egg yolk peritonitis, ascites or something else?

[Chickenmomma9099]

I got a smaller hen, not bantam but between the size of regular hen and bantam. She hasn’t laid since last December or so. No lash egg. No egg at all. She goes into the best box and pretends to lay but nothing. I thought it was just her age(they said she had been at the place where I got her for a long while) Having heavy breathing when she sits down. Still eats and scratches with the rest of the flock and is head hen eventhough she is smaller. At first I thought it was sour crop bc she stopped eating last November/Dec and treated her for sour crop. She started eating again. But now I noticed the heavy breathing getting worse. Her abdomen is hard and swollen. She walks slowly and manages to run sometimes. Still eating and drinking. Just heavy breathing when sitting down.

My question is:

-is this egg yolk peritonitis or ascites????
- Am I able to drain the belly either way if it is egg yolk peritonitis? Or something else?
-Can I get an antibiotic somewhere like for cattle without a vet somewhere? I know they sell natural bird/cat/dog antibiotic. I have a pic of the one I have on hand.its market for all pets and pic of bird on the label as well.
-I’m using 18G 1.5 inch long needle with either 60Ml or 30ML syringe. Is this too big or long?below are the pics

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I got a smaller hen, not bantam but between the size of regular hen and bantam. She hasn’t laid since last December or so. No lash egg. No egg at all. She goes into the best box and pretends to lay but nothing. I thought it was just her age(they said she had been at the place where I got her for a long while) Having heavy breathing when she sits down. Still eats and scratches with the rest of the flock and is head hen eventhough she is smaller. At first I thought it was sour crop bc she stopped eating last November/Dec and treated her for sour crop. She started eating again. But now I noticed the heavy breathing getting worse. Her abdomen is hard and swollen. She walks slowly and manages to run sometimes. Still eating and drinking. Just heavy breathing when sitting down.

My question is:

-is this egg yolk peritonitis or ascites????
- Am I able to drain the belly either way if it is egg yolk peritonitis? Or something else?
-Can I get an antibiotic somewhere like for cattle without a vet somewhere? I know they sell natural bird/cat/dog antibiotic. I have a pic of the one I have on hand.its market for all pets and pic of bird on the label as well.
-I’m using 18G 1.5 inch long needle with either 60Ml or 30ML syringe. Is this too big or long?below are the pics

Could be Ascites, hard to know. You can try draining to see if that helps.
Remember draining is only a supportive care and comfort measure, it will not cure whatever underlying condition/disease that is causing fluid to accumulate.

An antibiotic may provide some temporary relief if she has an infection. Antibiotics will not treat EYP. Cattle antibiotic? IF you feel you must treat with an antibiotic, then Amoxicillin would be a good choice. You can usually find this online or through your vet.

 

[Eggcessive]

I agree. It is hard to tell exactly what the problem is, but since she goes into the nest box and pretends to lay, she is probably laying internally. That leads to egg yolk peritonitis/coelomitis, where large masses of egg material become solid and causing the enlarged belly. Ascites or water belly is a common finding when these hens are necropsied. It is probably too late to treat with antibiotics. I would make her comfortable, offer egg and wet chicken feed, and if she ever seems to suffer consider putting her down. I usually do a home necropsy just to see what the abdominal contents and organs look like. If you lose her, and do that please take pictures to post for comments.

 

[Chickenmomma9099]

I agree. It is hard to tell exactly what the problem is, but since she goes into the nest box and pretends to lay, she is probably laying internally. That leads to egg yolk peritonitis/coelomitis, where large masses of egg material become solid and causing the enlarged belly. Ascites or water belly is a common finding when these hens are necropsied. It is probably too late to treat with antibiotics. I would make her comfortable, offer egg and wet chicken feed, and if she ever seems to suffer consider putting her down. I usually do a home necropsy just to see what the abdominal contents and organs look like. If you lose and do that please take pictures to post for comments.

