Hen Trouble.

[IHC986]

I've a hen that isn't acting right. She waddles instead of walking properly. As she waddles, she drags her butt, waddles with her legs too far apart and, droops her wings. WHAT IS GOING ON WITH MY BIRD ?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Sounds potentially like internal laying.

 

[IHC986]

Internal laying? What can I do?

 

[rebrascora]

I would agree.
Internal laying is where egg yolks released from the ovary fail to travel into the oviduct to be made into eggs as we know them with an albumen and shell, but instead, drop into the abdominal cavity. After it happens once, it seems to continue day after day and the hen stops laying eggs but looks healthy with a bright red comb and usually exhibits normal behaviour. She may even visit the nest boxes and sing the egg song. Unfortunately once the egg yolks are in the abdominal cavity there is no way for them to get out. Over the weeks and months the mass of yolks builds up until the pressure of it, pushes the hens legs apart and puts a strain on the heart and lungs and digestive tract. The hen will start to walk with a wide stance, she will usually develop problems breathing and her comb will turn dark as her heart fails to circulate blood efficiently and her poop will become more liquid and often soil her vent feathers as the mass starts to obstruct her gut. The yolks themselves are under pressure and fluid from them leaches out and the remainder solidifies (sort of cooks). Usually the fluid settles into the bottom of the abdominal swelling (referred to as ascites or water belly) and the solidified yolks float above. Almost instantaneous relief from the severest symptoms can be achieved by draining off that fluid but there is a risk of introducing an infection by inserting a needle and also the hen going into cardiac shock due to the sudden drop in pressure if too much fluid is removed. That said, many people buy their hens several more months of reasonable quality of life by draining them and longer term, if you have major amounts of money to throw at the problem, superlorin hormonal implants can prevent the hen from releasing any more yolks thereby preventing the problem getting worse.
For your average hen, this condition is however a death sentence. If you can drain some of the fluid at this time of year she will be moulting soon and hopefully taking a break from ovulating (laying) and that might mean that she makes it through to next spring but once she starts laying again it will only be a matter of time before it becomes fatal. Sometimes regular draining is possible but each time there is an increased risk of infection (Egg Yolk Peritonitis) setting in. Many people drain the fluid off themselves and there are YouTube videos which show you how. Vets should also be able to perform the procedure but again it will be expensive, especially if it needs to be repeated.
If you do nothing, she will almost certainly die of respiratory or heart failure or maybe a gastrointestinal infection, so if you do not intend to drain her, you need to consider ending her suffering once she goes into obvious decline.... ie stops eating.

I'm sorry I cannot offer any good new but I wish you luck with her and if you need further info, shout up.

Regards

Barbara