Aviain flu or ingested roofing nails?

[Keylime]

Hi, I have two, maybe three birds who are sick. The first one has been sick for three days with lethargy, diarrhea, difficulty walking (she waddles slowly), shrunken and pale comb and wattles, and a red swollen belly. It looked to me like internal laying, which I know I can't do anything about. She is still alive. Now a second hen has many of the same symptoms, except her belly looks normal. Both chickens seem extremely heavy to me, though they are large breeds. Now a third hen looks lethargic.

Only one of my hens is laying as it is winter.

Five weeks ago, we had a new roof put on our garage, and a lot of the roofing scrap went into the run. I borrowed a magnet and collected a bucket of nails and metal scrap. So it could be that they swallowed something that got caught in their GI tracts, however, I haven't noticed any blood in their poop.

Could this be avian flu?

 

[Chicken Heel]

How old are the hens? With the very cold temperatures we have been experiencing, they are most likely suffering from the effects. I have a couple of 7 year old bantam hens that are having a hard time in particular. But it is concerning that your three have similar symptoms, which points to an illness.

 

[Keylime]

How old are the hens? With the very cold temperatures we have been experiencing, they are most likely suffering from the effects. I have a couple of 7 year old bantam hens that are having a hard time in particular. But it is concerning that your three have similar symptoms, which points to an illness.

They are two years old. I have some that are as old as 8 that are fine.

What symptoms do yours have? We did have a bad cold snap last week.

 

[Chicken Heel]

Lethargy mostly. What breeds are the hens having the issues?

You might want to do a little research on water belly (ascites) as well within BYC or other on-line sources. And good luck!!!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Is a vet a possibility? X-rays would reveal the presence of hardware.