Egg Peritonitis - how long before I end her suffering? Not a miracle chicken afterall :(

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Lelilamom

Lelilamom

Crowing
11 Years
Feb 28, 2013
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I have a hen who has been puffed up for a few weeks now, lethargic, not eating or drinking much at all. Watery, sickly poop.
I brought her indoors over the weekend to monitor her. She has a foul smell coming from her, I did an internal exam and she feels like she has a grapefruit inside her, with a few small hard lumps, eggs maybe.

I gave her a few warm baths and she's been on antibiotics, but her condition is deteriorating. She is not eating or drinking at all. She stands almost all day and sleeps

Is she suffering? Do I end this?
 
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It's a hard decision to make. If she were mine, with apparently no positive resolution of her health issues, I would euthanize her.
 
She's now sleeping lying down with her head down but her tail is still up. She hasn't eaten or drank in over 24 hours. She looks extremely swollen all over. Eyes closed, very slow breathing.

I hate to do this. I've never dispatched one of my chickens due to illness or injury. I'm not wearing my big girl pants right now...
 
Lelilamom said:
I have a hen who has been puffed up for a few weeks now, lethargic, not eating or drinking much at all.  Watery, sickly poop.
I brought her indoors over the weekend to monitor her.  She has a foul smell coming from her, I did an internal exam and she feels like she has a grapefruit inside her, with a few small hard lumps, eggs maybe.

I gave her a few warm baths and she's been on antibiotics, but her condition is deteriorating.  She is not eating or drinking at all.  She stands almost all day and sleeps

Is she suffering?  Do I end this?
Click to expand...


If she has a foul smell coming from her there I a very good chance that she has a massive infection. Look closely at the skin on her belly... If it's purple or dark, that's infection. Probably best to euthanize her. If you can't do yourself, maybe take her to a vet and have them do it.

-Kathy
 
ACK! This chicken is giving me a run for my money! This morning she looked SO bad and she had blood in her stools. It was a fine, warm sunny morning. I figured I would put her outside, in her box, for some sunshine. I checked on her 10 min later and she was drinking water and pecking at the feed I had in her box. I picked her up and put her in the grass. She immediately started pecking at the grass!!

Now she's wandering all over the yard pecking at the grass. Now what do I do?!
 
casportpony said:
If she has a foul smell coming from her there I a very good chance that she has a massive infection. Look closely at the skin on her belly... If it's purple or dark, that's infection. Probably best to euthanize her. If you can't do yourself, maybe take her to a vet and have them do it.

-Kathy
Click to expand...
Thanks again Kathy for your wonderful insights and knowledge. Her abdomen is a normal color, so far. My real concern is that I've mis-diagnosed her and she has a communicable disease. As long as what she has is genetic and can't be caught by the rest of my flock, I'll let her live out her days on her terms.
 
I hope she is a miracle chicken and that whatever was ailing her is gone. I don't want to be a buzz kill, but I have noticed that sometimes a terminally sick animal will start eating, drinking and acting normal shortly before death, so try not to get your hopes up too much (maybe @Folly's place can comment on why this happens. That said, there have been quite a few like you that have had sick birds get 100% better, and I hope your girl is getting better, cause I know all too well how stressful it can be when they're sick.

-Kathy
 
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