Help! Hen with swollen, firm belly

[GrandmaJr]

My 1 yr 10 month old Colombian Rock X has a swollen, painful belly and is hunched over, laboured breathing. Definitely in pain. Her comb is dark red, maybe a bit purple at the tips.

I left for work early this morning and didn’t see her (not unusual), came back this afternoon to find her hunched under the roost in the litter. She hasn’t laid an egg in a few weeks, but I live in Southern Ontario (Canada) and it is not unusual for a hen to stop laying during the winter so I didn’t think much of it. She’s been acting normal and eating/drinking normally until today. She hates being picked up and is afraid of me so I rarely handle her and didn’t realize anything was wrong. She was on the roost with the others like normal last night.

I’ve heard the term ‘water belly’ but I’m not convinced that her belly is ‘soft’. It feels firm and swollen. There’s nothing inside that I can feel when I press on her abdomen. It hurts her when I press on it.

I’ve contacted a mobile vet but there is supposed to be a snowstorm tonight and weather is expected to be bad. There’s no guarantee that the vet would be able to see her tomorrow either.

Any suggestions for making her more comfortable?? I have her isolated. Should I try to feed her or give her water or would it make her worse? Pain meds? I have some metacam that was prescribed to another one of my chickens once, and some regular strength aspirin. I don’t want her to be in pain.

Thank you for any help!

 

[GrandmaJr]

Sorry, I forgot to mention that I am currently feeding my chickens grower pellets along with a mix of grains and red lentils as a treat (wheat and rye berries, oat groats, raisins, sunflower seeds, proso millet, red lentils), dried black fly larvae and because it’s winter, every day I give them a little bit of my dog’s food (fresh-cooked meat, vegetable and organ-based). Maybe too many treats?

 

[Sussex19]

@azygous can you help?

 

[azygous]

Is the swelling between her legs and towards the front as opposed to behind her legs and under her vent? Is it so swollen it's pushing her legs apart when she stands? Does it cause her to walk with her legs wide apart?

How is her crop? If in doubt, compare with the others. Is it over full, hard, lumpy, or does it feel like a water balloon? Or does it feel no different from the other chickens?

Do you cook the lentils? Or are they fed dried?

 

[GrandmaJr]

Is the swelling between her legs and towards the front as opposed to behind her legs and under her vent? Is it so swollen it's pushing her legs apart when she stands? Does it cause her to walk with her legs wide apart?

How is her crop? If in doubt, compare with the others. Is it over full, hard, lumpy, or does it feel like a water balloon? Or does it feel no different from the other chickens?

Do you cook the lentils? Or are they fed dried?

Hi, the swelling is more towards her rear end than to her front. Her legs are pushed far apart, yes. She’s not walking much. Her crop is flat and empty. I don’t cook the lentils, no.

 

[azygous]

Uncooked beans and lentils contain a compound called phytohaemagglutinin. This compound is poison to chickens. Cook the beans to destroy the compound and then you can feed them to your flock.

Swelling behind the legs idicates either fat deposits or possible reproductive infection. It can also be cancer of the reproductive system.

Your hen appears to be very sick, and her future doesn't appear optimistic. However, on the chance this could be a stuck egg, I suggest a calcium tablet just in case. You might also want to try to locate an oral antibiotic in case this is a bacterial infection that might be treatable. https://www.kvsupply.com/item/aqua-mox-250mg-capsules-100-count/P06184/

 

[nuthatched]

X2 Oats also have anti nutritional qualities. How often do the get the grain mix?

 

[GrandmaJr]

Is the swelling between her legs and towards the front as opposed to behind her legs and under her vent? Is it so swollen it's pushing her legs apart when she stands? Does it cause her to walk with her legs wide apart?

How is her crop? If in doubt, compare with the others. Is it over full, hard, lumpy, or does it feel like a water balloon? Or does it feel no different from the other chickens?

Do you cook the lentils? Or are they fed dried?

I just looked up lentils!! I had no idea. Why am I just learning about this now?? Lentils are off the menu! They were recommended on a chicken blog I read but it never said they are poisonous if dried! In fact, they said they feed them uncooked! On “do not feed” lists, it says dried beans but lentils are legumes, not beans. I never thought to look up lentils specifically.

 

[GrandmaJr]

X2 Oats also have anti nutritional qualities. How often do the get the grain mix?

They don’t get a lot of oats. The mix is mostly wheat berries. What I’m concerned about is the lentils

 

[GrandmaJr]

Uncooked beans and lentils contain a compound called phytohaemagglutinin. This compound is poison to chickens. Cook the beans to destroy the compound and then you can feed them to your flock.

Swelling behind the legs idicates either fat deposits or possible reproductive infection. It can also be cancer of the reproductive system.

Your hen appears to be very sick, and her future doesn't appear optimistic. However, on the chance this could be a stuck egg, I suggest a calcium tablet just in case. You might also want to try to locate an oral antibiotic in case this is a bacterial infection that might be treatable. https://www.kvsupply.com/item/aqua-mox-250mg-capsules-100-count/P06184/

Thank you so much for all of your help. I think I have some amoxicillin. What dosage of calcium would I give her for that? It’s not looking good for her, no.