7 month old Plymouth with swollen abdomen, weakness, & maybe contractions?

[AllensBackyardBarnyard]

Our girl is about 7 months, and she's a layer. About 5 days ago, my husband thought that she was broody, as she was in a nest box most of the time. Next day, still in a box, so put her outside the coop to see her behavior, and she was very slow moving, and dragging her feet when she walked. She seemed to be a little worse the day after, and 2 days ago, I brought her inside as she was sitting down a lot and looked like she just didn't feel good.
She has stayed alert, eating & drinking, but she has yellow diarrhea, and when we cleaned her up this morning, her abdomen was really red and super swollen. Her comb & waddle have become much more red, and she has some reddening on her legs that wasn't there before.
She's got yellow scaley stuff on her skin, worse at her bum area. (Is this normal?)
We've egg-checked her twice and felt nothing. She's becoming weaker and more tired. Her appetite is reduced, but she's drinking. Her poo is dark green matter & runny yellow. She's still sitting down, and it looks like she's contracting when she's down like that.
And she has some respiratory issues, I can hear her breathe, almost like there's pligm in her throat.
The warm bath made her feel better, but I'm at a loss now.
Maybe the photos will help.

 

[Eggcessive]

Give her some water with SaveAChick or NutriDrench right away, and get her drinking, dip her beak if necessary. Offer a few bites of chopped egg or tuna, along with her usual feed, but water first. a wet mash of feed, water, egg, and plain yogurt can be good. She may have been eggbound and had a soft or hard egg break inside of her, or be suffering from an internal laying disorder or egg yolk peritonitis. If you can get some antibiotics from your vet, they can be helpful in early stages. Can you post any pictures of droppings? Check her for lice and mites around the vent and elsewhere. Here is some reading about reproductive disorders, which are more common in hens over 2, but still can occur in younger layers:
http://www.theveterinaryexpert.com/backyard-poultry/egg-yolk-peritonitis/
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/poultry/disorders-of-the-reproductive-system/internal-layer-poultry
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/poult...eproductive-system/egg-peritonitis-in-poultry
http://scoopfromthecoop.nutrenaworld.com/tag/laying-issues/

 

[AllensBackyardBarnyard]

UPDATE: We pulled another hen this evening who is showing the early signs & symptoms as the first.

Now I'm scared.

 

[Smuvers Farm]

@Eggcessive

 

[micstrachan]

Ugh. I was thinking egg yolk peritonitis, but I haveno idea what it could be if it's contagious.
Do you have access to a sterile needle? Maybe you could let a littke fluid drip out and examine it for color and clarity.
I would walk you through how I did this with my hen, but she ended up passing weeks later, so advice from someone more experienced would be better.

 

[Smuvers Farm]

@azygous

 

[azygous]

The red, swollen skin indicates infection. So does the cherry red comb and wattles - fever. The yellow granules? Just a guess, but it could be puss from the infection exuded from her pores. Those are still not indicating what is the cause though.

I'm no vet, but what I have learned in ten years is that chickens get sick and die very quickly. Sometimes there's just no time to waste trying to diagnose a sick chicken, and getting them on an antibiotic ASAP can save their life. Meanwhile, the antibiotic is working while I continue to ponder what all the symptoms might add up to.

Since we do not know at this point what bacteria is causing this infection, I would get her on amoxicillin or penicillin, or some other broad spectrum antibiotic.

 

[azygous]

Two chickens coming down with similar symptoms in such a narrow time frame is suspicious. I doubt the odds would favor two hens with egg yolk peritonitis.

 

[azygous]

It could be E.coli. Have your chickens been scratching around in a compost pile where rotten fruit and veggies have been discarded?

The symptoms include those what your hen is exhibiting, including the swollen abdomen probably from the irritated liver that E.coli can produce. Also the red skin.

It's a gram negative bacteria so amoxycillin is the best bet. Time is of the essence. Get a vet to give you some if you have none on hand. Injectible penicillin would get the antibiotic into the system faster than orally.

 

[micstrachan]

I agree. Not EYP. I just meant that was my initial thought before it manifested as something contagious. What types of contagious bacterial infections can chickens contract?