Hen in pain? Panting, won't move

[SunriseChickers]

My hen hasn't been moving around very much for quite some time. A few weeks ago she started hanging out in the coop more, still getting out to eat and drink and hang with the roo. This week she has stopped leaving the coop. She is not broody, but we thought she was in the beginning. She's been sitting in the nest boxes, sometimes she moved between the boxes. We realized after a couple of days that she hadn't been eating or drinking. I hand fed her some orange slices, as she refused to eat anything else, like her pellets, yesterday. Today my sister brought her inside. She fed her a blended mix of oranges, flax seed and pepitas. She hasn't eaten or drank very much, but she's pooped twice some very watery poops. We are giving her cold water with sugar since she seems dehydrated and she has labored breathing, opening her beak for periods of time. She feels more hot than normal.
When she moves around, standing and pivoting, she seems to favor her right leg a ton and extends her right wing for support. He wings are also out for cooling, I think. Her comb is bright but limp.
She is alert and curious about new things around her, and occasionally talks to us. She doesn't sound distressed. She usually sits but occasionally kind of stands but almost squats. Her abdomen is very hard and possibly distended but I did get an egg after she had started acting like this and become nesting-box-bound, so I don't think she's egg bound. She is a high production breed, White Plymouth Rock. She is almost five years old. I hate seeing her like this, but I don't have the means to take her to an avian vet or do any sort of procedures(probings, tubing's, etc) on my own like I know some of your brave folk have done. It would break my heart to put her down, but despite her perky, friendly demeanor I think she is in a good deal of pain. If anyone could help us, I would be so grateful.

Note that in the poop picture, the orange was actually orange, not from her poop.
Edit: Her crop is normal.

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

You say her abdomen is very hard and possible distended. By that, do you mean it could be bloated? I'm slightly questioning water belly.

Here's an example of what water belly looked like on one of my hens: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/what-is-wrong-with-my-hen.1246893/

 

[SunriseChickers]

You say her abdomen is very hard and possible distended. By that, do you mean it could be bloated? I'm slightly questioning water belly.

Here's an example of what water belly looked like on one of my hens: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/what-is-wrong-with-my-hen.1246893/

Yes, you could call it bloated. Could water belly account for all the symptoms? Not wanting to move around?

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

Yes, you could call it bloated. Could water belly account for all the symptoms? Not wanting to move around?

Yes. On my cases, when they stopped being active/moving and eating was when they were close to the end. They also had bad balance and before they got too bad, they wouldn't allow their front end (crop area) go down.

With water belly, you can drain it and there's some other things you can do to help your bird. There is no cure though. On my cases, I culled them when they were obviously close to the end.

 

[SunriseChickers]

Yes. On my cases, when they stopped being active/moving and eating was when they were close to the end. They also had bad balance and before they got too bad, they wouldn't allow their front end (crop area) go down.

With water belly, you can drain it and there's some other things you can do to help your bird. There is no cure though. On my cases, I culled them when they were obviously close to the end.

I wish I were in a position for a vet for her. If it is water belly she will probably be culled, sadly. Know anyone else I could tag that might have further insight?

 

[Eggcessive]

Ascites or water belly can be confirmed if you try to remove some of the yellow fluid with an 18 gauge needle and large syringe inserted just under the lower abdominal wall. Ascites can occur from a liver disorder, cancer, or most often with a reproductive disorder. Is her tail position down or up? Is her crop emptying overnight? Make sure the others are not picking on her, and if they do start, separate her with food and water. In the thread below, look at post 42 for pictures of draining a hen with ascites with a needle:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/laying-hens-with-water-belly-or-ascites.68731/page-5

 

[SunriseChickers]

Ascites or water belly can be confirmed if you try to remove some of the yellow fluid with an 18 gauge needle and large syringe inserted just under the lower abdominal wall. Ascites can occur from a liver disorder, cancer, or most often with a reproductive disorder. Is her tail position down or up? Is her crop emptying overnight? Make sure the others are not picking on her, and if they do start, separate her with food and water. In the thread below, look at post 42 for pictures of draining a hen with ascites with a needle:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/laying-hens-with-water-belly-or-ascites.68731/page-5

I unfortunately do not have the resources to drain her at the moment, and don't know if I will be able to get my hands on such things. I will discuss it with family and attempt to confirm Ascites if I can.
I will check to see if her crop has emptied in the morning, though it certainly isn't very full right now, so I don't know if I will be able to tell much of a difference.
When she stands, her tail position is down. Otherwise it is just neutral.
She has already been separated to keep a closer eye on her. Fortunately what's left of my flock, a much younger hen and the roo, are always kind to her.

 

[SunriseChickers]

So good and bad news. Good news is I'm pretty certain she doesn't have water belly.
Bad news is we are fairly certain she is egg bound, and I'm just terrible at telling the difference(I suppose because I've never had to before). It feels like there is a hard egg sized something below her vent, and the rest seems pretty normal. We realized the eggs we were getting weren't hers, and that helps the egg bound theory. Right now she is soaking in a warm bath of Epsom salts and seems very content, about to drift off to sleep so it must be a relief for her. But as she's sitting, her right leg is fully extended behind her and seems to cause her pain. It's stiff when I try to move it forward, like she's keeping it back. Beyond soaking her for a while every day, I don't know what to do. She has probably been egg bound for days, and I feel bad for not investigating enough to tell earlier. She also has bumble foot on the left, so hopefully the salts help that, too.

 

[SunriseChickers]

This is her right leg underwater.

I'm not sure what the resting breath rate it for chickens, hers is about 35/minute, so I can't tell if it's fast, heavy, or not. When it's quiet I can hear it from two or three feet away.

Edit: Her breathing almost sounds congested? There's a small click when she, it think, breathes in. And sometimes it's almost like a little congested snore and it wakes her up.

 

[SunriseChickers]

Sadly, Twilight passed away last night. She was the last bird living from my very first six hens, so it's fitting that she's the only one to not have a traumatizing death(the others were pulled from the coop by a mink and ripped up). Thankfully, she passed in her sleep. Yesterday she spent a good long time, napping comfortably, floating in warm water, so it wasn't all misery.

R.I.P. She'll be buried under the branches of a solitary slippery elm at the bottom of a hill with the others, where they can see the sunset.