Golden Buff with sagging Abdomen or 'Fluff' area looking painful / inflamed. What to do?

[rdolesh]

Hello, We have a 2 yr old Golden Buff who is acting quite normal but in the last 4 weeks has laid 2 'soggy' eggs. (They did have a very light coating of calcium but largly 'soft'). She is acting quite normal, but have noticed in the last 2 months her bottom looks 'dirty' like it is dragging thru the dirt more and now just noticed on her right side, a raw inflamed area of skin that appears to be rubbing against her leg. Kids said, she just didn't shake off enough, but now I am thinking all these things are likely related:

High production breed
2yrs old
Soggy Eggs (body slowing down a bit)
Sagging 'Fluff' area (area below her vent)
Other info: She has eaten about 4-8 toads this summer as it has been so damp.

But the BIG question is, what can we do for the more acute 'raw' area that seems to be caused from the (swelling intestines?) pushing against her leg?

We are new to posting, but have read quite a bit in the last two years since getting a set of 9 chickens (Sept 2019). We try to do things as naturally as possible, but realize sometimes you need a 'hammer' (antibiotic, etc) We chose not to vaccinate, but give probiotics and organic feed (feed that local amish farmer uses for his own 500 chickens) and in last year try to give them more vegtables (cabbage, carrots, tomatoes, etc) to supplement their diet. And offer crushed eggshells.
We give them approx 1hr -2hrs day free range.

We had 1 other Golden Buff, but we had her put down as she suffered a long period of internal laying.

Thoughts or Advice is appreciated : )

 

[Eggcessive]

Does it feel firm, tight, or squishy? She has some feather loss, which could be due to her own pecking or another chicken pecking her. Look her over there for evidence of lice and mites. The enlarged area could be ascites (water belly,) internally laid lash egg material, cancer, or a hernia. It is very hard to know which without an xray at the vet’s or until a necropsy can be done after death. Some people try to drain ascites with an 18 gauge needle to get some of the yellow fluid to relive pressure and labored breathing. That is a temporary fix, but could confirm ascites with yellow fluid, although it is not without risk of infection or death in rare cases. But if she is not in any distress, I probably would not do anything invasive, but just watch her and make sure that she is eating. Poop pictures if abnormal can sometimes be helpful. Unfortunately with good layers, there will tend to be reproductive problems in some.

 

[rdolesh]

Does it feel firm, tight, or squishy? She has some feather loss, which could be due to her own pecking or another chicken pecking her. Look her over there for evidence of lice and mites. The enlarged area could be ascites (water belly,) internally laid lash egg material, cancer, or a hernia. It is very hard to know which without an xray at the vet’s or until a necropsy can be done after death. Some people try to drain ascites with an 18 gauge needle to get some of the yellow fluid to relive pressure and labored breathing. That is a temporary fix, but could confirm ascites with yellow fluid, although it is not without risk of infection or death in rare cases. But if she is not in any distress, I probably would not do anything invasive, but just watch her and make sure that she is eating. Poop pictures if abnormal can sometimes be helpful. Unfortunately with good layers, there will tend to be reproductive problems in some.

Hello eggcessive, thank you so much for your reply! Sorry for the delay. I did try and feel her sore area. I think it feels firm, but then it's hard to say, It feels about what I would expect. It just seems to be protruding a bit lower than normal and is only red on the RIGHT side. I will look into lice/mites...

We had 2 Goldenbuffs born on the same day, and the other one passed already due to 'internal laying' so it is possible she is developing similarly?

Also would it be possible for her to have a couple internal shellless eggs, and then go back to normal laying?

 

[Eggcessive]

You may want to offer crushed oyster shell in addition to the crushed egg shells. I suppose she could lay a normal egg after after soft eggs or internal laying. When eggs are produced they can go upward and out into the abdomen if there is an infection or salpingitis. Lash egg material, the solid cooked egg like material, can also go down the egg tract, but mire commonly goes up and out into the abdomen. Infectious bronchitis virus or exposure to it can cause a lot of reproductive disorders in chickens. My flock had that short lived virus one year, and many suffered reproductive disorders later. Those disorders are common in hens anyway after the age of 2. The right side being larger is probably due to the mass being more on that side.