Chicken with swollen belly and losing feathers

[akamai chicken]

Aloha,

I had the exact same problem with one of my hens. I treated her with doxycyline and she is began to recover. I diluted a 100mg pill with approximately two teaspoons for water and used a syringe to shoot the medicine into her mouth. I gave her about 1 1/2cc of medicine twice a day for one week. After a few days, she started to feel a lot better. It's been about a month now, and she is about 80%. I think she will never get back to 100% but she will survive and is happy again. You can buy doxycyline from amazon. It is called Bird-Biotic.

Good Luck,
Akamai Chicken

 

[nico_idaho]

Hi there,

I have a similar problem and found this thread through my search. At my local pet/farm store an employee and local who is experienced with poultry suggested it might be mites, which are prevalent in our area right now. I'm in the process today of cleaning out all bedding and food/watering containers. I gently washed the white poo off the vent feathers with warm slightly soapy water, avoiding pulling on the feathers, which can apparently seriously harm the chicken if done too rigorously. I applied a pet's pesticide dust product made to get rid of mites, ticks, etc, using a dust applicator. Also, I can't find where I read it before, but I saw someone's post that you can get fluids off the chicken's abdomen by turning it upside down for short periods, which allows the fluids to drain out its beak--I turned her back upright to ensure that she had plenty of opportunity to breath in between the fluid running out. I understand that allowing the chicken to retain extra fluids is hard on her heart and organs. Anyway, I've never done this before and I was surprised at easy it was and how well it worked.

After the coop and everything is dried and aired out completely, I will lightly dust the coop with the mite powder, put in fresh bedding and lightly dust that, and completely refresh the food and water supplies. I hope this works for me and my hens, and perhaps it may help you, too.

Good luck!
nico_idaho

 

[speckledhen]

Quote: What on earth would possess anyone to say such a crazy thing?? You cannot drain a hen's belly through her mouth. That is NUTS, sorry! DO NOT DO THAT! She can choke to death. Someone is confusing emptying a crop with fluid in the abdomen. How do people come up with this stuff, sheesh?!


This is an old thread. Egg yolk peritonitis is a chronic infection, usually accompanied by internal laying, which is incurable. Antibiotics may eliminate some of the liquid infection but it will not dissolve the solid masses in the oviduct and/or abdomen if she is laying internally. I've been through this numerous times and trust me, I know what I'm talking about here.


These threads may be helpful to you.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=362422

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=195347

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...ences-on-egg-reproduction-production-necropsy

 

[Kikiriki]

No one else said it, so I will...your chicken is a gold sex link, typically a cross between RIR and leghorn, great layers but offspring will be unpredictable layers if you hatch the eggs.

Hope she is doing better...

 

[speckledhen]

Sorry, but this chicken had the condition TWO years ago. She is dead now most likely.


To add to my post above, if you turn a chicken with that much fluid on her abdomen upside down (we're talking abdomen here, not stomach, not crop, but abdomen), she will have so much pressure on her organs, especially her lungs, you will probably kill her.

 

[mecrazymom]

I am going through the same thing. I just found one dead in the corner of the coop with the puffy belly and another one is in a nesting box a bit lethargic, standing leaning against the side, not 'laying' in it, with puffy belly. I bet she will be gone by morning. I am glad I found these posts. They are helping. But also guessing which one it could be... heart problem, liver problem or an egg in her belly!

 

[Judes222]

Hello, My hen has the exact same problem..This must be common but I don't see any responses..Did you ever find out was it was and was it treatable. THANKS!

 

[dorothymcd]

I had a hen with same issue. She had a swollen belly with no feathers on it but seemed ok. She was eating and drinking very well and showed no signs of being sick but then one day she just died. I noticed after she passed that her abdomen was worse and skin was red/purple. I did some online research and I think it was Ascites "water belly". She was very very very heavy when we picked her body up. Its sad when we have to learn the hard way what killed them.. I decided to share this with you. I may take a picture for future reference if anyone wants to see what it looked like just let me know..