I think I have a hen that is laying internally,she is swollen in the back end and in her stomach area,first I thought she was egg bound,I never have delt with this before.I did bring her in yesterday and rinsed her hindend off with warm water,thought she looked better today but not tonight,she is eating some,Will bring her in tomorow and give another warm bath and put oil in her vent and see if I can feel anything.Do they swell up if they are egg bound?I don`t want her to suffer,I just don`t know what to do for sure.I know if its internal laying that there is no hope for her from what I have read.Any suggestions?
Sick chicken
I can't help as i have never heard of the ailment. Sure hope she is better soon.
Here is a BYC thread discussing treatments for egg binding. From what I understand there is no treatment for internal laying...but read the thread. I had a Buff Orpington that was very poorly for a few days, appearing to be egg bound and miserable. Then just as suddenly she was fine. I thought at the time she must have internal laying...but it must have been something else. Perhaps she was able to lay the egg eventually. I do know that some lines of birds seem genetically predisposed to develop internal laying.
http://forum.backyardpoultry.com/viewtopic.php?p=7288
Catsy is right about internal laying, it is widely accepted as a genetic's problem. I have a vet customer and he and I have spoken about that very thing. I have never had that problem nor an eggbound problem. Both are considererd somewhat rare, that is when you consider the ratio of chickens to the problem. Especially the internal laying...Hay