Dying Hen - entire body swollen

[dakunst]

I found one of our hens in the yard part of our coop this morning, just laying there. She was extremely puffy and swollen(entire body blown up, including her head), shallow breathing and couldn't move. I moved her out of the coop and put in her in a separate area. I know it's a matter of time. I'm just curious if anyone knows what may have happened. Interesting thing is, none of the girls (5 hens) have been laying the past 3 days. We just blamed it on the extreme cold, although they've always layed through previous winters. Hoping it's not a disease. Any suggestions? As of now, the rest of the girls seem fine, they just aren't laying.

 

[Eggcessive]

Two things that I could think of are blunt trauma injury to an air sac, especially in the neck or chest, causing air sacs to fill with air, and the chicken being unable to breathe. This is called subcutaneous emphysema, and it usually is contained in one area, but I have hear of severe cases where the whole body suddenly swells with air under the skin. The other thing would be swollen head syndrome which is a viral disease. In that, the head, neck, and wattles swell.