Update: I did not do the water belly draining as I read some of the other peoples post and their hen passed immediately if the mass was semi firm.i did not want to risk it bc it felt semi firm. I took her to a local Pet and Bird Vet in Austin. He was rough with her tossing her around and I didn’t like the way he was handling her. It was too aggressive considering she can barely breathe and he flipped her upside down on the table to see her belly.he grabbed her neck and shoved in the pill harshly when she’s got issues breathing and moving around. He could be hurting her ovaries if she had a reproductive issue,
. I’m not even sure if he knew much about chickens. His guess is she has some of meaty lump inside, he says could be an infection.or something worse. So he gave antibiotics to see if that works. If that doesn’t work he says x ray or ultrasound. After the trip my girl was panting otw back which she wasn’t before. Poor baby. Will keep you guys updated in case this helps someone in the future Thanks

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry that she was stressed by the trip to the vet. At least you got the antibiotics. I’m not sure that I would stress her again with another trip, but that is up to you. Let us know how she is doing.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Update: I did not do the water belly draining as I read some of the other peoples post and their hen passed immediately if the mass was semi firm.i did not want to risk it bc it felt semi firm. I took her to a local Pet and Bird Vet in Austin. He was rough with her tossing her around and I didn’t like the way he was handling her. It was too aggressive considering she can barely breathe and he flipped her upside down on the table to see her belly.he grabbed her neck and shoved in the pill harshly when she’s got issues breathing and moving around. He could be hurting her ovaries if she had a reproductive issue,
. I’m not even sure if he knew much about chickens. His guess is she has some of meaty lump inside, he says could be an infection.or something worse. So he gave antibiotics to see if that works. If that doesn’t work he says x ray or ultrasound. After the trip my girl was panting otw back which she wasn’t before. Poor baby. Will keep you guys updated in case this helps someone in the future Thanks

I'm sorry to hear the vet visit didn't go well, it sounds so stressful.

Hopefully the medication he gave will be of benefit. Keep us posted on how she's getting along.

 

[Chickenmomma9099]

I'm sorry to hear the vet visit didn't go well, it sounds so stressful.

Hopefully the medication he gave will be of benefit. Keep us posted on how she's getting along.

Update and to anyone who may see the post in future as well:

I gave her the 10 days of antibiotics and she’s still the same. Heavy breathing when she sits down. I am afraid to take her back to that vet so I will not. Def not wanting anyone to do an ultrasound on her. Maybe x ray but I don’t know because what can I do if results are bad. Last trip was exhausting to her and even giving a pill to her seems hard on her. Not sure what to do, but I am def not inserting the needle inside her bc it feels meaty ..not watery. It’s more like grabbing a small squishy orange than a water balloon (water belly) so I’m afraid I’ll do harm than good in case it’s a mass.

If there’s any other advice to give her quality of life, or any advice at all I would love to hear. I might call him back to see if I can get pain meds for the rest of her life. But idk if he even knew what he was doing with chickens. Maybe just winging the whole ordeal. She is eating drinking taking dust bathes and foraging. Just heavy breathing when she sits down and walks slow. Right now i just started today, i am giving her RopaPoultry to try. It’s natural antibiotic antiviral. Good for immune boost.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

She is eating drinking taking dust bathes and foraging. Just heavy breathing when she sits down and walks slow. Right now i just started today, i am giving her RopaPoultry to try. It’s natural antibiotic antiviral. Good for immune boost.

She's eating/drinking, seems to be chickening.

I would let her keep on going until she's not longer able, then put her down.
The Ropa may make her more comfortable for a period of time, keep us posed on how's she's doing.

 

[Crazy chicken lady 77]

I had a hen last summer that laid internally and had a calcified egg inside of her. We put her down and investigated and it was very infected and gross. We could feel the egg fully formed inside, she hadn't laid for 6 months and she had a bad internal infection. Praying your girl is ok.

 

[Chickenmomma9099]

I had a hen last summer that laid internally and had a calcified egg inside of her. We put her down and investigated and it was very infected and gross. We could feel the egg fully formed inside, she hadn't laid for 6 months and she had a bad internal infection. Praying your girl is ok.

Thank you. She’s been like this for about a year. I noticed her not feeling well at this employee house after some heavy rain. Not walking at all or moving super slow. Her vent look dark on the feathers. So I took her home, thought she had sour crop and treated her for that. she started eating and pooping again. This was last Nov.its been a year now. she stopped laying since that ordeal. I went ahead and relocated the flock to my house and kept them. But yeah.. I been giving oregano oil (chick elixir) supplements for chickens for a while now suppose to help with infections. But this RoPa one is what the industry give antibiotic free chickens so I’m going to give it a try. Supposed to help her liver and infections and immunity boost. Fingers crossed it’ll give her better quality of life.

I’m also trying to see if I can give this cat medicine for her? It’s for kitties with cancer. I had a whole bottle for over a year now but doesn’t expire till 2026. Everything is ok for chickens except the blessed thistle ..I can’t find any info on that. I know milk thistle is good but this isn’t the same thing right?


Is there any natural pain meds for chickens? Trying to find anything by I can do to help improve her quality of life.