Chicken has swollen abdomen 4 times what it should be!HELP!

[lena_]

One of lovely red sex hens, is only one year old and she has something wrong. Mum thinks she eggbind or it could be a tumor. I was feeding them this morning when i noticed her. She wasn't racing for the food, she didn't respond when I touched her and she's hardly moving. I don't know what's wrong or if i can do anything, If there's nothing i can do can someone at least please give me tips on making her more comfortable. What I can tell is that it hurts when she moves her legs.
PLZ REPLY~ Feather Hearts

 

[waddles99]

Sounds like she is egg bound.

 

[lena_]

Anything I can do? To make her more comfortable?

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry about your hen. Is her lower belly full an tight, as it might be if she was full of fluid? Or does it feel hard like a tumor? Ascites or waterbelly can be a sign of heart failure, liver disease, and egg yolk peritonitis. Tumors can also be common, but egg yolk peritonitis and internal laying can sometimes cause swelling in the belly. To check for egg binding, you can insert a finger 1-2 inches (2 cm) inside the vent opening. Ascites fluid can be removed occasionally by inserting an 18 gauge needle to drain some of the fluid. If you do a search for ascites at the top of this page in the search box for many threads to read.

 

[lena_]

Sorry about your hen. Is her lower belly full an tight, as it might be if she was full of fluid? Or does it feel hard like a tumor? Ascites or waterbelly can be a sign of heart failure, liver disease, and egg yolk peritonitis. Tumors can also be common, but egg yolk peritonitis and internal laying can sometimes cause swelling in the belly. To check for egg binding, you can insert a finger 1-2 inches (2 cm) inside the vent opening. Ascites fluid can be removed occasionally by inserting an 18 gauge needle to drain some of the fluid. If you do a search for ascites at the top of this page in the search box for many threads to read.

Thanks. It is tight, but not very hard.

 

[waddles99]

Ascites is another possibility I was not thinking about. If you take a rubber glove and stick your finger up the vent like mentioned above and feel an egg, she is egg bound. If not, then my next guess would be ascites. You would be lucky if it is ascites, because it is an easy fix. Some other ascites symptoms are discolored comb and heavy breathing. All you would have to do is stick a syringe in where it is puffy and drain the fluid. Syringes can be hard to obtain and can only legally be obtained from vets so you may have trouble getting one.