Hen with 2nd year of EYP type presentation

[tpatricco]

I have a hen that around this time last year presented with a swollen abdomen, waddling gait. Was being bullied by other hens in our small (8 hen) flock. We isolated her from the bullies, tried to draw fluid off her - got a small amount of cloudy opaque yellow fluid (think uncooked scrambled egg) - but not much fluid given the size of her belly. I took her to a poultry vet (I'm in central NJ - so not quite rural - nearest poultry vet is 40 minutes away). They examined her, ultrasound showed not a lot of fluid - and they could not really remove any with syringe either. Put her on antibiotics, we partitioned our coop and gave her her own space, own food and water adjacent to the rest of the flock. She did that from April until November last year and seems stable. Her abdomen seemed smaller, and I did integrate her with the rest of the flock for winter - and she's done fine. However, now that it's egg laying season again, her condition is returning - her belly getting swollen again. I really don't want to have to separate her again, and another $150 at the vet seems like it will yield the same result. She basically needs birth control to stop her body from laying eggs. With a small flock and a 12 year old who loves his chickens, it's a sad idea to cull her.

Any advice about how to possibly manage this condition to improve her quality of life?

Here's our girl Sadie. You can't really see the belly - but it's definitely dragging low for her.

 

[Yardmom]

Did you ask your vet about options that would keep her from laying. I think I saw someone say they did that.