Drained a Hen's Abdomen.. Rest in Peace, Olivia 11-5-10

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Thanks for the clarification! My chicken definently had an infection of some sort as her belly was very hot and bloated for the past couple of days. I cant imagine she didnt have an infection with all that heat. She seems to be doing better since the antibiotic injections (breathing better but still somewhat heavy and heat has gone way down on abdomen). She is also still doing her shuffle and looks like she's trying to pass something. Since Wednesday (possibly before) she has only once passed what looked like a bloody egg "membrane", cooked yolk piece, and feces (Friday after vet). All other excrements have been fecal matter. There was nothing felt before the vet visit near the vent up the rectum. Do you think it would be worth doing another exam to feel if something is there or possible another soak in Epsom salts? I wonder if an egg did break inside her, she got an infection, passed the contents, and has another egg bound? I will look more into egg binding.

It's hard to say what exactly is happening to your hen. All you can do is do treat for infection once, hope there was something to actually treat (internal laying can't be treated). A soak won't help unless there is an actual egg there to expel. Masses of cooked yolk mixed with solidified infection most likely won't pass by soaking her. They are there to stay. She may not be completely blocked off yet. I know you want to do something, but there is probably nothing you can do other than make her comfortable and warm or euthanize her.

The reason antibiotics won't really help with most infections is that by the time you realize she has one, the infection has turned into a cheesy mass that is not going to pass. Antibiotics will not break that up. Chickens hide illness until they are very, very critical, generally.
 
I stumbled across this thread this morning because I have a hen with a swollen abdomen. I have been reading for hours and have learned a lot. My hen is not a hatchery hen that I know of. We got her at an auction last year. She is a Kelso game hen who was giving me maybe an egg a day. One of the hens in her pen went broody several weeks ago and to break her of it, I closed of the main nesting boxes so she couldn't go in. I have another nesting box that she didn't like, so it only took less then a week to break her. Since then, I noticed that I was only getting a couple eggs a day from 4 hens. Three days ago, I find the Kelso hen inside and thought she might be going broody, but she didn't growl at me when I got close so I just assumed she was laying rather late in the day. Yesterday afternoon, I found her inside again, just standing there. When I went to get she, she allowed me. For a game hen, this is NOT usual. I took her inside thinking she was egg bound. Gave her a nice warm Epson salt bath, some tums as I had read, some Nutridrench mixed with Pedialyte. I also lubed up a gloved finger to feel for the egg, but there was none. I gave her two more baths last night and again this morning. After posting on a few other pages I read it could be EYP, or Ascites, I ran home and gave her some Tylan 200 orally and another bath as she seems to like it (feels good?). Then after reading more, I wanted to rush home and drain her, but now I'm not so sure..... I too am new to this (1 1/2 years) and have learned so much. Is it worth prolonging the inevitable? I probably can't stick her with the flock anymore as she is now low man on the pole. She's already hurting, they will totally pick on her being a bunch of game hens (mean, mean girls!) How do I put her out of her misery? I am a whimp when it comes to culling. TY
 
After posting on a few other pages I read it could be EYP, or Ascites,

Actually, ascites can be a symtom of EYP, heart issues, liver issues or cancer, all or any of them. Ascites is not the main issue, but only a symptom of something you can't see inside. Tylan is really for respiratory issues and will not affect anything to do with her bloat. Actually, even stronger antibiotics probably won't, either. There really is no way to know exactly what is causing it until she passes and you open her up to check her organs, I'm sorry to say. If you can find a place for her in the flock and she is living a semi-normal life, you can just let her live as long as she does with her peeps. That's what I do unless a bird is horribly injured or almost gone anyway.
 

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