Hard, huge swollen abdomen on hen

[Jangil360]

Hello. My friends Rhode Island Red is about 5 and has developed an incredibly enlarged, swollen abdomen (in the rear, from her vent to her legs). She is out of town and called me when the pet sitter said there were issues, so I’m not sure exactly when it started but it can’t have been more than a week. She’s been in bad shape for at least 3 days. She was at home and their other chicken is perfectly healthy. She’s never had issues before. She’s very lethargic and has a lot of trouble standing and walking, the abdomen is so swollen it’s basically touching the ground. Her rear was covered in poop (but it wasn’t clogging the vent) and missing most feathers below the vent when I picked her up. I soaked her in Epsom baths last night and today, and she is eating, drinking and pooping just fine, though her poop does smell more sour than usual, it may just be the close quarters, but otherwise seems typical. I’ve given her Tums, a scrambled egg, and plenty of mealworms and she’s eaten all, but the swelling still seems to get worse. The area is rock hard, and I don’t know enough to tell if there’s eggs in there or not. When I open the kennel she gets excited and wants to walk around, but she can barely even turn let alone walk, it’s so swollen. Her comb also looks weak and flat, though I’m not sure what it looks like normally. I’ve attached some pictures.

A vet is not an option, and a lot of the posts I’m reading sound like she may be egg bound, but she is going to the bathroom fine so I’m hoping it could be anything else. We are in AZ and it’s been 105-110 every day the past week, and my friend was worried she may have notes so I was initially sent there to dust here when I saw the other issues. Is there any chance this is stress induced and she will be okay? Or should we be looking at was to end this humanely?

 

[Eggcessive]

She sounds like she is having some abdominal enlargement from either a reproductive problem, such as internal laying, salpingitis, and egg yolk peritonitis, cancer, or ascites (water belly.) Her comb is very pale in the pictures. I would assume that she is not laying eggs? The Epsom salts baths are a good idea. Make sure there are no maggots or flystrike on her skin or vent back there. Is her vent clear? I would describe some of her droppings, and maybe get a picture. I would try to make her comfortable and keep her near her food and water. There is no cure for most of the illnesses above. Some will use a 16 gauge needle to withdraw some fluid from the belly if there is ascites, just to give some temporary relief. Here are some symptoms of EYP:
http://www.theveterinaryexpert.com/backyard-poultry/egg-yolk-peritonitis/

 

[lazy gardener]

If she were in my flock, exhibiting these classic signs of ascites, I would give her a merciful culling. Ascites is an indication of a long term problem that is not curable IMO.