Disease trifecta: hard abdomen

[BrandySC]

My buff orp is in isolation. I started treating her for gleet several days ago because her butt feathers were a little messy. She had mites and I treated her for those. But she started doing the penguin shuffle, standing upright and acting uncomfortable. At first it was only on cold mornings and as the day heated her posture returned to normal, I thought it might be arthritis. But now it's penguin posture all the time. Tonight we did the epsom soak and I cleaned her vent good. There is no swelling but her abdomen is rock hard. She is older and hasn't laid eggs in a long time, I don't assume she is egg bound. I tried to feel inside her, I couldn't reach far and didn't really know what I was feeling for. I could feel something very hard. Googling was a rabbit hole: "egg bounds should be dead in 48 hours," "water belly is usually diagnosed at 4-10 weeks." Nothing seems to apply to her. She has a wonderful appetite. I'm feeding her soft foods. I'll keep doing the epsom baths. Any suggestions? Thank you.

 

[Lillith37]

If her abdomen is rock hard and distended and she hasn’t laid eggs for ages I would suspect she has long term reproductive illness. Her abdomen and/or salpinx has filled up with egg and inflammatory tissue which has then hardened. If you have access to an avian vet & funds they could put her on the contraceptive implant then do surgery. But at home there is not much you can do I’m sorry.

Penguin posture and “sad chicken butt” are a little different so could you take a picture of her? If you’re still worried about egg binding you can give her a human calcium supplement.

Epsom salt baths might help relax her and make her more comfortable. Trimming her butt feathers could also help. Her regular diet and water and being out with her flock if she prefers that. Sometimes reproductive illness can cause crop issues so keep an eye on that.

 

[Eggcessive]

Most times we won’t know what is going on with a hen like this until they die, and we can do a necropsy. Chickens may commonly suffer from cancerous tumors, and internal laying/egg yolk peritonitis. Ascites (water belly) is a common side effect of those. Walking like a penguin or more upright, is a sign of these reproductive issues. How old is she? Has she laid eggs recently?

 

[Lillith37]

Googling was a rabbit hole: "egg bounds should be dead in 48 hours," "water belly is usually diagnosed at 4-10 weeks."

Because the chickens have one exit pathway for eggs and poop, if the egg gets stuck it blocks the chickens ability to poop. They also don’t have a diaphragm like we do, they breathe from their ribs and sternum, so egg binding affects their ability to breathe. And it impacts circulation. Basically a stuck egg/eggs stops all the chicken’s body processes and that’s why they die quickly.

In terms of ascites, I think the “most commonly diagnosed” at 4-10 weeks is about broiler chickens. But ascites can happen for a number of different reasons and can affect older birds too. Ascites is a symptom of conditions, not a condition itself.

She had mites and I treated her for those.

Often bird with some other issue such as reproductive illness will end up with parasites because of their compromised health and they may not spend as much time preening and looking after themselves etc.