not egg bound. What can this be?

Faraday40

Free Ranging
10 Years
Aug 1, 2013
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Illinois
Cuddles = 2 yr old Lav Orpington
Last egg Sept 1, 2015
Had unknown illness in Sept. that cleared up with Corid & dewormer (SafeGuard). Followed by molt Oct-Nov & then winter.

I knew something was off when she didn't RUN to me for treats. She was hanging out quietly in the coop, which is the opposite of normal for this hen. I brought her in for observation & withheld food overnight. Her crop didn't empty over night. (no odor or big hard lump) She also had abnormal watery poops. I later gave bread with oi & crop massage. The crop emptied by afternoon, but the poop output did not look right. The flock was wormed mid Feb (Strike III), so I tried Corid in her water. She lost all appetite, drank less, & has a hard swollen abdomen.

Her color looks good (not pale)
Her eyes are clear & bright
No eye or nasal discharge
No breathing difficulty
She still responds (quiet clucking or purring) when she hears her name or my voice
She walks in s-l-o-w motion & seems quiet
No loud happy noises or begging for treats (normal for her)
Lethargy- but not fluffed up nor droopy
losing weight / no appetite --- very unlike her
very firm swollen abdomen


I tried the lubed glove 2xs & never felt an egg.
I've done 20 min baths with epsom salt & blow dry.
Tried stool softener & yogurt thinking it's an intestinal blockage
Tried offering all kinds of soft treats like: cooked eggs, yogurt, oatmeal, soaked/softened feed
Started tube feeding (mostly water, probiotic, electrolytes, & some Exact (baby bird hand feeding formula) 35cc 2xs per day)

Only ray of hope: Today my daughter fed her some bread & mealworms. I've been trying soft foods, but after 6 days I really expected her to get better or decline by now. We cannot tube feed her indefinitely, so I'll let dear Cuddles eat bread & mealworms tonight.



Cuddles is a PET chicken, so if she never lays again, we're OK with that. There are no local chicken vets since we're in the suburbs. There are some exotic avian vets who take care of macaws & the birds at the zoo, but we simply can't afford $100s in vet bills

Below are some pics of her nasty poops & vent. Has anyone else experienced this? Any ideas of other causes?





Here are pics of her vent & poops.

Looks tight & dry like a non-layer


The yellow in 1st pic could be from the olive oil. She was only pooping 5-6xs per day & about 2-3xs at night.



Today she started pooping more frequently (maybe 8-12xs) - but it's not the poop explosion we thought.
Just as I was typing she made 2 small like this: (closest to normal so far)
 
She might be suffering from internal laying, egg yolk peritonitis, and those can cause ascites or fluid in the lower belly, along with problems walking, walking upright sometimes or sometimes waddling, runny droppings, starving, and they might have cooked egg yolk material in droppings. Strong antibiotics such as enrofloxacin might help, but there is not a very good outcome usually. If the abdomen gets tight with fluid, it can be removed occasionally with an 18 gauge needle to ease pain and make breathing easier. The best thing to do is to keep her comfortable, offer her some foods such as egg, tuna, plain yogurt to tempt her to eat, and don't let her suffer.
 
I hope you find what is wrong. My RIR (named Delaware) has similar symptoms, though she is pretty alert yet. She's not eating much layer feed, but will eat people food so I've been giving her eggs and tuna.

Her abdomen is so tight too! I wonder if I should try draining it too? Where is the best place to drain from, and how deep do you go with the needle?

Faraday, I hope your hen gets better. She's beautiful!

Laura
 
Thank you for the info.
Cuddles is eating very little, but at this point, I decided to let her eat what she desires. She looks OK & even makes some quiet little happy noises for me. She walks slowly but no waddle, no swaying, no upright stance. Last night & this morning she made some sort-of solid poops that were not green, but this afternoon back to slimy liquid with green.

