Hen drinking a ton of water, not interested in food.

[NicoLee1991]

Alright, Bernie who I think is an ISA brown, about 2 years old is acting very strange. She is much slower than normal, I can actually catch her. She seems to be kind of staring off a lot of the time. She is isolating and won't roost, she hides on the floor. She is drinking a lot of water but I haven't seen her eat any food. When I checked her crop tonight it seems completely full of water. She still does get mad at me for poking at her though.
I thought she might be egg bound, I haven't manually checked yet, but she's not walking funny or anything. However, she might be the chicken who has laid some jellies and odd shaped eggs recently. She has some droppings on her feathers. Her abdomen seems more full than some of my younger chickens but less full than some of my older and same aged chickens. Nothing hard feeling in it.
I just feel terrible not knowing what to do for her. I brought her back from the brink as a chick, a point I've never seen a chick come back from. I love having chickens but sometimes it is so hard.

Anyway, any ideas?
I'll be bringing her inside in the morning, god willing. I just have to set up a place for her to hang out so I can keep close eyes on her w/o too much stress.

 

[Shezadandy]

Alright, Bernie who I think is an ISA brown, about 2 years old is acting very strange. She is much slower than normal, I can actually catch her. She seems to be kind of staring off a lot of the time. She is isolating and won't roost, she hides on the floor. She is drinking a lot of water but I haven't seen her eat any food. When I checked her crop tonight it seems completely full of water. She still does get mad at me for poking at her though.
I thought she might be egg bound, I haven't manually checked yet, but she's not walking funny or anything. However, she might be the chicken who has laid some jellies and odd shaped eggs recently. She has some droppings on her feathers. Her abdomen seems more full than some of my younger chickens but less full than some of my older and same aged chickens. Nothing hard feeling in it.
I just feel terrible not knowing what to do for her. I brought her back from the brink as a chick, a point I've never seen a chick come back from. I love having chickens but sometimes it is so hard.

Anyway, any ideas?
I'll be bringing her inside in the morning, god willing. I just have to set up a place for her to hang out so I can keep close eyes on her w/o too much stress.

It's not impossible that she might have ascities going on, which is waterbelly. The fluid takes up a lot of room in their bodies, which compresses their organs and makes it harder to digest, breathe etc- so the crop being full of water could be secondary to ascities.

Below is a video on how to drain ascities - it's not a cure but it can bring relief if that is the issue. She starts off using a syringe to draw off the fluid. I stopped doing that and now just do what she does at the end, which is just let the fluid drain out the needle at its own pace- much easier to do if you don't have a helping hand available. A 3/4 to 1" long needle, either 14 gauge or 16 gauge can be found at farm supply stores by the cattle vaccines.

The causes of ascities can be laying disorders (internal laying leading to egg yolk peritonitis, something many production breeds suffer from) -- could be some variety of organ failure.

If she does have it, draining the fluid will make her more comfortable and give her insides room to function again. Again- not a cure but it can give some more quality time - and even if she's on her way down ... it will help her be more comfortable. Eventually the fluid builds up and makes it so they have to gasp for each breath which is terrible to see, and worse to live through!! so having the right thing in your first aid kit ready and waiting is always a good idea.

If it's purely a crop issue and there's no ascities, click the 2nd link:

Ascities video:

Crop info: https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...d-sour-crops-prevention-and-treatments.67194/

 

[Wyorp Rock]

She is drinking a lot of water

Do you feel any fluid in the abdomen is it tight like a drum or firm/bloated?

Drinking a lot of water is a symptom that the crop is not functioning/emptying. Read the article below to begin treatment.
Often a bird has an underlying condition that is causing the crop to slow down. Some common conditions are reproductive disorders, infection, worms and/or coccidiosis.
Her having issues with laying eggs and her abdomen is large, she may have fluid or she may be suffering from any of a number of reproductive issues that hens can have - Cancer, Peritonitis, Salpingitis, etc. Fluid (Ascites) is a symptom - some do drain the fluid to give the hen short term relief.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

 

[NicoLee1991]

Do you feel any fluid in the abdomen is it tight like a drum or firm/bloated?

