Chicken sick: water belly, sour crop, and diarrhea

[Penny_royal]

Hi everyone. I’ve tried everything to help my girl, but I’m at a loss now. Here are the main points and what I’ve tried:

-noticed sour crop 7 days ago: started garlic water, yeast infection cream, egg yolk, and electrolytes. Gnext couple days, gave epsom salt bath, and some epsom salt drink. Checked for eggbound egg: I couldn’t feel anything in her vent but she has a firm yet slightly squish-able lump on left bottom of abdomen.

No change.

She is pooping (diarrhea) small amounts. Her abdomen has been swelling with water. Today I got the courage to try to drain some of it for her comfort. Fluid is dark yellow.

Have given her IV fluids for four days trying to get her to stabilize a bit/help her body do what it needs to do. Fed small bites of high protein cat food with some antibiotic. Checked again for eggbound egg: couldn’t feel one in her vent. Lump on left is still there: doesn’t seem to have moved.

No change. Still not digesting much, but still pooping a little.

She is alert but a little lethargic

I gave her another epsom salt bath tonight: the diarrhea stuck to her bottom was grainy. Reminded me of crushed egg shell but was hard to tell as it was rather fine.

Guys: I’m out of ideas. Do you think she is egg-bound? If she has sour crop, can I give her anything to help her pass the egg or no? Will water belly make it harder for her to digest/pass an egg if there is one?

Please help me, I want to understand if I can help her.

 

[nuthatched]

The ascites is likely causing her whole system to back up. Theres no cure for it, I'm sorry.

 

[coach723]

How old is she?
The fluid (ascites) is the most concerning thing. The lump could be a tumor. Once they develop ascites then it's often a slow progression down hill. The fluid (and possibly the tumor or cancer) puts pressure on all their organs, can slow or stop digestion, can make it hard to breathe, hard to poop, etc. The crop issues are probably a symptom of what is going on farther down. Ascites often accompanies cancer, or infection, it's a sign that the liver is failing and leaking fluid into the abdomen. Sadly, various reproductive cancers are not uncommon in laying hens. Draining the fluid can sometimes make them more comfortable for a time, but it will recur since the underlying condition is still there. I'm very sorry. There is very little if anything that can be done other than keep her as comfortable as you can, and not let her suffer when it gets to that point. The best way to know for sure what happened is a necropsy once she passes. So sorry.

 

[Penny_royal]

How old is she?
The fluid (ascites) is the most concerning thing. The lump could be a tumor. Once they develop ascites then it's often a slow progression down hill. The fluid (and possibly the tumor or cancer) puts pressure on all their organs, can slow or stop digestion, can make it hard to breathe, hard to poop, etc. The crop issues are probably a symptom of what is going on farther down. Ascites often accompanies cancer, or infection, it's a sign that the liver is failing and leaking fluid into the abdomen. Sadly, various reproductive cancers are not uncommon in laying hens. Draining the fluid can sometimes make them more comfortable for a time, but it will recur since the underlying condition is still there. I'm very sorry. There is very little if anything that can be done other than keep her as comfortable as you can, and not let her suffer when it gets to that point. The best way to know for sure what happened is a necropsy once she passes. So sorry.

I’m not sure how old she is. We got her from someone who was super casual in their chicken-keeping methods..

I know she’s probably on her way out, but I just want to understand what causes each symptom, so I can be better educated.

Any idea why her diarrhea was grainy??

 

[coach723]

I don't. Maybe undigested stuff that passed through, dehydration, bacteria, hard to say.

 

[Razzlefrazzle]

she has a firm yet slightly squish-able lump on left bottom of abdomen.

The lump could be a tumor, but it could also an egg she laid internally. Some reproductive disorders result in eggs reversing course in the oviduct and being deposited into the body cavity where they get "cooked" from body heat. I had a hen who started laying internally (yolks, not whole eggs) and the fluid I drained from her was a dark yellow and thick. She did live quite a bit longer with periodic draining, but she didn't have any lumps and had already slowed way down in egg laying before the problem started.

 

[Penny_royal]

The lump could be a tumor, but it could also an egg she laid internally. Some reproductive disorders result in eggs reversing course in the oviduct and being deposited into the body cavity where they get "cooked" from body heat. I had a hen who started laying internally (yolks, not whole eggs) and the fluid I drained from her was a dark yellow and thick. She did live quite a bit longer with periodic draining, but she didn't have any lumps and had already slowed way down in egg laying before the problem started.

I was thinking that too.. so hard to tell what the lump is! Well I’ve decided to let her go, which I’ll do today, then do a necropsy to see what I’m looking at and hopefully learn some more. This was very educational. Just wish I could have done more.

 

[Penny_royal]

The lump could be a tumor, but it could also an egg she laid internally. Some reproductive disorders result in eggs reversing course in the oviduct and being deposited into the body cavity where they get "cooked" from body heat. I had a hen who started laying internally (yolks, not whole eggs) and the fluid I drained from her was a dark yellow and thick. She did live quite a bit longer with periodic draining, but she didn't have any lumps and had already slowed way down in egg laying before the problem started.

I actually did a necropsy on her today, and the big lump was her gizzard. It was really hard and very full of what seemed like almost finely ground straw. Is this normal? I don’t know what a healthy gizzard looks like.

I also noticed a tumor and yellow spots on her liver, so that explains some of her issues. Would liver disease affect the function of her gizzard…?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I actually did a necropsy on her today, and the big lump was her gizzard. It was really hard and very full of what seemed like almost finely ground straw. Is this normal? I don’t know what a healthy gizzard looks like.

I also noticed a tumor and yellow spots on her liver, so that explains some of her issues. Would liver disease affect the function of her gizzard…?

Did you take photos?

 

[Penny_royal]

Did you take photos?

Here’s what I took. Hope that helps