Help! Chicken trouble breathing and blood clot in mouth

[hichickhi]

Hi this is my first post to BYC and I need some help. I have a hen who is about 4-5. She stopped laying eggs about 7 months ago and just today I noticed she has some difficulty breathing. She is not cocking her neck she is just sitting with her mouth open clearly having trouble. Today, when I let them out in their run she was walking very weird. I'm not quite sure how to describe it but she was squatting and almost just sitting down refusing to move. About an hour ago when I went to go close them up for the night she was on the ground instead of her perch. This is very abnormal for her as she's never done it before. So anyway is this just an old age issue or is there something I can to to cure her or make her more comfortable???


Update: there is now a pea sized blood clot in her mouth, we have tried calling some vets but its a sunday and not many do chickens.

 

[beetandsteet]

Feel her abdomen. Is it hard; like something is stuck in there? Her squatting would make me think she is egg-bound, I'm not sure about the breathing.

 

[Eggcessive]

Hi this is my first post to BYC and I need some help. I have a hen who is about 4-5. She stopped laying eggs about 7 months ago and just today I noticed she has some difficulty breathing. She is not cocking her neck she is just sitting with her mouth open clearly having trouble. Today, when I let them out in their run she was walking very weird. I'm not quite sure how to describe it but she was squatting and almost just sitting down refusing to move. About an hour ago when I went to go close them up for the night she was on the ground instead of her perch. This is very abnormal for her as she's never done it before. So anyway is this just an old age issue or is there something I can to to cure her or make her more comfortable???

It sounds like she may be laying internally or have egg yolk peritonitis. They can have trouble getting around, have a penguin appearance, and can become short of breath, sometimes because of ascites or fluid in the lower belly. Antibiotics and if fluid in her belly is a problem, occasionally removing some fluid with an 18 gauge needle may help temporarily.

 

[hichickhi]

her abdomen is not really hard but it does seem swelled. thank you for the reply!

 

[hichickhi]

It sounds like she may be laying internally or have egg yolk peritonitis. They can have trouble getting around, have a penguin appearance, and can become short of breath, sometimes because of ascites or fluid in the lower belly. Antibiotics and if fluid in her belly is a problem, occasionally removing some fluid with an 18 gauge needle may help temporarily.

she now has what looks like a blood clot in her mouth, would this also be a symptom and she stopped laying about 7 months ago, is this still egg yolk peritonitis?? also after your post i did feel her abdomen, it feels very swelled so this seems to be a good possibility. thank you so much for your reply

 

[Eggcessive]

The blood clot in her mouth sounds strange. Could she have been injured inside her beak or peen pecked? Would a picture be possible? Can you see her tongue clearly? Here are some links about egg peritonitis, ascites, and internal laying:
http://www.theveterinaryexpert.com/backyard-poultry/egg-yolk-peritonitis/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/853726/ascites-in-desperate-need-of-some-help-and-guidance
http://www.chickenvet.co.uk/health-and-common-diseases/egg-laying-issues/index.aspx
http://scoopfromthecoop.nutrenaworld.com/tag/laying-issues/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/526089/egg-yolk-peritonitis

 

[Eggcessive]

I looked up a couple of threads about blood in the mouth, and couldn't see anything similar. Injury to the beak, or mouth, and abscess or sore that has bled are all I could find. A respiratory disease called ILT can cause bloody mucus to be coughed up, but she would be having severe respiratory symptoms with that.

 

[hichickhi]

I looked up a couple of threads about blood in the mouth, and couldn't see anything similar. Injury to the beak, or mouth, and abscess or sore that has bled are all I could find. A respiratory disease called ILT can cause bloody mucus to be coughed up, but she would be having severe respiratory symptoms with that.

thank you so much for your help. we took her to the vet today and he said that she had some reproductive issue, had large amounts of build up in her abdomen and after much thought and by recommendation we decided to put her down

 

[Eggcessive]

So sorry for your loss. That's what it sounded like. Did you find out what the blood clot inside her beak was from?

 

[hichickhi]

So sorry for your loss. That's what it sounded like. Did you find out what the blood clot inside her beak was from?

honestly no but im guessing her insides were so smushed from the large amount of fluid in her abdomen that it was causing major health issues like bleeding from the mouth.