Chicken panting, backside very swollen

[rebrascora]

That sounds like lice eggs. They are more an indication that your hen is unwell rather than the cause of it. A sick hen will not preen and dust bath enough to remove these parasites. There will usually be a low level of lice in a flock which they should be able to manage themselves unless the ground is frozen solid or very wet and dust bathing is not possible. Providing a dry dust bathing area for your flock if natural opportunities are not available is good practice, but if a hen is sick then she will struggle to keep on top of them and may reinfest the others more quickly. It might be worth dusting/spraying her and the others and the coop with permethrin to get back on top of things.
It is difficult to assess the swelling from the photos but her legs do look quite wide apart. Does it feel like she could be full of water.... the rumbling noise might suggest that. Do you feel able to stick a needle into her belly to try to drain her. The draining needs to be done quite slowly so that her body doesn't go into shock with the drop in pressure. A vet is probably the best bet if you are not confident. If you decide to try it yourself, there are video tutorials on You Tube. Ensure that you cleanse the area well first so that you do not introduce infection into the abdominal cavity

 

[morganfamily6]

Thank you very much. You have been a real help to me! I have found some Permethrin and so I've dusted her when I put her to bed they have got a dust bath and enjoy it while the weather is warm but recently it has been extremely cold (for the UK) and so they didn't enjoy that very much and so I think that is why all of my hens are sneezing. I think I will bring her to the vet although is it expensive for the things they need to do to her?

 

[morganfamily6]

Does it feel like she could be full of water

It does feel very full of water

 

[rebrascora]

Where in the UK are you? If you do a google search for poultry vet uk, you should find one reasonably close that has some chicken knowledge.
Can you update this thread with the result of your veterinary visit. It is useful for others to hear about good (and not so good, although I hope this doesn't apply to you!) experiences and what procedures cost etc.... if you don't mind, of course.

 

[Eggcessive]

Lice eggs will hatch every 10 days. Permethrin should be used at least twice at 10 day intervals to kill any newly hatched lice. The other chickens usually get them, so after treating them, the coop bedding must be removed, the coop treated with permethrin spray, and new bedding added. Lice or mites can be a lot of work to get rid of.

 

[morganfamily6]

Can you update this thread with the result of your veterinary visit.

yes of course and I live in wales an I believe more snow is yet to come

 

[morganfamily6]

Lice eggs will hatch every 10 days. Permethrin should be used at least twice at 10 day intervals to kill any newly hatched lice. The other chickens usually get them, so after treating them, the coop bedding must be removed, the coop treated with permethrin spray, and new bedding added. Lice or mites can be a lot of work to get rid of.

I usually use permethrin on them every month which should do them good but ive still had problems with lice and mites which is very annoying

 

[morganfamily6]

I am going to bring her to the vet in a couple of days

 

[morganfamily6]

We brought her to the vet yesterday and it doesn't look good for her. the vet was very good and explained everything to us but he said that she had a growth in her womb and it's untreatable. her temperature was very high and so we're giving her metacam to her twice a day just to lower her temperature but I don't think its looking good for her whatsoever. she's a bit more active today but isn't eating very much.

 

[rebrascora]

Thanks for updating the thread with the result of your visit to the veterinary. I'm sorry to hear she is not good. I assume the vet did not feel that draining her was appropriate? I hope the Metacam will make her feel a bit more comfortable but it sounds like she may not be long for this world.