Egg bound? Water belly???

[Salty Cookie]

I noticed my 1.5 year old hen (she is not a great layer, she lays soft shell eggs a lot of times even though I give her enough calcium) had a plump on the bottom of the vent that looked like an egg was coming out soon yesterday. Today, she is walking slowly and looks like her belly is heavy. The plump on the vent is gone and instead, her belly seems to be bigger and heavier. Yes, she is much heavier than usual when I pick her up. How can I tell what is wrong with her? I separated her from the flock and put her in a dog kennel in the house.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

What is a plump? Did you see her trying to expel a soft shelled egg?

If she's having issues with soft shelled eggs, it's possible that she may have laid internally instead of laying the egg.
If you feel her abdomen below the vent between her legs, is there bloat or is it tight like a drum (fluid filled)?

Give her 1 Caltrate a day for 5 days and make sure she's drinking well. If she's moving about a little and not getting picked on, can eat/drink on her own, I would put her with the flock, most hens are much happier with their flock than isolated in a kennel.

 

[Salty Cookie]

What is a plump? Did you see her trying to expel a soft shelled egg?

If she's having issues with soft shelled eggs, it's possible that she may have laid internally instead of laying the egg.
If you feel her abdomen below the vent between her legs, is there bloat or is it tight like a drum (fluid filled)?

Give her 1 Caltrate a day for 5 days and make sure she's drinking well. If she's moving about a little and not getting picked on, can eat/drink on her own, I would put her with the flock, most hens are much happier with their flock than isolated in a kennel.

Excuse me....it is protrusion.
I gave her epsom salt bath three times today. Her belly is firm, so it is a bit like a drum. I felt something egg-ish thing on her belly. I was able to move it towards the vent. She tried to push it out but it was unsuccessful.

She is sleeping now, but she is breathing heavily. Probably the belly is putting pressure on her chest.

I hope she makes it tonight. I am thinking of calling the vet tomorrow morning. My kids are getting very upset and want me to take her to the vet.

If she has laid internally, what would happen????

 

[Shezadandy]

Excuse me....it is protrusion.
I gave her epsom salt bath three times today. Her belly is firm, so it is a bit like a drum. I felt something egg-ish thing on her belly. I was able to move it towards the vent. She tried to push it out but it was unsuccessful.

She is sleeping now, but she is breathing heavily. Probably the belly is putting pressure on her chest.

I hope she makes it tonight. I am thinking of calling the vet tomorrow morning. My kids are getting very upset and want me to take her to the vet.

If she has laid internally, what would happen????

Laying internally means the egg gets dumped into the abdomen instead of making its way out to the vent. This ultimately causes infection because unlike people, chickens do not have anything separating their reproductive tract from the rest of the organs.

She may benefit from having her abdomen drained. If she is breathing heavily when laying down, this is almost certainly the case as the fluid takes up all the room making it hard for her other organs to function - hard for the lungs to inflate etc.

You can take her to a vet - make sure they accept chickens, sadly not many will - or you can do this yourself at home.

At your local feed supply store by the cattle vaccination stuff you should be able to find a 1" long 16 gauge or 14 gauge needle. You will not need a syringe, but you can get one if you like. They usually sell them in packs of 4 or 5.

At the bottom of this post is a video on how to drain the hen with only one needle poke. There are other youtube videos out there where people use little bitty needles and poke their poor hens in many spots - and I was SO happy to find a better reliable way to do it.
Depending on the hen and her condition, she may gain a substantial amount of time from being drained- or she may pass within a couple of days. Be prepared for the reality that draining her is not a cure (btw there is no cure!!) but it WILL make her soooo much more comfortable. So whether you get months more or just help her be more comfortable for her final days, it is a valuable tool. Gasping for air is a MISERABLE experience. Whatever else happens, giving her the gift of unencumbered breathing is important, unless of course you intend to put her down.

When a hen has waterbelly (ascities), it is likely to re-occur - so you will need to keep an eye on her and be prepared to drain her again down the road.

I suggest watching the entire video, she does a great job explaining how and why to do it.

Because I don't usually have the luxury of someone to hold the chicken for me, I skip the part with the syringe and just use the needle. The fluid will flow straight out of the needle cap, much like a water balloon (if you didn't break the balloon inserting the needle!) I like this way for another reason - it flows at a gentle pace so you don't have to worry about taking too much at one time via syringe. This is best done outside. If you want to collect the fluid, I suggest a big wide bowl type container. Towards the end she does exactly what I've described- I just modified it to do that same way from the beginning.

When the needle hits the right area the fluid will run out. As she exhales the fluid will come out faster, so it may be kind of a spurting action in the beginning as her lungs get more room to expand as the fluid runs out.

Here is the video:

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Excuse me....it is protrusion.
I gave her epsom salt bath three times today. Her belly is firm, so it is a bit like a drum. I felt something egg-ish thing on her belly. I was able to move it towards the vent. She tried to push it out but it was unsuccessful.

She is sleeping now, but she is breathing heavily. Probably the belly is putting pressure on her chest.

Protrusion as in prolapse or just a distended abdomen?

