BR with soft, distended abdomen won't eat!

[Flannery Eau]

Hi All,

My 11 month old Barred Rock, Flannery, has been acting funny for over a week. Normally a great layer, she hasn't laid an egg in a week and has kept to herself and really mellowed out - far from her normally spunky behavior.

Yesterday, I separated her from my two other chickens to watch her closely, thinking she could have an infection or worms. She barely eats and drinks - usually only when I put it right in front of her, and just stands in one place. Her comb has taken on a duller red, but her eyes are still bright.

She is excreting a greatly reduced amount of poop - which could be due to her not eating as much or something else. She is getting a white-green liquidy poop stuck to the feathers around her vent. Her poop is sometimes firm but small - the size of a large kidney bean, or liquidy with some brown chunks and dark green pieces too. Besides being small, it looks normal - except the more liquidy poops now and then.

The last symptom is her abdomen. It seems distended but is soft, and when she sits still and breaths it seems like she is contracting with each breath - like we humans do a valsalva maneuver. I can't feel any eggs when I palpate her abdomen, and I stuck a lubricated and rubber-gloved finger in her vent to see if I could feel an egg that was stuck. I didn't get it up that far, maybe 2 inches, but couldn't feel anything of note. She doesn't waddle when she walks and her tail is still postured up.

Does anyone have any idea what this could be? She is on regular layer pellets, grit, oyster, a handful of scratch, and is free ranging on our dead grass during the days now that it has warmed up. I have been trying to give her water, yogurt and applesauce, bread, and antibiotics - but she eats so little I'm worried she won't make it much longer!

As far as a flock history goes - I have had Mareks - but this looks so different. I wonder if her immunity has been compromised due to fighting the virus before this point and this is another infection - maybe of her ovaries. I've read an entire chicken health book - but can't seem to pin down a definite cause.

Also, if anyone has tips on syringe-feeding a chicken - that would be helpful - it seems to me that if she doesn't want to, there is no way I'm getting out of the situation without stuff squirted all over me!

Thanks for any tips you can offer!

 

[Miss Lydia]

Wish I could help but I will give ya a bump back to the top, and hope someone will come along that can..

 

[honeydoll]

I just had the same issue with a few of my Comets. Mine had egg peritonitis (sp.?), it is common in production breeds. As far as BRs go, I don't know. But if her belly feels fluid filled it could be this or ascites. Look those up and see if it sounds like what your hen has. I had to cull two of my comets because there is no cure for them. But others have successfully drained the fluid out of their hens' bellies. Other than that maybe she is egg bound.

HTH

Carolyn

 

[Rockin' Reds]

I found this thread so extremely helpful when I had a RIR with the same type of symptoms. Very informative to say the least! Sorry I can't be of more help as I don't really have that much experience. Wishing you luck!!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=362422

 

[Flannery Eau]

Thanks for the suggestions - Rockin' Reds, that one post about draining the abdomen was really interesting and I hope to try it myself. I would imagine that would at least make her more comfortable, and I wouldn't mind doing it one bit (I have some experience drawing blood, giving PPD tests, etc). I just have to get some syringes.

I have now perfected a system of giving her pedialyte and antibiotics. This morning, she seemed perkier and her color was better, but she still isn't acting normally. She seems like she has a lot more fight in her.

Any more offerings of diagnosis would be helpful, thanks!

 

[Rockin' Reds]

I'm glad she is doing a bit better...that's encouraging.

Sorry I don't have much more to offer.

 

[gallusdomesticus]

I have a silver laced wyandotte that I've been treating for a similar issue for about 18 months. She has a soft squishy abdomen that the vet diagnosed as ascites. The underlying cause is congestive heart failure or fatty liver disease (my hen's problem). The fluid buildup puts a strain on her circulatory system and eventually ends up affecting her respiratory system also. Left untreated, it's fatal. My hen gets her abdomen drained at the vet's about every 3 to 4 months and is on a daily dose of milk thistle extract for her liver. She seems to be doing very well on that regieme.

The fact that your bird is not pooping much might indicate she has an intestinal obstruction and the green/yellow coloring of her poop could be excess bile that is excreted.

I also have a RIR hen that has been diagnosed with pneumonia. She has very little droppings and they are yellow/green in color and any little exertion leaves her breathing heavily. I'm treating her with Baytril, an antibiotic, and hoping for the best.

If it's possible, I would take her to a vet but if you can't....I would take her temperature (normal is 103-105deg) and if she has an elevated temperature, she may have an infection you can treat with antibiotics.

 

[Flannery Eau]

Thanks, gallusdomesticus - I took her temperature and it was 106.1, thanks for reminding me to do that - a very inexpensive and easy measurement to take that can give good information! I guess I will continue with the antibiotics. Also, it seems like the "valsalva" maneuver that I thought I was seeing may in fact simply be labored breathing, but I suppose a chicken with a fever or a stressed system for other reasons would have labored breathing. There are no lung noises or other respiratory symptoms as far as I can tell. Her nares are clear, and her face is non-swollen and not inflamed. I'm wondering, did your wyandotte continue to lay during those 18 months? I'm wondering if she has a good chance of becoming a productive hen again.

Also, what about worms? They could cause a bowel obstruction and fever. I am doing a fecal test tonight to check. Do worms stop laying temporarily?

 

[gallusdomesticus]

My wyandotte did return to laying although at a reduced level. She's five years old so she would normally only be expected to lay 40% of what she produced her first year. According to the Univ of Florida Ag Extension Service, a hen decreases her egg laying 10% a year after her first year on a linear scale so her reduced egg output may be due to natural causes or the ascites. Since she's a pet (as are all nine of my 'girls') her health is a much higher priority than egg laying. I hope the antibiotics help with your bird. Don't give up on them too early. My bird vet says it's not uncommon to have to wait up to seven days to see some improvement.

 

[Jrose]

I recently lost a new Hampshire red to internal laying. One day she was a little lethargic but still active, the next I found her laying in the nesting box, purple comb, gasping, and straining. The lay box was filled with yolk and stunk horribly. Kept her inside and 24 hours later she passed quickly. Her death released a stench like rotten boiled eggs. Interestingly I was getting a double yolk egg almost every 2 weeks before she died (7 hens total) and have not gotten anymore since. Genetics I guess. I've got another nhr going through something similar. She survived a dog attack a year ago though... her ribs were crushed and she had internal bleeding for three months but for some reason she lived. She has laid daily for months until this spring. Now her abdomen is squishy and the size of a volleyball. She moves slowly and pants constantly, pumping her tail. If she gets much more miserable I'll have to put her down. Poor girl, she's been a trooper!