Baseball size mass in chickens stomach??

[Hhackleman]

I have a 3yr old Rhode Island Red that has a large hard mass in her stomach. I noticed she was walking like a penguin about 4 days ago, but thought it was because she always gets poop stuck on her bottom, so I gave her a bath.
When I went out the next day she was still walking funny, which made me realize it was something else. I felt her stomach and she had a baseball size hard mass, not squishy. I thought she was egg bound and did everything from bathing, lubricating her vent, and giving calcium for a couple days. She didn’t lay an egg and there was no change in the way she was acting. She is eating and drinking. So now I’m thinking it must be something else...tumor, lash eggs stuck?? Please help!!

 

[azygous]

By "stomach" do you mean the area below the vent and behind the legs?

Swelling in the abdominal area that feels like a water balloon and pushes the legs apart (up to eight inches)so the chicken waddles, is likely ascites. This is a symptom, not a disease. It indicates chronic liver disease for which there is no cure.

If the legs are no farther apart than four inches, it may be an indication of egg-yolk peritonitis (EYP). There usually is no cure, but an antibiotic might prolong her life.

If by "stomach" you mean a swollen crop, located on the right side of the chest wall, it may indicate impacted or sour crop. There are treatments for these.

 

[Hhackleman]

The mass is at the bottom of her body, between her legs. It's the size of a baseball and is very hard, not like a water balloon. She is still eating and drinking, but doesn't want to move a lot. I would assume because it is hard to. Is Egg Yolk Peritonitis the same thing as Salpingitis?

 

[coach723]

Salpingitis is different than EYP. With a hard mass I would suspect salpingitis, internal laying, or possibly a cancer/tumor.

 

[azygous]

They aren't precisely the same, but they can occur together or overlap.

Salpingitis is caused by bacteria from the cloaca being sucked into the oviduct due to the intestine not fully closing off during egg laying. EYP or just peritonitis is caused by yolk finding their way into the abdominal cavity due to a tear in the oviduct or some other sort of stress. They build up there, cause inflammation and that leads inevitably to infection.

The first can often be treated successfully with an antibiotic if caught very early on, while the second usually spells a death sentence unless a vet can perform surgery to clean out the mess in the abdomen.

 

[rebrascora]

No, they are somewhat different. Do you know when she last laid an egg?... Days, weeks or months? does she look like she is in lay ie is her comb bright red and plump.

Salpingitis is an infection of the oviduct which usually becomes impacted with "lash egg" material... a solidified mass of pus and egg. Sometimes the hen will lay a "lash egg" but whether they do pass any of the material or not, they usually become packed with it and eventually the mass constricts the gut and prevents them from eliminating waste which obviously kills them. This may be what you are feeling although the oviduct usually sits above the gut in the body, so you are not always likely to feel it in the belly. The size is about right though and they can even get to grapefruit size which must be incredibly uncomfortable. The infection is often confined to the oviduct and once a large mass has formed, it would require expensive and risky surgery to remove and the bird would then need regular hormone implants to prevent future ovulation.

Internal laying is where egg yolks released from the ovary during ovulation fail to travel into the oviduct and drop into the abdominal cavity instead. This usually occurs on a daily basis and the mass of yolks in the abdomen slowly builds up over weeks and months. They can often just sit there without becoming infected (Egg Yolk Peritonitis) and the bird will appear perfectly healthy and have a nice bright comb and look like she is laying and maybe even visit the nest boxes and sing the egg song, but their belly gradually gets bigger and their hips start to get pushed apart and they usually develop ascites. If it becomes infected (EYP) they will usually start to look sick and perhaps go off their food.

Your third option is of course a tumour as you mentioned.

All of these ailments are likely to prove terminal sooner or later unless huge sums of money and a good avian vet are available and even then, major surgery like this is very risky.
I would therefore probably suggest making plans to euthanize your bird when her quality of life starts to deteriorate.

I'm so sorry not to be more hopeful for her.