Hen with fluid filled abdomen - fluid coming out is yellow

[cluckingheck]

There are many reasons and genetics can be one. It's really hard to say without knowing for sure what's going on and that will probably only happen with a necropsy, sadly. Many things that can happen are really out of our control. Even with proper housing and nutrition, the best of care, things sometimes go wrong.

Do you think stress is a cause? I have some overzealous roosters right now that I don’t know what to do with and I know they’re stressing the hens out. I have her in her own crate right now and she seems fine. She has a huge appetite still and will drink water good, so that’s a good sign. Hopefully the vet will be able to drain it and I’ll change her living arrangements ( separate the boys out and give the girls a break ) and watch her. If she starts filling back up again, I don’t know what to do. Have to go from there, I guess.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

No, I didn’t even notice it until I picked her up and felt it. She’s acting fine otherwise.

They get purina flock raiser. And, no, I don’t have a picture of it, but it look just like yolk. It wasn’t a clear fluid or brownish, it was completely yellow like yolk.

I’m an idiot and never connected the dots until now. I think she’s been laying internally since she started laying in general. Not long after she started laying, I noticed poop was getting stuck in her buff fluff and I thought it was just because she had a real fluffy butt and I trimmed it back some. Noticed some started getting stuck in it again yesterday, picked her up and felt her abdomen....i think it’s been building up this entire time and I just noticed it. She lays pretty consistently but skips a day or two here and there...I think I know why now. She’s my only blue egg layer, so I know when she lays or not. I thought it was normal for her to skip here and there and didn’t think about the possibility of her laying internally. I’m such an idiot and I don’t know what to do for her. What ive read, she’s just going to keep doing it, right?

the dates mixed up, she’s actually 46 weeks old

A hen does not always lay eggs every day, so skipping a few days here and there is completely normal.

She's been acting "normal", completely fine? None of the symptoms I asked about previously?
A bird that is laying internally or that has reproductive issues, IME, exhibits noticeable symptoms of being unwell.

I think I would just observe for the time being and see how she does.

Was she having any symptoms like labored breathing, difficulty walking, not eating/drinking or lethargy?

 

[cluckingheck]

A hen does not always lay eggs every day, so skipping a few days here and there is completely normal.

She's been acting "normal", completely fine? None of the symptoms I asked about previously?
A bird that is laying internally or that has reproductive issues, IME, exhibits noticeable symptoms of being unwell.

I think I would just observe for the time being and see how she does.

The only symptom she has so far is she walks with a waddle right now. Other than that, she’s been acting fine, yes. The build up is going to have to be dealt with and that’s what I’m going to be calling the vet for Monday, but once that’s dealt with I will be watching her to see if it happens again and go from there. I’ll try to get pictures of her abdomen because it’s definitely noticeable

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Glad you will be able to see the vet, hopefully they can shed some light on her condition.

 

[cluckingheck]

I called the vet because they weren’t in on the weekends and got one of the receptionist that I’m not too fond of. When I asked to make sure the vet worked on chickens ( I asked about this back in Sept. and was told yes, but they have limited medication for them ), she said no so curt and coldly that it threw me off and then she gave a quick laugh before even bothering asking what was wrong. I’m not good at talking to people anyways and I started crying, so I just hung up.

I’ll try to have someone call for me. I hate that I couldn’t hold it together

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I called the vet because they weren’t in on the weekends and got one of the receptionist that I’m not too fond of. When I asked to make sure the vet worked on chickens ( I asked about this back in Sept. and was told yes, but they have limited medication for them ), she said no so curt and coldly that it threw me off and then she gave a quick laugh before even bothering asking what was wrong. I’m not good at talking to people anyways and I started crying, so I just hung up.

I’ll try to have someone call for me. I hate that I couldn’t hold it together

I'm sorry that you had to deal with that

I understand that it may be stressful talking to others, but I do suggest that you try again, don't let this defeat you. Ask for the other receptionist, be polite but firm - learning to deal with things like this on your own without someone else doing it for you will give you the confidence and freedom to venture out and do more things.
Please don't feel that I'm reprimanding you, I am old lady compared to you I'm sure. I was young once and let things intimidate me at times. Life is too short to feel that way.

How is your sweet hen doing?

 

[cluckingheck]

I'm sorry that you had to deal with that

I understand that it may be stressful talking to others, but I do suggest that you try again, don't let this defeat you. Ask for the other receptionist, be polite but firm - learning to deal with things like this on your own without someone else doing it for you will give you the confidence and freedom to venture out and do more things.
Please don't feel that I'm reprimanding you, I am old lady compared to you I'm sure. I was young once and let things intimidate me at times. Life is too short to feel that way.

How is your sweet hen doing?

She’s always been nasty like that. I had been in there before to pick up my dog’s heartguard medication before and she was the same way. Should’ve expected something like that, but not quite that harsh. The conflicting information didn’t help either or her laughing, so my brain just kind of flipped off. I work in customer service ( gas station ) and I’ve dealt with nasty people, but there’s just something about taking on the phone that makes me way more nervous. I’ll probably call another vet, though. I think I’m done dealing with this particular one.

I went from classes straight to work, so I haven’t been able to check on her today, but she was doing fine yesterday. My dad thinks her abdomen isn’t as full, but I thought it felt the same. She’s eating and drinking good and she laid an egg yesterday, but the shell was a little thin. I never thought to put oyster shells in the crate with her, so that could be way.

EDIT:
My mom said Daria laid another egg but they didn’t take it out of the crate right away and when they came back, she busted it somehow and had eaten some of it. I’m not too concerned about that right now, though. I’m just glad she’s actually laying externally like she’s supposed to.

 

[cluckingheck]

Okay, so Daria is still doing great and I think my dad was right — it does feel like her abdomen is getting smaller. It seems like it might have been stress induced caused by asshole roosters ( I think & hope ), so hopefully she won’t do it anymore because I’ll be thinning out my flock. She did lay a perfect egg today and didn’t eat it, so that’s a plus too. I put her in the tack room attached to the coop so she could get some exercise while being able to see the others through the screen door. She still has the balloon and I was able to get pictures of it. I had her up on a platform to get the pictures and she wasn’t thrilled about that, so she is crouching but once on the ground she walks and stands perfectly fine.

 

[cluckingheck]

here’s an older picture and attached are from today.

 

[cluckingheck]

So…she’s laying internally again and her body isn’t able to reabsorb the yolk fast enough and the “pouch” between her legs is getting big again. Worse than last time and I don’t know if it can be dealt with. I could try lancing it but idk. She’s still eating and everything but you can tell she doesn’t want to run