Hen with dirty feathers around vent and feels swollen/watery

[Tracyree]

I have a hen that feels swollen under her vent, feels squishy and watery and the feathers are all dirty.about size of a half a baseball. Any ideas?

 

[Lady of McCamley]

I'm sorry to hear your hen is sick. It sounds like ascites (or fluid in the abdomen). It generally means liver failure or severe infection in the egg tract. Sometimes it's genetics. Some on this board will aspirate the fluid with a needle, give antibiotics, and hope for the best. Generally the hen does not recover typically dying within 5 weeks as there is no cure other than to keep aspirating. My personal choice is to cull the hen in a humane manner as she is suffering.

LofMc