Ben mentioned it looked like there was a cherry tomato in the coop- this is what I found.
Closer inspection: vascular, lots of liquid nearby on the bedding.
Closer inspection: some sort of skin/tube attached.
Above: just above, a shell-less egg, yolk, and copious amounts of poo.
Juxtaposition of shell-less egg, poo, and abnormal item.
Fetched it out with my coop cleaning scooper- looks like there are small bumps at the end of the attached tissue/tube.
Fetched it out with my coop cleaning scooper- looks like there are small bumps at the end of the attached tissue/tube.
Rinsed it off to get a better look.
Abnormal finding is slightly translucent.
The ‘bumps’ attached look like mini yolks.
Another view of the attachment.
Are these ova/undeveloped yolks? Did my chicken lose an ovary?!
A view of translucence- slightly darker mass inside.
Used my exacto blade to prop up the ‘bumps’ for inspection.
Darker mass again. The entire mass feels like it contains a liquid.
Teeny tiny ‘bump’
Final shot before I decided to dissect.
Attempted to “skin” the mass. First puncture allowed liquid to escape.
Liquid seepage.
Is this yolk?
Another shot of liquid.
Almost positive this is yolk, with a little blood mixed in where I scraped the “darker mass” spot I had seen.
Alright, a gross mystery for you all.
Ben went out to check on the ladies this morning, and came back in telling me there was weird red egg inside the coop. He described it as looking like “a cherry tomato”. Scary. I went to investigate.
There was a red lump, surrounded by wet bedding. Above, a shell-less egg with a TON of watery poo nearby. Keep in mind- I clean this coop every day, so this wasn’t a buildup of poo from a few days or anything.
I can only assume one of my ladies had a VERY bad morning.
I examined the mass at length: it felt like it contained liquid (it did), had an attached ‘cord’ with what appeared to be ova at the end, a dark spot inside that, after dissection, turned out to be extra tissue inside the sac, and the ‘liquid’ inside appeared to be egg yolk.
So… what is this thing? Did my hen lay an egg yolk… maybe dragging other egg yolks with it? Is it a cyst? Whatever it is, the ladies all seemed healthy and happy and were running around scratching like normal, so I’ve got to assume that it’s not, ya know, vital to their function.
Ferndale Chickens 