Chicken with swollen belly and losing feathers

[Kmcmillin]

Hi all, first post here and hoping someone can help us with our chicken

My year old chicken (unknown breed, bought at Tractor supply as a chick) has developed a swollen area under her vent. The area has lost all of the feathers and is causing her to waddle. She was very lethargic for a few days but seems better now, even though the swelling has persisted. Some 4H friends said they thought it was coccidosis, but she has never had bloody excrement and the condition has persisted for over a month. Here are some Pics

Any help would be great!

 

[jerseygirl1]

The pics are great, but I don't know what it is, is she still laying? Are you treating her for anything? Is she eating? Someone on here will know................

 

[Blammer]

I have an egg laying age chicken too RIR that is the same way.

She is active, runs with a waddle, eats like a horse, no egg laying. She just became this way in the last month or so. I too am looking for an answer.

 

[Kmcmillin]

As far as we can tell she's still laying. I bought sulmat when I thought it was coccidosis (at their recommendation) but I haven't given any yet.n She eating without problems.

 

[kcfuerst]

Another chicken is pulling out her feathers. I have 8 hens and four of them are like that. I can't figure who is doing it. I have been using Blue Kote and some other product and neither one is helping.

I have heard that you need to cull the perpetrator. If I knew which ones of my hens were doing this, I would send her to freezer camp in a hurry.

 

[gallusdomesticus]

Does she feel like she has a water balloon in her abdomen? If she's squishy there, she has ascites or water belly. It's treatable but you need to have her abdomen drained as the extra fluid puts strain on her heart and other internal organs. The most common cause of ascites is congestive heart failure or fatty liver disease. If you take her to a vet, he can treat her by removal of the water with a syringe and treatment with either diuretics, if congestive heart failure, or milk thistle extract for fatty liver disease. I had the identical problem with a silver laced wyandotte last year and she has recovered beautifully. Her problem was fatty liver disease. The milk thistle extract has kept it under control and I have cut way back on high calorie treats like fruit for her. Hope this helps and she recovers quickly.

 

[CT chicken lover]

Just jumping in here. I discovered the same thing about 6 months ago on my year old sex link, Blondie. We tried draining it, but nothing came out. After numerous tries we gave up. No use poking holes in her, poor thing, if nothing was going to happen. She didn't seem like it bothered her -- ate well, etc. Then on Monday we discovered that she had passed away in one corner of the the coop. The bulge must have burst -- that 's all we can figure out. The bulge was "gone" except for some remnants of skin. Nothing else to take note of. We are kind of baffled. She never seemed to be in any distress. It came as a complete surprise as my husband had seen her running around with the others just about 2 hours prior. At least she didn't seem to suffer or be uncomfortable at all. She always ruled the henhouse -- right up until then.

 

[speckledhen]

Do a search of "Drained a Hen's Abdomen" with me as author. You'll see what's most likely inside your hen. Sometimes, it's not simple ascites, but internal laying/egg peritonitis and there is solid infection in there as well as the fluid. You can drain her and if you don't, her organs will begin shutting down, but it's only a temporary fix. This is a chronic condition and very prevalent in the most common hatchery breeds. Broilers who are much younger than laying age are more likely to have ascites, but a laying hen of two years old and up would probably have more going on than just simple fluid buildup.

 

[ultasol]

I have a silkie hen that started looking like that as a pullet- except without the feather loss. It started with a problem laying her first few eggs. I never culled her because it's never bothered her, and it hasn't gotten any larger (it isn't quite as large as your birds 'mass') and she now lays regularly without any issue. I consider it a growth or ascites of unknown etiology and leave it at that. If it was impacting her quality of life I would investigate further or try something, but she's happy and healthy- a decent layer (when not broody) and does well.

 

[mratalsky]

Our leghorn had a similar looking condition for a while. After she went through her molt, all the feathers grew back in again!