Pekin hen with a firm swollen abdomen

[Darlingoo]

Hi all, I have a pekin hen hatched around April this year with a very firm swollen abdomen. She’s still eating and drinking and has quite an appetite although she’s not got much mass to her. She’s lethargic and sluggish more than usual but she’s still alert. She still poos normally although I’ve noticed as Ive lined her carrier with toilet paper there’s a very slight shade of red to the liquid coming out. I’m noticing she’s panting quite a lot, I’ve got some old tylan soliable to hand as it seems like some infection, started her about 36 hours ago. Unfortunately there’s not a vet component in chickens nearby and she’s in the weird grey area of do I put her down or do I continue to see if she gets better. I’m worried it’s a reproductive infection of some kind. She hasn’t laid an egg yet.
My gut instinct is kind of saying it would be kinder to put her down from what I’ve read if it’s a reproductive issues, but I suppose I wanted some confirmation from the wonderfully knowledgeable people on here before I do and regret it.
The one thing I can say is it really doesn’t seem like water belly to me, as the swelling is incredibly firm and not squishy from what I’ve read.

Many thanks in advance for anyone who reads this

 

[Darlingoo]

Just an update, she looked to be struggling more, sat down and panting heavily. I very sadly decided to put her down. I then decided to dissect her. Her liver was gigantic and yellow in colour. Her stomach seemed to have a lot of sawdust looking stuff in it aswell mixed with wheat which I know she hasn’t had access to for about 4 days but has been eating plenty of layers pellets.
I didn’t delve much deeper then that but I’m sure if there was a problem with anything else I’d of noticed it after removing the liver and stomach.

I don’t supose anyone could give some insight into how the liver would of gotten so massive?

 

[Eggcessive]

Very sorry to hear of your loss. Kudos to you for doing a necropsy. It sounds like you did the right thing, as she probably was in a lot of pain. Did you happen to take any pictures of her organs? It sounds like she might have had fatty liver disease if you also saw a lot of fat around organs. That causes a large tan or putty-clored liver. Were there any blood clots? Another disease that can cause an enlarged liver is avian leukosis virus, also called big liver disease. Did the liver (or other organs) have any spots on it? What do you feed your chickens?

 

[Eggcessive]

Here is some info and a picture of fatty liver disease:
https://www.merckvetmanual.com/poul...e/fatty-liver-hemorrhagic-syndrome-in-poultry

The picture below is from a hen with lymphoid leukosis virus:

 

[Darlingoo]

Thank you very much for responding. I’ll be very interested to read through the links in a little bit. I only took these photos top right is her liver, bottom right is the contains of her stomach. I don’t know what a normal chicken stomach is meant to look or feel like but it was hard and looked like a big chestnut. Didn’t notice any blood clots and didn’t see any excess fat she had lost a fair amount of weight towards the end. Just because of price and what I can get my hands on it’s mainly wheat mixed with layer pellets and treats like apples/bananas every couple of days. Feel so bad for this to of happened

 

[Eggcessive]

Thanks for the pictures. Chickens don’t have a stomach, but their gizzards are normally hard and contain grit, and all of the foods they have eaten, where they are ground up and move on to the small intestines. The liver is really light tan, isn’t it? I am an amateur at necropsies, but the only one I have seen in my own chickens was one with fatty liver disease. But your pullet would have had a lot of fat, so I will need to tag some people who might have insight. @azygous has leukosis in her flock, and I would like to see if she has seen the huge tan liver before. Hopefully she will have a look.

 

[Eggcessive]

Did you see any yellow ascites fluid come out of the abdominal cavity when you opened the abdomen? I found this article about liver color, which can be affected by how long the chicken has fasted before slaughter, and whether the chicken was slaughtered upside down and bled out or not:
https://www.agrimprove.com/main-causes-of-changes-in-liver-coloration-in-poultry/

 

[azygous]

An enlarged liver associated with leucosis virus usually has white lesions dotted all over. The tan liver indicates the chicken may have eaten way more than their share of corn.

 

[azygous]

It's hard to judge size of liver from a photo. How much would you estimate it weighs compared to a pound of raw ground beef you buy at the store?

A cockerel I had with leucosis had a two pound liver. Enlarged liver to this degree is the classic indicator for leucosis virus.