Bloated Abdomen in Chicken

[ElectricLeaf]

I have had my chickens now for about 2 years, and over the course of maybe the past 2 days, my chicken's abdomen has greatly swelled in size. Now I have been watching her to see if it was constipation, and she hasn't pooped, so I'll try the oil and/or epsom salt bath methods in a little while. However after doing research and seeing the other possibilities made me want to come here and ask. She has be waddling around very slowly because she's so bloated, and will pretty much lay down whenever she can. She doesn't seem bothered when I pick her up or massage the swelling. Any ideas? Not sure if photos help too much, but my hand is in there for reference to her size. We have smaller chickens.
Edit: She is breathing out of her beak, and breathing hard. Like she opens her beak to exhale, not to inhale, and her tail moves up and down with her breathing. Her crop is also empty so I assume she hasn't been eating much

 

[aart]

Sounds like ascites(waterbelly) caused by organ failure due to infection or disease.
Belly can be drained with a syringe for temporary relief, but usually fatal.

This is what I do when I have a bird that is acting 'off'.
I isolate bird in a wire cage within the coop for a day or two....so I can closely monitor:
-their intake of food and water,
-crop function(checking at night and in morning before providing more feed),
-and their poops.
Feel their abdomen, from below vent to between legs, for squishy or hard swelling.
Check for external parasites or any other abnormalities.



Best to put crate right in coop or run so bird is still 'with' the flock.
I like to use a fold-able wire dog crate (24"L x 18"W x 21"H) with smaller mesh(1x2) on bottom of crate under tray.
Then you can put tray underneath crate to better observe droppings without it being stepped in. If smaller mesh is carefully installed, tray can still be used inside crate.

 

[ElectricLeaf]

Sounds like ascites(waterbelly) caused by organ failure due to infection or disease.
Belly can be drained with a syringe for temporary relief, but usually fatal.

This is what I do when I have a bird that is acting 'off'.
I isolate bird in a wire cage within the coop for a day or two....so I can closely monitor:
-their intake of food and water,
-crop function(checking at night and in morning before providing more feed),
-and their poops.
Feel their abdomen, from below vent to between legs, for squishy or hard swelling.
Check for external parasites or any other abnormalities.



Best to put crate right in coop or run so bird is still 'with' the flock.
I like to use a fold-able wire dog crate (24"L x 18"W x 21"H) with smaller mesh(1x2) on bottom of crate under tray.
Then you can put tray underneath crate to better observe droppings without it being stepped in. If smaller mesh is carefully installed, tray can still be used inside crate.

It had to be my favorite chicken. These are our pets, so it's sad for one to potentially have a fatal condition. I'll attempt to isolate and monitor her for sure, thank you for the recommendation! How soon do you think she would die, assuming it is ascites?

 

[aart]

How soon do you think she would die, assuming it is ascites?

Impossible to tell.
I tried nursing one thru it, gave her a few days, she was miserable,
and it was hard to watch her suffer.
I didn't wait as long to euthanize on the next two.

 

[ElectricLeaf]

Impossible to tell.
I tried nursing one thru it, gave her a few days, she was miserable,
and it was hard to watch her suffer.
I didn't wait as long to euthanize on the next two.

Alright well if you care, I'll keep you posted on my chicken's condition

 

[Raeganmh02]

Could she be egg bound?

 

[ElectricLeaf]

Could she be egg bound?

Which is? I might mention that our egg production recently for some reason halted, none of our chickens have really been laying. Usually we find 1 egg a day from 4 chickens that usually all lay daily

 

[ElectricLeaf]

Impossible to tell.
I tried nursing one thru it, gave her a few days, she was miserable,
and it was hard to watch her suffer.
I didn't wait as long to euthanize on the next two.

I must say, she is also jerking up when she inhales while laying down. Basically she's laying down, and rocking to her breathing because I think that's the only way she can breathe