Hen has diarrhea and a bulgy bottom [Update - passed away]

[flowerhippie]

Yes she could very well have a egg stuck and sometimes the inside reproductive organs will hemorrhage if the hen has stressed out her insides by pushing hard . With the way the questions asked on your trouble shooting and your answers It was hard to determine the answer you were trying to ask. I don't like to be assertive, sorry ! If you think it is a stuck egg petroleum jelly applied to the vent area may help if it is close to the outside of the vent wall. The reason for not allowing your hens to mature to fast is to prevent maturity. If A hen has been on a long molt and has began again or has not been allowed to molt long enough, If your hen is over weight,these are more prone to prolapse of the uterus. This will often result in a higher mortality rate.

 

[Prairie Orca]

Thanks for all the info and input, everyone.

Is it possible for her to be egg bound even though she's still laying (including today)?

Only one chemical has been sprayed on the property in the past year. Something called "Ripcord" (anti-mosquito/pest chemical, harmless to butterflies, people, etc.) was sprayed around the property this past September.

@ chicken crazed 1o1: Well I now live just outside the city, but I did live there for most of my life. Great place.

Whatever the problem may be - should I give her a warm bath? I don't like the sight of the pasted-up down feathers from the diarrhea. And maybe it'll help relax her enough that, if there's some sort of issue in regards to being egg bound or something related, it'll provide some relief...?

 

[Prairie Orca]

I kept her isolated overnight. And today I found two eggs... apparently the cochin has started laying and is laying almost daily. So that means that Quiet Hen has not been laying, and I don't know how long it's been. I felt the bulge today and it feels a lot harder. I have her sitting in some warm water - she seems to be enjoying it. I'll be keeping an eye on her and if nothing passes, I'll try and put some petroleum jelly in her vent area.

There were a couple droppings in the kennel, and they looked normal to me.

EDIT: I felt the hard thing and it feels like an egg, and from what I can tell it's a relatively normal size for her, maybe a little bigger. I tried massaging it out and Quiet Hen was a good sport - she was straining while I massaged and we were both trying to get the darn thing to move. There were a couple times where it felt like it was starting to move up to the vent somewhat, but then it would fall back down.

 

[Prairie Orca]

She seems to not have drank or eaten much today, so I forced a little bit of food and a modest amount of water (containing electrolytes and vitamins) down her throat.

Feels like a second egg has manifested behind the offending egg, but from what I can tell the second one is significantly smaller. Nonetheless I'm sure it's causing Quiet Hen discomfort.

I gave her a 40-minute warm bath earlier. I had it so that it was just a relaxation bath - I let her lay in the water and doze off. I have her in another warm bath right now. I've tried massaging her but I honestly have no clue if I'm doing it right.

There's a hot water bottle in the kennel that she's being housed in (the bottle is wrapped in a plastic bag). The kennel is covered in towels to limit the amount of light coming through. I trimmed the feathers that were stuck together from the diarrhea, as washing it off was futile. So if she makes it through she'll have a slightly bald area under her vent until next molt.

 

[WooingWyandotte]

Ohh, I hope she'll be ok

 

[welasharon]

Good luck with her. I had to work my hen's vent around the egg as I got it worked to the vent in order to get it out. I was afraid it would rip her but it didn't. However, it seems the trauma caused her to get vent gleet which eventually killed her. You may want to start feeding her yogurt to head that problem off. Also I have read to crush up some tums and put it in the water..that that can help strengthen her ability to push the egg out.
sharon

 

[Prairie Orca]

Thanks guys.

I did don a glove (latex? Not sure) and put on a liberal amount of petroleum jelly. I tried several times to reach the egg but I could only get as far as the pelvis before she would start pushing my finger back out. When I first put my finger in she took a big dump. It all felt very swollen to me. In my last attempt some brownish liquid leaked out and I managed to catch it in a container and it's now in a plastic bag just in case.

I've tried enticing her to eat and drink (because I don't want to stress her out by forcing a bunch of stuff down her throat), but she's refusing to consume anything on her own. She even refused my cocktail of scrambled eggs + layer feed + oyster shell + oatmeal + vitamins/electrolytes. I'll see about getting some Tums and yogurt tomorrow - I know for sure that she loves yogurt, but something tells me she won't consume it on her own at this time.

My mom mentioned there being a vet nearby (hour's drive) that may be able to help, but by the time that was mentioned it was already past office hours. I'll see about it tomorrow, but from what I gather I can only call for over-the-phone assistance as I cannot afford the bill and my mom isn't willing to cover it.

 

[lanie8]

I was readind posts that say you should put an eggbond hen in warm water,and rub
her abdomen.good luck!!

 

[Prairie Orca]

Haven't updated due to being busy, and needing to get over the shock...

My sister and I did some running around in the morning of the 18th (including getting some yogurt and Tums). We came back at about 12:40pm. I heard a fluttering of wings in the kennel while I was walking toward it to check on Quiet Hen. I ran the rest of the way and opened the kennel, and saw that she was convulsing or having a seizure, or something of that sort. I gently picked her up, calling her name in the faint hope that she might snap out of it. It seemed that she was already unconscious.

Then she went limp, I felt one more beat of her heart, and then she exhaled for the last time. She died in my arms.

I had a "Partylite" party to go to with my sister that evening in a city a couple hour's drive away, so she helped me wrap her up and put her safely in the large freezer so that we could perform a necropsy later without worrying about any sort of decomposition while we were gone. Then I called my mom at work, told her what happened, we comforted each other, and then I had to go. We were out the door shortly after 1pm.

When we came home from the party after midnight, we performed a necropsy to the best of our ability after making sure that her body was not frozen (was wrapped in a garbage bag and towel). Lack of complete knowledge of organs in a chicken made it a bit of a challenge, but here's what we've learned... (organs not mentioned were inaccessible with the tools we had or not recognized.)

- Appeared severely underweight with no excess fat
- Cause of death was heart attack - confirmed by blood pool in front of heart and excess blood in/around heart; there was no fat around heart
- There were no eggs in her abdomen - no yellow balls of yolk indicating an ovary from what we could find
- Her gizzard was overstuffed with undigested grass, and about half the content was rounded pebbles; sister noted gizzard content was not very moist, more paste-like
- Small intestines seemed empty (did not investigate the inside)
- Large intestines seemed squishy and inflamed (did not investigate the inside)
- Liver was a deep blood red, looked very healthy
- Crop was filled with the food I had last fed her (sister accidentally ripped it open)
- Oviduct seemed normal, maybe inflamed (did not recognize it until after the necropsy; did not investigate the inside)
- There were three round bulgy things around the intestines that looked mostly white-coloured with some gray (did not investigate the insides)
- There was a large mass of fat gathered at the front of the intestines, felt solid
- Only stink came from digestive system (but not gizzard)
- No signs of worms

With all that information, I think it may have been impaction, but I can't be sure.

Pictures have been taken of some of the necropsy, but I'm not sure whether to post it in this thread and edit the title to warn of graphic photos, or start a new thread with a warning title. There's also the matter of where to upload... (because it's pretty graphic.)

Thank you everyone for your help and support.