If you are feeling something in her abdomen it may be an internally laid egg or mass, could be your feeling the gizzard too, but it doesn't move much.
Unfortunately, if that's the cause, then there's no way for the egg to come out, it's in the coelomic cavity (abdomen). Sometimes this does cause fluid to build in the abdomen and it can be drained to give the hen some relief for a period of time. Draining is not a cure, but it is a supportive care measure.
A lot of times a vet is not an option and usually the outcome is the same, you can try draining yourself as @Shezadandy has pointed out.

You are right, the heavy breathing is usually due to pressure on the organs. It's a heartbreaking thing to see. I'm very sorry about your hen, I know it's upsetting, I think most of us have been there.

 

[Salty Cookie]

Protrusion as in prolapse or just a distended abdomen?

If you are feeling something in her abdomen it may be an internally laid egg or mass, could be your feeling the gizzard too, but it doesn't move much.
Unfortunately, if that's the cause, then there's no way for the egg to come out, it's in the coelomic cavity (abdomen). Sometimes this does cause fluid to build in the abdomen and it can be drained to give the hen some relief for a period of time. Draining is not a cure, but it is a supportive care measure.
A lot of times a vet is not an option and usually the outcome is the same, you can try draining yourself as @Shezadandy has pointed out.

You are right, the heavy breathing is usually due to pressure on the organs. It's a heartbreaking thing to see. I'm very sorry about your hen, I know it's upsetting, I think most of us have been there.

I don't think I did it right I guess.... I put needle and sucked out egg yolk. My daughter was holding her, and when my hen moved the needle came out. My guess is... egg yolk preitonitis and I just broke the yolk? I really don't know but I regret what I did I think. I could have made the condition worse by breaking the yolk?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I don't think I did it right I guess.... I put needle and sucked out egg yolk. My daughter was holding her, and when my hen moved the needle came out. My guess is... egg yolk preitonitis and I just broke the yolk? I really don't know but I regret what I did I think. I could have made the condition worse by breaking the yolk?

I'm not quite understanding here. You drained her abdomen? If so, then was the fluid like an amber color, clear, etc.?

 

[Salty Cookie]

I'm not quite understanding here. You drained her abdomen? If so, then was the fluid like an amber color, clear, etc.?

It was definitely egg yolk. My guess is that she has egg yolk peritonitis and I poked the yolk and drained some of it. I can ask my vet if I want but I know he wouldn't really want to help since he is a farmer as well. Farmers just cull problematic chickens you see. I know he helps chicken patients, but I spoked to him when I noticed her condition but he just told me to leave her as it is. I know, I shouldn't have used the needle, but I really wanted to do whatever I could. She is eating, drinking and looks much happier than three days ago but my guess is the fluid will impact her heart and lungs and eventually kills her...

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Could be Peritonitis or Internal Laying.
You can try giving her an antibiotic to see if that helps. Amoxicillin would be a good choice. Dose is 57mg per pound of weight given orally twice a day for 10-14 days.

Yes, farmers and a lot of others do cull a bird when they are having reproductive problems. For farmers and others that raise birds for meat/eggs, a non productive or sick bird is not practical to keep. A vet would likely give you antibiotics as well. Sometimes this may help a bird to be more comfortable for a period of time. Sadly, reproductive issues are common in laying hens and they ultimately succumb to these conditions.

For me, I monitor them, I may offer supportive care, but I evaluate birds daily. Once one is in a state of decline and doesn't show signs of improvement and are miserable, I put them down.

 

[Shezadandy]

It was definitely egg yolk. My guess is that she has egg yolk peritonitis and I poked the yolk and drained some of it. I can ask my vet if I want but I know he wouldn't really want to help since he is a farmer as well. Farmers just cull problematic chickens you see. I know he helps chicken patients, but I spoked to him when I noticed her condition but he just told me to leave her as it is. I know, I shouldn't have used the needle, but I really wanted to do whatever I could. She is eating, drinking and looks much happier than three days ago but my guess is the fluid will impact her heart and lungs and eventually kills her...

If you poked her on her lowest point on the right side of her abdomen and got egg yolk material, she has a very advanced case of internal laying and egg yolk peritonitis. You did not make it worse or puncture an egg in the process of laying, you just got more information by figuring out that her abdominal cavity is unfortunately full of this material from her internal laying issue.

Her hormones have kept her "laying" but the egg material has just been dumping into her abdominal cavity. Chickens do not have a diaphram that separates their organs, it's just one big cavity.

I've had just one case like you're describing. That one I used a syringe on and removed over 60ccs of disgusting scrambled egg goop from her on multiple occasions - which did help her for a bit. Every other bird I've drained, and there have been many - have been full of fluid.

You can of course try antibiotics, and you can try and get as much material out of her as possible by draining/ The other thing you can try is putting her in a dimly lit area for a few days to help stop the hormones that are continuing to drive egg production to at least put a stop to more material being added. These are all treatment options to help her be more comfortable- none will cure her- and as such it's up to you whether to treat her or ... Draining fluid is one thing - this level of disease is something else.

If you have a strong stomach and would benefit from photos of a necropsy of an EYP type case-- but be warned, it is VERY GRPAHIC so if you will find photos of the inside of a chicken impacted by this disease disturbing - DO NOT CLICK ON IT.


https://www.sufficientself.com/thre...-they-stop-laying-warning-graphic-pics.15366/