In Sept Cuddles had a squishy abdomen when she took ill. She seemed far worse & I thought egg peritonitis back then. Somehow she got better. The only things given were Corid, de-wormer, & TLC. She worked her way back into the flock & up the pecking order. Was fine Oct- mid Feb. Many of the symptoms are the same except the abdomen is now HARD & she is alert rather than listless. Not the look of a dying hen.

I'm beginning to wonder is she has cancer or some type of internal organ damage, but still praying she does not. Many of the illnesses with her symptoms (like internal laying or egg bound) go from bad to death in a few days. She's more "off". After looking at some of the links, it still could be a variation of egg peritonitis or ascites.
 
Try tubing more fluids and see if that helps with the yellow color in her poop.

-Kathy
BTW- Thanks Kathy, for your support back in Sept. You helped me learn & get through tube feeding. Boy does Cuddles fight! She's drinking & eating a little on her own, so I'm tube feeding 1-2xs per day just to make sure she doesn't go downhill from dehydration. Her poops look a lot more "normal" today. By that I mean more solid & less slimy white goo. I wish she'd eat more than bread & mealworms. Every other chicken I know loves to eat egg.
 
Cuddles. The BEST chicken in the world to me.
April 23, 2014 - May 14, 2016
LL

LL






To those of you who remember Cuddles, she was a special girl. I had wanted a lav orp for a long time & finally could afford 4 eggs. From those 4 shipped eggs, we hatched 2 chicks: Cuddles & Tank. Cuddles loved to sit on my lap & watch TV. She was always spoiled, but also gave back to me in many ways. I worked with her so she came running & responded to her name (not just the :Ch Ch Chicken call) She followed basic commands like "Go coop" ;"Go run", "Go crate" (travel cage), "up" = jump in my lap. The fun part was when I trained her to peck at targets. I would write words on cards & she would select the card with a tiny red dot. I could ask her the most complicated questions & she always got the answer correct! (to the amazement of many middle school students! LOL) We then went one step further & I taught her to peck at only the Queen of Hearts. As long as I did my part correctly & forced the volunteer to select Q-hearts, Cuddles (my physic chicken) could read their minds & peck at the card they randomly chose. It was so precious to see Cuddles think. She would look back & forth between cards often tilting her head to view at different angles before making her selection. My DD then decided to work with Cuddles. She tried agility training & got Cuddles to walk through a hoop. That was about it. Let's face it, Orps are not made for agility, but dear Cuddles tried her best to please us.

Cuddles loved the attention. She was fearless of visitors & would let anyone pet & hold her - in hopes that some sort of treat would be given. She loved her treats! Even without food, she jumped up into my lap for attention or simply followed me around the yard - "chatting the entire time.". Our backyard seems so empty & quiet now. I miss my Cuddles.
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Back in early Sept, she had some type of severe illness & stopped eating. I dewormed, gave Corid, and even learned how to tube feed so Cuddles would not starve to death. She lived! I followed up with yogurt & ACV. Never sure exactly what it was, but she molted & life went back to normal for a while. In March, Cuddles had a mild relapse. Her abdomen felt swollen & hard. I knew she had something serious. It seemed like her poop was being blocked & her crop was slow. The digestive & poop issues cleared, but the firm abdomen remained. My guess is that she was internally laying or had tumors. We decided that chicken hospice was our plan. It continued to grow, but even when ill, Cuddles was the 1st to greet me every morning. DD & I were away on Sat. When we returned to lock up the flock, Cuddles looked weak. I planned to bring her inside for the night due to the cold. I sat on the sofa with Cuddles in my lap. She briefly seized, then placed her head in the palm of my hand. She looked up at me a drew her last few breaths. It seems that she waited for me to hold her one last time before letting go.

I have other chickens, even other lav orps, but sometimes the brightest stars burn out the fastest. Cuddles was MY chicken, my favorite, my companion, my comforter, & my friend. She was so much more than "a chicken". I guess I'm writing all this because only those who have fallen in love with a chicken can understand how sad I feel right now. RIP my dear, sweet Cuddles.
 

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