Thelastchicken
Hatching
- Nov 11, 2015
- 5
- 0
- 7
This is our second round of the same symptoms on another chicken. The first died in the fall/winter, and the americana has been acting the same for the last few weeks she looks ill, loses weight then is back to normal, weight back on.
She has a squishy abdomen, almost like a water balloon, she drinks a ton of water. Any time she sees fresh water she is drawn to it and will sip and sip for 10 min,but she has always been like that. She eats, but I think she hasnt been eating her food or scratch because her breast bone is quite defined. She eats worms, but she has refused raspberries today, one of her favorites. She is standing under trees or the deck just standing for long periods. She wattles and it seems like she has trouble getting around. Her butt fluff has a white and green poop all over them and she seems to be straining to poop,which is a deep green. She has not laid in over 2 years, so pretty sure she isn't egg bound. We have felt her abdomen, but it is mainly squishy no lumps that we could feel. I checked on her in the coop just now (11 pm) and she seemed to be breathing heavy and awkwardly laying favoring one side. This is the first time i have seen her breathing heavy.
Could it be ascites? Is this just old age catching up with her? She is the last of our flock, and I don't want her to suffer. Vet is not an option.
She has a squishy abdomen, almost like a water balloon, she drinks a ton of water. Any time she sees fresh water she is drawn to it and will sip and sip for 10 min,but she has always been like that. She eats, but I think she hasnt been eating her food or scratch because her breast bone is quite defined. She eats worms, but she has refused raspberries today, one of her favorites. She is standing under trees or the deck just standing for long periods. She wattles and it seems like she has trouble getting around. Her butt fluff has a white and green poop all over them and she seems to be straining to poop,which is a deep green. She has not laid in over 2 years, so pretty sure she isn't egg bound. We have felt her abdomen, but it is mainly squishy no lumps that we could feel. I checked on her in the coop just now (11 pm) and she seemed to be breathing heavy and awkwardly laying favoring one side. This is the first time i have seen her breathing heavy.
Could it be ascites? Is this just old age catching up with her? She is the last of our flock, and I don't want her to suffer. Vet is not an option.
