HELP PLZ...chicken about to POP :’-(

[J3ChknMama]

She is an older Buff Orpington. We have been battling mites, chicken lice...but she has been waddling, getting bigger, eating less & is now almost shutting down. I swooped her up this morning seeing the increased distress she was in & I’m trying to troubleshoot wut is wrong & how I/we can help her or she is going to die. Bcuz sprinkling the coop & boxes w/diatomaceous earth hasn’t done much to decrease our bug issue, I bathed her in very soapy warm water to kill off & rid her of as many as possible, and I intermittently used some KY & gently as possible probed a little trying to discern if she is plugged up w/poop, or eggs...got some hard, white, (calcified perhaps?) poop material out of her, but not nearly enuf to clear her or create flow. I just ran into feeling a huge, bulbous mass of flesh in her & was afraid to hurt her by venturing further. I couldn’t feel eggs-would it be obvious feeling if she were egg-bound? She is one of our hundred-smthg chickens at my moms ranch & she can not afford to bring her (having that many chickens) to a vet to know wuts wrong. But to pick her up, Omgosh I can only imagine how much she’s hurting bcuz she literally feels so distended that one hard poke & she might actually POP! Plz...any help or advice would be appreciated. This poor girl is fighting this far, I want to help her thru this. We killed so many lice bugs on her & we dried her & sjes just kind of in a position of dying if smthg doesn’t give at this point. The pic doesn’t truly show how big she is underneath her. Going to try to get another pic. Can’t feel anything in her crop or up near her top half, she’s so bony up in her chest and neck I don’t think it’s the problem area...

 

[Emily4God]

Hey, so sorry! I don't see any pictures?
If she is egg bound if you insert a gloved finger into her vent you should feel an egg.

 

[Emily4God]

Is it chicken lice, or like leg mites? You can rub coconut oil liberally on her legs to suffocate leg mites.

 

[MickWithChicks]

It's really difficult to identify the issue without pictures. How old is she? How often does she lay? When was her last egg?

If you're probing inside her vent gently with a finger and you're reaching a huge, bulbous, fleshy mass, this would indicate she may not be egg bound. There may be a growth inside her, or you could just be feeling her cloaca.

Can you please post some pics?

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For your mite and lice issue:
Don't bother with DE on the coop. It doesn't really do much.

Remove all shavings, mulch, and other loose matter from your coop and run. Burn if you can, but definitely dispose of properly. Hose everything down thoroughly and let it dry.

Liberally spray the entire coop with a liquid Permethrin mix. Get all nooks and crannies. Once dry, liberally apply powdered permethrin and hydrated lime.

Take each of your chickens and dip them in a permethrin bath, ensuring they are wet down to the skin.

If you have access to it, give your hens an oral ivermectin drench to poison any active mites through their blood. This will also have the added benefits of deworming them.

 

[coach723]

If her belly is hard and distended then she may be suffering from either salpingitis or internal laying. In either of those cases matter is deposited into the abdomen and continues to build up over time. It will put pressure on her internal organs, and eventually will prove fatal. It can make it hard for them to digest food, or to poo, and can result in blockages. Treatment is limited, and often not successful, and in this case it sounds as if it's well advanced.

 

[J3ChknMama]

Hey, so sorry! I don't see any pictures?
If she is egg bound if you insert a gloved finger into her vent you should feel an egg.

—I’m so sorry I’m trying to post pic but don’t know how :\

 

[coach723]

To post a picture you can either click on the little square with the mountain and moon/sun in the menu above the box you type in, or you can click on 'upload a file' on the bottom of the box, and select the picture you want to add.

 

[J3ChknMama]

Hey, so sorry! I don't see any pictures?
If she is egg bound if you insert a gloved finger into her vent you should feel an egg.

—-I don’t feel an egg...but I also don’t know if I’m in far enuf cuz I’m terrified of hurting her...after her rocky white pebble-like poop came out that seemed stuck...I just ran into a little bloody mucus(?)...and it’s a puffy ball of tissue, as I can best describe it

 

[J3ChknMama]

If her belly is hard and distended then she may be suffering from either salpingitis or internal laying. In either of those cases matter is deposited into the abdomen and continues to build up over time. It will put pressure on her internal organs, and eventually will prove fatal. It can make it hard for them to digest food, or to poo, and can result in blockages. Treatment is limited, and often not successful, and in this case it sounds as if it's well advanced.

—this might be why I do not feel more of one thing in the upper part or in the lower direction(?) bcuz all I feel is tissue & swelling...omg she’s really as tight as a basketball under there I feel so terrible I can’t seem to help her! Would it possibly help her to keep soaking her underside & vent area just in case smthg gives? Or would it already have after we had her in warm water for hours this morning?

 

[J3ChknMama]