water belly?

[Jackie-83]

I have a 3 and 1/2 year old orpington hen. She's been "off" for about 4 days. The first day she was just a little late getting off the roost bar. The second day she was also slow to get down and slightly less peppy, with a droopy comb, and tail down. This was enough for me to investigate. However, she's the least friendly of the bunch and she's harder to catch than a greased pig, but I did notice runny poop on her butt and spreading her legs more that normal. It wasn't until yesterday that I was able to get my hands on her. Yesterday she was feeling bad enough that I was able to catch her. Once I got my hands on her, it was immediately obvious that her abdomen was swollen. From breast bone to vent. My first thought was that she was egg bound. I tried to look for spasming of her vent but couldn't see between the feathers, poop, and her attitude. Gave her a bath with Epsom salt. And fed her some Tums. Then once able to inspect, I saw her vent was spasming so I put some water based lube on her vent and allowed the natural movement to hopefully get at least some of in inside. The results within minutes of turning her lose was that she perked up. Her comb stayed flopped over but her tail came back up and she seemed to be much more energetic and lively. Today she was back to being lethargic, and uninterested. I had a slightly harder time catching her, but I think that's just due to the fact that she's wise to me now. Repeated the actions of yesterday, minus the lube. With the same results. However with no egg, or improvement to the swelling. It feels like a firm water balloon. At this point (at least day 4) I figure is she was egg bound she'd have either passed the egg or been on deaths door. So, now I'm wondering what the issue is. The only thing I can come up with is water belly. As far as her diet she's on layer pellets and a handful of scratch. Watermelon also yesterday and today. She's not as interested in food as she normally would be, but still eating some. Any ideas, or possible treatment options please share. A vet is not an option, so it's all self treatment.

 

[Jackie-83]

Also, she was laying nearly daily until this happened. And has shown some gaping type breathing the past 2 days.

 

[coach723]

If it's fluid then likely it's ascites (water belly). Sometimes rather than fluid it's infectious material from salpingitis or internal laying, that usually feels firmer than if it's fluid, but they both can feel fairly firm. Ascites is fluid from the liver leaking into the abdominal cavity and rather than a disease on it's own, it's rather a symptom of something else going on. In hens it's often a reproductive problem, a cancer, infection or internal laying, organ failure. Once the abdomen is bloated, there really are no good treatment options. Some choose to drain the fluid, that may make her more comfortable for a time, but it will recur since the underlying condition will still be there. Draining does carry some risk, if fluid is drained too quickly it can cause shock which can sometimes be fatal, and some risk of infection from the drain site. There are videos on youtube that show how to do that if you are interested in trying that, it's not difficult. If you don't get fluid then it's more likely salpingitis or internal laying. The fluid, or matter, puts pressure on the abdomen, it can press on the posterior air sacs, making it hard for them to breathe, and they will sometimes pant. It also can slow digestion and make it hard for them to pass droppings, so sometimes a slowed or stopped crop will occur, and may become sour. They may have dirty butts from having difficulty pushing droppings out. How sure are you that she was still laying regularly up to a week ago? If she really was, then that's really rather a sudden onset, which is a little unusual. Often people don't realize they are ill until it's been going on for a while because they are very, very good at hiding the symptoms. Check her crop in the morning, see if it's empty then, before she has access to food or water. If it's full then, or hard or soft and squishy then digestion is being affected too. If she's pooping then she's not egg bound, the calcium won't hurt anything and may help if she is trying to pass something. Most of the articles on line refer to ascites in broilers, but it's generally the same thing. And reproductive problems are not uncommon in laying hens over the age of two.
This article is more geared towards laying hens, may be helpful:
https://www.communitychickens.com/ascites-in-chickens-zbw2001ztil/

 

[Jackie-83]

I'm 100% sure she was laying regularly prior to this. I've been checking her crop the last 2 mornings. So far it's been empty in the mornings, but not as full in the evenings. I know she's not eating as much so that is not a surprise. She is barely pooping. Very runny. Rather than a proper dump it more like a small amount oozing out and on to her feathers. Water belly being a symptom of a chronic issue, I will have to dispatch her. I wont make her suffer, but I really want to be positive that the correct diagnosis before I do that. Any ideas for any other diagnosis or some way to confirm water belly?

 

[coach723]

Short of vet care, you could take a needle and syringe and see if you can pull fluid out of her belly where it's bloated.

 

[Razzlefrazzle]

She is barely pooping. Very runny. Rather than a proper dump it more like a small amount oozing out and on to her feathers.

Any white discharge or unusually bad smells? I'm wondering if it could just be something like a bad case of vent gleet or bowel infection.

 

[Jackie-83]

Any white discharge or unusually bad smells? I'm wondering if it could just be something like a bad case of vent gleet or bowel infection.

She stinks before the bath, but once I wash the poop off. She doesn't smell. I took an uncomfortably close smell because I thought possible infection/rot when I still thought she was egg bound. Usually I can literally sniff something like that out.

 

[Jackie-83]

So after careful consideration I have decided to try to drain some fluid off of her this afternoon. The reasoning behind this is I only have 2 chickens. Little Girl with her water belly and Sittin. Little Girl has always been strangely independent, Sittin on the other hand is very much a "flock" bird. And so until we can rehome Sittin to a new flock, we are going to do our best to keep Little Girl comfortable. Is that horrible? Keeping an ill chicken alive to be a companion for a perfectly healthy chicken... I just hope I find a good place for her fast. I hate for an animal to suffer with something they are never going to get well from.

 

[Jackie-83]

her most recent poop

 

[Jackie-83]

So, we did the thing. The color was pineapple juice yellow. We took about 10 fluid ounces off of her. She's still leaking from the injection site. So after her bath, to rinse the poop off of her because as bad as she dislikes getting a bath, any relief she may experience is not her priority, we wrapped her in the towel, disinfected the area and stuck the needle in. She was not pleased about the stick but calmed down immediately. Due to us not having a large syringe we just let it free flow. Once it slowed down we applied gentle pressure until we reached the 10 ounces. After that I turned her loose. Still dripping fluid she started preening. I had some spaghetti noodles left over so I offered her a few to see what she did. She has not been interested in any kind of food today. She went to town on them. And again, seemingly after every bath, she's peppy and tail is up. I'm going to keep eyes on her until she goes on the roost. Hopefully this helps her.