end.

I hope you don't think I am callous, but I will do my best for her.

Anyway, she is roosting with her pals tonight, and we will see what the morning holds for her.
 

[3Bluebelles]

Well she's still with us this morning. She took longer than the others to come out of the coop, and is still very quiet and slow, but she is starting to wander around the run with the others, and is pecking at things on the floor and starting to look a bit more comfortable.

She has pooed through the night, so is not blocked up, and although it seems less than the others that's probably because she didn't eat very much yesterday.

Her poo still has some pale yellow areas in it. Could this be the remains of the egg yolk still coming out? Has anyone any experience of this?

The plan today is to just keep an eye on her, and a bit later try and tempt her with some treats such as a bit more cat food. We do have some Baytril, but I don't want to take away her natural healing ability by killing off any good bacteria she already has. What does anyone think?

Thanks.

[helens-hens]

Hi 3Bluebelles

Hope your hen recovers OK but I was a bit worried when you mentioned that the soft shelled egg was empty (i.e. no yolk?).

I took 1 of my hens to the vet a couple of weeks ago as she has been consistently laying softies for a while now and I wanted to get her checked over. He was explaining to me about egg yolk peritonitis and if I understood him correctly he said this is caused when during the laying process the yolk gets separated from the rest of the egg and settles somewhere in the abdominal area where peritonitis will then start.

I don't wish to worry you and I am no expert and wouldn't want to set false alarm bells ringing but I thought I should mention it as I would hate your hen to suffer if this was the case. He said a common sign is if the hen starts to 'waddle' when she walks.

I hope that others with more knowledge may comment. Hope she recovers soon.

[3Bluebelles]

Thanks Helens,

I'm really glad you posted that on egg yolk peritonitis, because I have now read up on all the symptoms and I think it may be what she has. It explains the yellow bits in her poo and the way she is fluffed up and standing still. She doesn't seem as though she has fluid in her abdomen though, so I am hopeful either it's a mild case or it's early days.

So tonight she has had a dose of Baytril and a supper of cat food and sweetcorn, which she wolfed down.  And we will see again how she is tomorrow.

[Sooz]

I had a bird with egg yolk peritonitis about 6 months ago.  She did recover, but it took many weeks.  During her poorly time, her vent constantly dripped.  I trimmed the feathers from round her vent and gave her several warm, slighty distinfected baths.  Then dried her with the hair dryer - which she loved.  She would only eat mealworms & yoghurt at the time and got painfully thin.  But gradually she recovered.  However, she had been a very good layer, but since then she has not laid a decent egg.  She has laid a few soft shells, but nothing else.

[3Bluebelles]

I think (I hope) she might be on the mend. This morning she did come out of the coop on her own and eat, although slower than usual. Later this morning she looked just as unhappy as yesterday and I was starting to think we were just prolonging her misery, but then had to go into work this afternoon.

When I came home it was like a miraculous recovery! She was running around with the others and fighting for treats. We have given her another dose of Baytril and a separate bowl of cat food to try and build her up a little.

Tonight she has put herself off to bed first, but is roosting properly, rather than standing, and looks really comfortable for the first time in 2 days.

Fingers crossed for tomorrow.

[NormandyMary]

Great news. Ill keep everything crossed that she continues to improve back to full good health. Well done for getting her this far and not giving up on her!!

Mary.

[westview]

Hi there 3bluebells, hope you don't mind me asking - but is she swollen below her vent?  I have a hen with similar symptons....

[3Bluebelles]

Thanks Mary,

Hi Westview. She was a little bloated below her vent, and when we picked her up and had a feel around that area she was obviously in some discomfort. Reading other websites and posts it seems that they can have a build up of fluid in their abdomen. Hope your hen is OK. I don't know whether the antibiotics are what helped with Janet because I would have expected it to take a few more days for that to happen, but she is definitely loads better this morning, so maybe she was able to expel any fluid on her own.

All the best.

[helens-hens]

Hi 3Bluebelles. Really pleased to hear that she is on the mend, will keep fingers crossed for a full recovery.