Eggbound or something else??

[coach723]

Sounding more and more like a reproductive problem.

 

[chickndays]

Does her abdomen feel bloated, below the vent, between the legs? Also is her keel bone well muscled or is the bone very prominent? Hard to say if she's not laying due to molt, or if there is more going on. The stance and behavior makes it sound like a reproductive problem. Do you know for sure she was laying before, and was she laying normally and regularly? When she poops, are they normal looking? Is she pooping less often than normal or straining? Also check her crop. If possible check it tonight to see if there is food in it and how it feels, then check first thing in the morning before she's had access to food or water, it should be empty then. 18 months is a little young for a reproductive problem, but it's not impossible, and if she's laying internally, that can start very early. Have you checked her over carefully to make sure there are no injuries hiding in feathers?

Yes, there's definitely something going on back there. I checked her again and it does feel like hard swelling and warm beneath vent on both sides of lower/bottom backend and she acts like she's weighed down. She was actually laying down next to the waterer this evening so she could drink freely. I haven't compared to another hen yet. Other hens should be molting now and are still laying so far. I had looked her over a bit and didn't see any injuries.
Chickens are mystifying.

I don't know if there are breed related problems or hatchery breeding problems but she was a McMurray mail order chick.

 

[chickndays]

Abdomen feels hard and bony while another layer felt soft and squishy in that area. Can see from photo where her abdomen seems to be weighed down. The roosting bar she's on is about the height of a hen and she can only jump half that height. Still eating and drinking fine, just having mobility issues.

 

[coach723]

The bloated abdomen and her stance and inability to make it onto the roost are all pretty good indications of a reproductive problem. It could be a cancer, infection, internal laying, or if it's fluid, that's ascites, which is fluid accumulation from a liver that is leaking. That is a symptom of the things listed above as well as organ failure. Sometimes it's really hard to know until necropsy, the various things can have very similar symptoms. 18 months is a little young for those things, more commonly they are seen after the age of 2. But her symptoms all point to that. If vet care is an option then imaging might show what is going on. But sometimes it does not. In general, all of those things really don't have good treatment options and most often treating might buy them some time but usually does not accomplish a cure. I'm so sorry.

 

[AshVau22]

I just lost a hen to Egg yolk peritonitis (EYP) I thought it was possible water belly. After an attempt to drain I realized it wasn't. Once she got to the point she couldn't get around I culled her to end her suffering. I did cut her open to be sure. It was EYP. So the difference was her mass was hard not like a water balloon. She also didn't lay for months. The mass became larger and larger till it hung like the picture of your hen.

 

[Anon112]

I'm really sorry to say that I just lost a hen to a similar situation. Swollen under the vent, struggling to poop, gradual weight loss and weakness.

I did take her to a vet (7 hours in the emergency room!), who thought she most likely had a cancerous mass in her abdomen which was impeding her colon/digestive system. She also noted that my hen had signs of a long-term calcium deficiency (wavy breastbone), despite having free access always to oyster shell.

We did a few days of antibiotics and anti-inflammatories, but sadly she did not improve. I culled her on Thursday evening.

Now, I did have a hen with a very swollen area under the vent, but it was more liquid than soft tissue. The vet drained the fluid, we did a round of antibiotics, and that hen lived a really good 7 months before she started to decline again.

My hen had a day where she seemed back to normal----ate a bunch of food, chased after treats when I threw them---but then steadily declined from there.

It's probably worth seeing if calcium, some probiotics, and extra TLC help her show any improvement over the next few days.

 

[Anon112]

I just lost a hen to Egg yolk peritonitis (EYP) I thought it was possible water belly. After an attempt to drain I realized it wasn't. Once she got to the point she couldn't get around I called her to end her suffering. I did cut her open to be sure. It was EYP. So the difference was her mass was hard not like a water balloon. She also didn't lay for months. The mass became larger and larger till it hung like the picture of your hen.

I'm really sorry about the loss of your hen. I did have one "miracle" recovery (the one I talk about in my post above), but all my others with suspected EYP have gone downhill pretty fast.