Drinking a lot of water is a symptom that the crop is not functioning/emptying. Read the article below to begin treatment.
Often a bird has an underlying condition that is causing the crop to slow down. Some common conditions are reproductive disorders, infection, worms and/or coccidiosis.
Her having issues with laying eggs and her abdomen is large, she may have fluid or she may be suffering from any of a number of reproductive issues that hens can have - Cancer, Peritonitis, Salpingitis, etc. Fluid (Ascites) is a symptom - some do drain the fluid to give the hen short term relief.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

Her abdomen feels very tight. She did eat some today and it doesn't seem like she over drank but not a whole lot in her crop, maybe like grape sized but like a very soft grape.

 

[NicoLee1991]

It's not impossible that she might have ascities going on, which is waterbelly. The fluid takes up a lot of room in their bodies, which compresses their organs and makes it harder to digest, breathe etc- so the crop being full of water could be secondary to ascities.

Below is a video on how to drain ascities - it's not a cure but it can bring relief if that is the issue. She starts off using a syringe to draw off the fluid. I stopped doing that and now just do what she does at the end, which is just let the fluid drain out the needle at its own pace- much easier to do if you don't have a helping hand available. A 3/4 to 1" long needle, either 14 gauge or 16 gauge can be found at farm supply stores by the cattle vaccines.

The causes of ascities can be laying disorders (internal laying leading to egg yolk peritonitis, something many production breeds suffer from) -- could be some variety of organ failure.

If she does have it, draining the fluid will make her more comfortable and give her insides room to function again. Again- not a cure but it can give some more quality time - and even if she's on her way down ... it will help her be more comfortable. Eventually the fluid builds up and makes it so they have to gasp for each breath which is terrible to see, and worse to live through!! so having the right thing in your first aid kit ready and waiting is always a good idea.

If it's purely a crop issue and there's no ascities, click the 2nd link:

Ascities video:

Crop info: https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...d-sour-crops-prevention-and-treatments.67194/

I don't think it's a crop issue, we've done the whole crop impaction and such with two or 3 birds so far. I'll look more into ascites, I want to be sure before I go sticking needles randomly into her poor abdomen. I will definitely watch the video link you gave me (thank you), I just happen to be eating at the moment so I'll be coming back for that in a few.

 

[Shezadandy]

I don't think it's a crop issue, we've done the whole crop impaction and such with two or 3 birds so far. I'll look more into ascites, I want to be sure before I go sticking needles randomly into her poor abdomen. I will definitely watch the video link you gave me (thank you), I just happen to be eating at the moment so I'll be coming back for that in a few.

It's definitely not randomly poking - usually it's just one poke into the lower right abdomen at the lowest point (gravity works!!) where there isn't anything to damage, which is demonstrated and very well explained in the video.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

If the abdomen is very tight, then try draining as @Shezadandy has suggested.
It's not a cure, but can give a hen some relief and make them more comfortable for a period of time.

 

[NicoLee1991]

If the abdomen is very tight, then try draining as @Shezadandy has suggested.
It's not a cure, but can give a hen some relief and make them more comfortable for a period of time.

What do you think about egg yolk peritonitis? Her abdomen isn't swollen or bulging, just hard. I'll see what it's like this morning and check back in. But as of last night there was no fluid feeling anywhere.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Oh, I misunderstood...yes, it's possible it could be Peritonitis or a mass inside the abdomen then.

 

[Shezadandy]

What do you think about egg yolk peritonitis? Her abdomen isn't swollen or bulging, just hard. I'll see what it's like this morning and check back in. But as of last night there was no fluid feeling anywhere.

It's not impossible that she's full of nasty yolk gunk - I did have a hen with that very issue, actually the very first one I ever drained- though of course a syringe was needed because unlike a fluid, it wasn't going to drip out.

Keep in mind that sometimes they really do take on so much fluid that it may not even feel like fluid- one hen had organ failure and it was like she was a pontoon boat - as opposed to the classic fluid sloshing around. I could always tell when she needed a drain because her feet would get wider apart- she was harder to drain than most.

Anyhow- your critter- your choice on how to treat her. Just trying to give you options.