4 year old bantam hen w/ reproductive issues

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Of course I know that this is untreatable for the most part but I hope that you are able to find a good solution

That’s positive! Maybe you could make her a shorter one as well, or one as a sort of step up (that’s what I have, also when I had a lot of birds, close to twenty I believe, the lower pecking order birds would roost there) so that it’s easier for her.

Also for the draining my dad and I looked up videos on YouTube and there were several helpful ones, if you are worried about doing it.

I’ve been thinking about making her a lower roost. I just recently got some shorter scrap wood I could use, too. I’m sure the other chickens would appreciate it as a perch to use throughout the day as well.

 

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Olive survived being bitten by a dog, her bumble foot seems to finally be recovering, and she’s still alive!
I know that her ascites hasn’t gone away, but it’s amazing to me that she’s still doing well. I guess whatever reproductive problem she has isn’t getting much worse since she doesn’t produce much egg material.
Picture from February 13th (when the dog bit her):

A couple days ago (her feathers are wet because I was cleaning her butt fluff off):

 

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Took Olive to an avian vet. It’s a pretty long drive from where I live. Though she wasn’t getting worse, I thought it was time to see if something could be done about her issue.

According to the vet, her enlarged abdomen is most likely caused by ovarian cancer and/or an impacted oviduct. The vet also said that draining her would probably not help, and might actually harm her since the problem isn’t a buildup of fluid. (I’m glad I didn’t drain her.) The vet thought masses (caused by ovarian cancer and/or an impacted oviduct) are causing Olive’s abdomen to be swollen.

I suspect it’s the impacted oviduct. That means eggs are being stopped from being laid before they’re even fully sized eggs. That explains why she’s been alive and well for a whole year after this developed. If it was internal laying, I feel like she wouldn’t have survived this long. That’s also why I don’t think it’s ovarian cancer.

Unfortunately, the ultrasound (to find out whether it is ovarian cancer or an impacted oviduct) and the surgery to remove the oviduct (if impacted oviduct is the case) was too expensive for me. I wish I could do more for Olive, but I am glad I have a better idea of what her enlarged abdomen is caused by. It’s good that it doesn’t seem to be internal laying, which sounds worse than an impacted oviduct.

The vet also mentioned that Olive has a heart murmur due to the the masses pressing on her liver (which presses on her heart). I believe that this explains why she pants more than other chickens and sometimes gets pale in the face.

I’ll continue to observe Olive and see if she seems to be in any pain or great discomfort. She’s still acting normal.

 

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Olive after her visit to the vet.

 

[azygous]

Caption: "At the vet's, they did THINGS to me!"

 

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Ascites is a swollen abdomen between the legs that usually pushes the legs apart so the hen has a wide stanch. When such a hen walks, she has a noticeable "penguin"walk. Does that description match up?

What I'm suspecting is internal laying. For some reason, a hen can begin to divert her yolks into the abdominal cavity instead of releasing them down the reproductive tract. They accumulate in the abdominal cavity until it kills her. Some hens go on in this fashion for months before exhibiting any warning signs. Some hens, such as a one-year old Andelusian of mine, died suddenly with no warning signs, and had been laying internally for just a couple of weeks.

I don't know if the yolks would show up on an X-ray, but I usually cut open a chicken of mine when she dies, and I've had two hens die from this issue. The first had been internally laying for so long her eggs were "hardboiled" inside her. The younger hen's yolks were still runny since they hadn't had nearly as long to be cooked by the hens' body heat.

She does sort of waddle. She takes what I would describe as wide steps, kind of pushing her leg out then forward.
If it is internal laying, is there any treatment for that?

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

She could have both issues, the internal laying causing liver failure. No, there is no treatment you can do. If you have lots of excess $$, an avian vet can operate, clean out her abdominal cavity, and install a hormone implant to stop ovulation. With that, you would end up with a very expensive hen with medical needs that require repeatedly changing the implant as it wears out, usually a few times a year.

Here's my thread on internal laying with some shocking pics. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/internal-laying-what-it-looks-like.1349959/

I hope it’s not internal laying. :/
If it’s just ascites, is there anything I can do?
Also, thanks so much for all the information!

 

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A small update on Olive-
She hasn’t gotten any worse since she started molting. I’m assuming it’s because she isn’t producing any more egg material. Unfortunately, Olive’s nearing the end of her molt and I’m considering trying to drain her abdomen (knowing that it’s a temporary solution), but I’m afraid I’ll mess up and accidentally hurt her.

 

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I forgot to add pictures of Olive on the roosting bar-