chicken acting strange, abdomen swollen

[rezzmedezz]

my hen, ms. puff (2 years old), has been acting very unlike herself. she has an odd posture, her tail is pointed down and she’s kind of waddling (because of how swollen her abdomen is). she is not egg bound, and her abdomen is squishy. i thought it might’ve been obesity, but when i went to check her weight she is incredibly skinny, just very swollen. she isn’t eating her layer food, but will happily eat meal worms and scratch grains.

there is some white crust around her vent, but other than that her vent appears healthy. her waddle and comb are a pinkish white color. she hasn’t been doing the usual hen chatter, and only makes noise when i hold her. her stool is an olive green color that is mostly watery but with white and brownish chunks.

thank you for reading, please reply if any of this sounds alarming. i’m thinking waterbelly, can anyone help!

 

[nuthatched]

Unfortunately, it does sound like water belly, it can be controlled but not cured, I'm sorry. It can be caused by many things, poor diet, reproduction issues, heart or kidney issues.

 

[rezzmedezz]

Unfortunately, it does sound like water belly, it can be controlled but not cured, I'm sorry. It can be caused by many things, poor diet, reproduction issues, heart or kidney issues.

thank you for the response. what should i do from now on? would it be best to euthanize her or help the problem? hopefully she is going to see a vet tomorrow but we are not sure if they can fit her in.

 

[Sussex19]

You can relieve it by drawing out the liquid with a needle.
Here are a couple of threads on it https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/needle-advise-water-belly.1547967/ and https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/my-chicken-has-water-belly-how-do-we-treat-it.1531493/

 

[nuthatched]

thank you for the response. what should i do from now on? would it be best to euthanize her or help the problem? hopefully she is going to see a vet tomorrow but we are not sure if they can fit her in.

It can be drained but eventually, she'll likely need euthanized.