Strangulation by egg

[Bubblingbrooks]

Here is an odd one for you.
A hen that hatched out early this spring developed an odd sound as she matured. YULP.
No cackling or bucking. Just yulp.
She did not display any other odd behavior or health, so we let her be.
Over the last few weeks, we have been selecting the old hens for processing, and in an attempt to determine who is laying more then 2-3 times per week, we stuck 3 hens, one of them being the aforementioned one, in with the ducks.
Very few eggs were forthcoming, so we had plans to process all three as soon as we had time.

This morning, I found one of the hens dead, and it turned out to be the one with the strange sound.
DH did a necropsy, and found the oddest thing. She was egg bound, and the bind was above her heart. Essentially, it was slowly strangling her!

 

[Denim Deb]

That really sounds weird.

 

[k0xxx]

Yeesh! That's a new one for me too.

 

[Wannabefree]

Freaaaaaaaaaakyyyyy. Wonder how the crap THAT happened?!

 

[Neko-chan]

...

 

[FarmerDenise]

That is a weird one!

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

Some form of congenital defect, most likely. Birds only have one active ovary, so it's possible, but unusual all the same.

Everything was in its normal place. She had other small eggs in various stages in the proper spots.
It looked like the bind had been pushed up to the top of the cavity, rather then being nearer the bottom as we tend to see.

 

[tortoise]

I mentioned this to my fiance, a veterinarian, out of curiousity. He thought it was unlikely to be an egg, but be another calcified body.

So my question to you: Did you break it open??!! Seriously, I really want to know!