Bowel Obstruction in Hen?

[fluffykitty12]

Alright- bear with me here.

So I have a hen who was droopy these past they days- droopy comb, not much energy, ect. I had a hen who was laying internally that presented the same way, so I figured it was best to just let her go.

I planned on butchering her this evening to put her out of her misery- internal laying never has a good outcome, and we have no vets in the area. But I figured as a last-ditch effort I'd stick a needle in her belly and see if it was acestites instead of internal laying.

Well, she was real quiet when I held her and didn't complain at all when I drained her. Typical acestites- I pulled about 100ml of fluid from her abdomen and, hopeful it wasn't internal laying, gave her some anti-biotics from the health store I have and a bit of milk thistle (in the hopes it would help her liver, since I've heard liver causes asceties.)

I noticed her crop felt small- as in only a few stones inside, and I wondered if her listlessness was being caused by impacted crop. So I gave her a big dose of olive oil and massaged her in the hopes of clearing it out. She started letting out some foul smelling gas from her mouth, which struck me as no right. I wrote it off to stuff getting nasty in her crop, but when I placed her in the chicken hospital for the night, she went to the bathroom.

Here's where I get the idea of a bowel obstruction- THERE WAS NO BROWN IN HER FECES. IT WAS ONLY LIQUID WHITE, LIKE THE STUFF ONTOP OF HEALTHY POO.

That was when I realized it was probably a bowel obstruction. The foul smelling gas, only stones in her crop, not eating, the poo- it all made sense now.

That being said- I have no idea what to do. I got two or three more good spoonfuls of olive oil into her, in the hopes it'd unblock whatever was stuck inside, and while I'm glad I finally know the problem- how should I treat it? I'm giving her Gatorade and olive oil, but what if it's not enough? Any ideas?

 

[roseoreilly]

Hi,
I think my hen has the same thing. I found her almost motionless yesterday morning. She was standing with her tail drooping down and as she was not her usual self I took her to the vet. He examined her and said it was probably one of two things: a reproductive obstruction or a tumor. Both of which are common apparently. He said that from his experience she probably won't last very long and I'll need to have her put down. He said to try antibiotics and anti inflammatory medication for a week in case it helps, but he said that it is unlikely it will work. I currently have her in a small hutch inside the coop so she feels protected.She is not eating voluntarily so I have been giving her water and vitamins through a syringe. It's so sad to see her like this. I came to this site to see if anyone could provide some helpful hints. Anyway, good luck with your hen.

 

[casportpony]

Hi,
I think my hen has the same thing.  I found her almost motionless yesterday morning. She was standing with her tail drooping down and as she was not her usual self I took her to the vet. He examined her and said it was probably one of two things: a reproductive obstruction or a tumor. Both of which are common apparently. He said that from his experience she probably won't last very long and I'll need to have her put down. He said to try antibiotics and anti inflammatory medication for a week in case it helps, but he said that it is unlikely it will work. I currently have her in a small hutch inside the coop so she feels protected.She is not eating voluntarily so I have been giving her water and vitamins through a syringe. It's so sad to see her like this. I came to this site to see if anyone could provide some helpful hints.  Anyway, good luck with your hen.

If she's not eating/drinking I'd suggest tube feeding instead of syringe feeding. Can you post a picture of her poop?

-Kathy