Chicken with swollen abdomen

[Eggcessive]

Some viruses such as past infectious bronchitis can affect egg shell formation, but make sure that she gets layer feed and provide crushed oyster shell feed back some crushed egg shells for extra calcium. You could give her 1/2 a calcium tablet crushed in some food for the next two days.

 

[littlefarmgirl9]

I will do that later today. She might not eat it though, I had to try very hard to get her to eat yogurt this morning. I'm afraid she's looking worse today; more droopy. ):
Thank you!

 

[Eggcessive]

Chickens will eat yogurt better if mixed into some feed with water. Tuna, chopped liver, liverwurst are food things to hide yogurt, and usually accepted well. The more water you put into a bowl of chicken feed, the more water they take in. Melon is a good way to keep them drinking fluids as well.

 

[littlefarmgirl9]

Chickens will eat yogurt better if mixed into some feed with water. Tuna, chopped liver, liverwurst are food things to hide yogurt, and usually accepted well. The more water you put into a bowl of chicken feed, the more water they take in. Melon is a good way to keep them drinking fluids as well.

So is there anything else I can do to help her feel better? I am worried because of her increased lethargy. The sour crop is making her not want to eat, and crop massages aren't really helping to get her food digested.

 

[Nambroth]

Hi @littlefarmgirl9 ... I received your private message, but I hope it's okay that I reply here instead. I like to reply in public in case it can ever help someone else down the road. I'm not an expert on these issues but am also trying to learn more after losing a few birds to reproductive illnesses. I had to dig to find your thread here, and when I did I noticed you had a similar thread you posted in February: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/slightly-swollen-abdomen.1224146/

If this has been going on for some time, with symptoms such as broken eggs removed from Penny, this really makes me suspicious of a reproductive ailment. Often when hens develop reproductive problems such as Salpingitis, Peritonitis, Acities, reproductive cancer (etc), these ailments cause growths, fluid retention, or infection that builds up and often puts a lot of pressure on the digestive tract. This results in a slowed digestive tract, especially in late stages, which can cause the crop to slow or even go sour. In the late stages, often, the abdomen feels somewhat large while the chicken gets thinner and thinner. This seems like a paradox, but it's because the hen is slowly starving because she can't digest at a regular rate because of pressure on her digestive system. Sometimes there is also pressure on her other organs, such as the heart and lungs which can cause her to be out of breath easily, or liver which can cause other health problems.

I'm not saying that's what Penny has for sure. Sadly, there are many many ailments that can affect our poor chickens. We can only guess at what it might be. The only way to get a better answer is to take her to a knowledgeable vet to get her checked out.

 

[littlefarmgirl9]

Update on Penny:
Somehow she is still alive. I can't take her to a vet because I don't have the money, and the vets near me are not all that knowledgeable of birds; I live in a small town so our vet clinics are only really equipped for dogs and cats.
Anyway: I put her on the roost last night and took her down this morn. She is walking slower though. And is even more reluctant to come out if the coop. I've been feeding her various combinations of Greek yogurt, tums, and boiled egg mixed with feed. I stopped giving the acv because she won't eat anything with it, and it doesn't seem like it helped anyway. The pat two nights there's been watery white poop under her spot on the roost. It also has some yellowish chunks of the feed and boiled egg she's been having. Today Penny wouldn't eat until i put the mixture in her beak and tilted her head back, but then she swallowed. After I did this and massaged her crop, I let her wander around she pooped, as it was watery white with some bright green bits; presumably the grass she ate yesterday. I'm glad that although her crop didn't totally drain, she still gt some food through her system. But te fact that it was undigested makes me worry. There was still nothing in her vent but bits of poop even though her abdomen is still very swollen.
That's it. I really don't wanna put Penny down, but I am preparing used in case she dies. ): If anyone can give me any more ideas, that'd b great. Otherwise I'll let y'all know if she dies from this.

 

[rebrascora]

What you are describing ties in with the diagnosis of a reproductive issue like internal laying or salpingitis where her digestive tract is becoming constricted. It might be kinder to put her in a box for the night or a corner of the coop rather than on the roost. She will be getting weaker and it will be harder for her to support herself on the roost bar and she may fall off, adding to her discomfort.
If she is starting to refuse feed, then the end is near and personally I would euthanize her. That is not something I do without great consideration and emotional upheaval and I understand that it is not for everyone, but when you have seen necropsies of birds with these ailments, it helps you to realise the discomfort they must be in and the hopelessness of their situation and therefore makes that decision easier..... it is something that comes with experience though and I understand the need to hang on to hope.
I hope your girl doesn't linger and suffer too long.