My sweet girl, Demeter had to be put down last night. She was almost 2. I did a necroscopy on her and discovered that she was plumb full of under-developed ovum.
Some history - in late Summer (it is now January) she was acting funny. Keeping to herself, no appetite, etc. I brought her in and hoped to nurse her back to health. We checked her vent visually and internally (with a gloved, lubed finger) and there was no sign of an egg. Then I realized she was molting. Ah, problem solved. We gave her some extra protein and sent her on her way.
We then started noticing eggs with paper thin shells that were soft. Not even in the nesting boxes, just on the floor of the coop. We had 5 chickens at the time and I didn't know which one it was, but all of them had started molting. Ok, so maybe that's why the weird eggs.
From the end of Summer molting, until a week ago, Demeter had been acting fine. She didn't seem to be in any distress. Then a week ago I saw that she was walking kind of like a duck, more upright. I checked her out, and felt a couple of rock hard lumps in her abdomen. When I tried to do an internal vent exam, I could feel the hard lumps, but they didn't feel like eggs.
I assumed she was constipated. Epsom salt bath, some warm water with a bit of molasses, epsom salt, and vegetable oil to give her electrolytes and get her digestive tract moving along. It didn't seem to help. Her bowel movements were very watery, with just the white. No normal poops. Still hard lumps.
During the past week I have put her outside with the other girls to be able to do chicken things, and then we would do the epsom salt bath and rest inside in a kennel overnight. The only change I saw was that she was standing like a penguin, and seemed very uncomfortable.
Because there was no change after a week, we decided to put her down. She was obviously suffering and we couldn't afford to take a $4 bird to the vet. I had been doing so much research and I figured she was either constipated, had cancer, or had the internal laying issue.
After checking it out today, I discovered a *ton* of undeveloped ovum. It was the consistency of a hard boiled yolk (maybe a bit more dense) and also smelled like cooked eggs. I don't think there is anything we could have done to fix it for her at that point, so I take peace in knowing that she is out of pain.
I wanted to share because in my research I spent time in forums like this, looking for information. So I hope this helps someone out. I am also including pictures. None are gory, but one might think they are gross.
Some history - in late Summer (it is now January) she was acting funny. Keeping to herself, no appetite, etc. I brought her in and hoped to nurse her back to health. We checked her vent visually and internally (with a gloved, lubed finger) and there was no sign of an egg. Then I realized she was molting. Ah, problem solved. We gave her some extra protein and sent her on her way.
We then started noticing eggs with paper thin shells that were soft. Not even in the nesting boxes, just on the floor of the coop. We had 5 chickens at the time and I didn't know which one it was, but all of them had started molting. Ok, so maybe that's why the weird eggs.
From the end of Summer molting, until a week ago, Demeter had been acting fine. She didn't seem to be in any distress. Then a week ago I saw that she was walking kind of like a duck, more upright. I checked her out, and felt a couple of rock hard lumps in her abdomen. When I tried to do an internal vent exam, I could feel the hard lumps, but they didn't feel like eggs.
I assumed she was constipated. Epsom salt bath, some warm water with a bit of molasses, epsom salt, and vegetable oil to give her electrolytes and get her digestive tract moving along. It didn't seem to help. Her bowel movements were very watery, with just the white. No normal poops. Still hard lumps.
During the past week I have put her outside with the other girls to be able to do chicken things, and then we would do the epsom salt bath and rest inside in a kennel overnight. The only change I saw was that she was standing like a penguin, and seemed very uncomfortable.
Because there was no change after a week, we decided to put her down. She was obviously suffering and we couldn't afford to take a $4 bird to the vet. I had been doing so much research and I figured she was either constipated, had cancer, or had the internal laying issue.
After checking it out today, I discovered a *ton* of undeveloped ovum. It was the consistency of a hard boiled yolk (maybe a bit more dense) and also smelled like cooked eggs. I don't think there is anything we could have done to fix it for her at that point, so I take peace in knowing that she is out of pain.
I wanted to share because in my research I spent time in forums like this, looking for information. So I hope this helps someone out. I am also including pictures. None are gory, but one might think they are gross.
