I have a Buckeye hen that is just over a year, has been in fine health but we find her today not moving around much. Upon examination, she is missing a large swath of feathers on her abdomen and her her abdomen (belly) on back to her vent seems quite firm and distended. What are we dealing with??
10/21: I put her out of her misery as I could not figure out what was wrong with her. Poor gal. After her death, I did open her belly up to see if I could learn anything. I have butchered plenty of chickens but never a laying hen before. I did not find anything even resembling any eggs in her (she had been a good layer). The membrane around the intestines was covered in what looked like tiny little pebbles. The most noticable abnormality was the large amount of fluid in her abdomen. I am sure that over a quart of yellowish liquid (ironically it looked like chicken broth), drained out upon opening the cavity.
I've looked up ascites. I am finding only info for meat birds and it seems related to poor ventilation. We have a flock of only about 40 birds and they have plenty of space and even free range. The coop is well ventilated (there is space between the entire roof and the walls - covered in hardware cloth of course). She was a purebred Buckeye and not at all overweight or seeming unhealthy in any other way. She seemed fine and has been a sweet bird up until about 4 days ago. This morning she could barely move and seemed to be quite uncomfortable.
Any info is appreciated.
Pic showing the bumps on the intestines. There is a bit of the yellowish liquid as well on the plastic bag on the lower right.
10/21: I put her out of her misery as I could not figure out what was wrong with her. Poor gal. After her death, I did open her belly up to see if I could learn anything. I have butchered plenty of chickens but never a laying hen before. I did not find anything even resembling any eggs in her (she had been a good layer). The membrane around the intestines was covered in what looked like tiny little pebbles. The most noticable abnormality was the large amount of fluid in her abdomen. I am sure that over a quart of yellowish liquid (ironically it looked like chicken broth), drained out upon opening the cavity.
I've looked up ascites. I am finding only info for meat birds and it seems related to poor ventilation. We have a flock of only about 40 birds and they have plenty of space and even free range. The coop is well ventilated (there is space between the entire roof and the walls - covered in hardware cloth of course). She was a purebred Buckeye and not at all overweight or seeming unhealthy in any other way. She seemed fine and has been a sweet bird up until about 4 days ago. This morning she could barely move and seemed to be quite uncomfortable.
Any info is appreciated.
Pic showing the bumps on the intestines. There is a bit of the yellowish liquid as well on the plastic bag on the lower right.
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