Emergency hen 7yrs old, abdomen tight as a drum, listless

[lazy gardener]

If the grit and oil don't help, and I'm guessing they wont, it may be time to euthanize. It sounds to me like she has ascites. The fluid in the abdomen can restrict the lungs, and make the breathing more labored.

 

[debigag]

Update on my Butter Bud. Got home last night and gave her Coconut oil (I keep mine in the fridge so it was hard, I broke off small chunks and she ate it like candy!) After eating it I massaged her crop though it was soft and felt like a bean bag....I could move stuff inside around and it felt like little beans in it. The weather here is finally above 1 degree (was 45 yesterday....... like springtime!) so I took her and the dogs outside for an hour. She was like a kid in a candy store....pecking and eating and scratching......I swear I saw her smiling a couple of times!!! She was so happy and excited. She was eating like crazy and scratching away. Her face was covered in mud. Looked like a kid eating a melty chocolate bar. After an hour I put her back into her outside fenced corral/coop where she has lived the last 6 years and I went inside to do chores. After 1/2 hour came out (she was roosted inside the egg box probably because she was lonely. That's where she was sleeping after her last buddy died.) and brought her into the house. She immediately headed for the cat tree to roost for the night. This morning I checked and she had pooped 3x during the night but very small. I put her in her crate (she has fulltime grain/water in there) and fed her chopped up organic spring mix which she pecked at a bit. She was refusing anything to do with more oil chunks. She took another poo which was, volume wise, about a full 1 tablespoon+ (took photo but left the camera at home dang it). Way more poo than she has done in the last 2-3 days but runny and not her normal poo. I melted about 1/4 tspn of the coconut oil and mixed it with her fav snacks dried mealworms. The worms were coated with oil and she ate them all. THEN, I put her in the shower and washed her hind end well since it was getting somewhat pasted up....she liked it. I cut off all the butt feathers and blew her dry. She has decided she likes this and wants it every week!!!! Yea, don't we all? Her abdomen is still very tight as a drum like she is full of gas. I try not to pick her up with any weight on her tummy. She seems well enough.....eating, walking OK.......being in the house may be causing a lot of this IDK. Food is a bit different.....no where to really scratch....the fact that she was acting very normal outside makes me think that maybe she is just gased up.........going to continue these treatments and see where it goes. BTW in the picture to the left that is her sitting closet to the camera. Will try to get some pics of her boated belly to post.

 

[debigag]

If the grit and oil don't help, and I'm guessing they wont, it may be time to euthanize. It sounds to me like she has ascites. The fluid in the abdomen can restrict the lungs, and make the breathing more labored.



Euthanize....???? At this point she is not "unhealthy". Her breathing has been fine since that first day, she is eating pretty well and not losing any weight and her abdomen is not full of fluid. I have had 3 hens that had Ascites and I have necropsied 2 of them. She has none of the symptoms...no fluid, no "penguin" walking, no lethargy......overall she is actually pretty normal. The only concern I have is the full bloated tight belly...... though she does not seem to be bothered by it.

 

[azygous]

Your update sounds encouraging and made me smile and giggle. Behavior is your best indication of the state of well being of a chicken. Keep doing what you're doing, and keep a close check of her crop. Check at night and first thing in the morning before you feed her.

If the crop is still full in the morning, it means her crop issues are ongoing and need to be addressed.

 

[debigag]

Could she maybe have worms badly or a tape worm that is making her belly so tight?????

 

[debigag]

Your update sounds encouraging and made me smile and giggle. Behavior is your best indication of the state of well being of a chicken. Keep doing what you're doing, and keep a close check of her crop. Check at night and first thing in the morning before you feed her.

If the crop is still full in the morning, it means her crop issues are ongoing and need to be addressed.

This morning I felt her crop and it was not empty. There was still something in there. It was squishy but I could still feel the "beans" sort of stuff in there. Not packed, not hard....but it was not completely empty.

 

[Granny Hatchet]

I hope your hen does well. I just wanted to comment on her being 7 and still laying ! Wow, I had no clue..

 

[azygous]

She may have a condition called pendulous crop. http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2016/02/pendulous-crop-in-backyard-chickens.html It prevents the crop from completely emptying, setting the hen up for chronic crop problems. It can be helped by having her wear a crop bra. Take a look at the article and see if any of what you learn applies to your hen.

 

[debigag]

I hope your hen does well. I just wanted to comment on her being 7 and still laying ! Wow, I had no clue..

She has always been a good layer. A few years ago I had to have my birds in foster care for 8 months (while I battled the borough). While in foster care my one lacewing Wyandotte stopped laying. She stopped for two years. Then out of the blue she started laying again!

 

[debigag]

She may have a condition called pendulous crop. http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2016/02/pendulous-crop-in-backyard-chickens.html It prevents the crop from completely emptying, setting the hen up for chronic crop problems. It can be helped by having her wear a crop bra. Take a look at the article and see if any of what you learn applies to your hen.

Thanks for the article. I don't think this is it. Her crop is small and even though I could feel some stuff I there this morning it was not a lot of stuff....maybe the amount the size of a large grape or less. However, I will keep an eye on it and I will continue with the the coconut oil and massaging for now too.