HENS DYING!! Bellies bloating and mushy! Please help!

[Tmatthews]

A couple of weeks ago I had a hen that needed to be put down because her belly skin had dried up, cracked open and then the belly underneath was like full of liquid. We thought maybe it was because she was really old. But now I have a hen who isn't even 2 yrs old that is displaying the same behavior and when I checked her belly.....sure enough....it was featherless and her belly is full and mushy! Please help. I need to know if there's a disease spreading throughout my flock! I only have a few chickens, but I don't want the other ones to get this. Or if I get more chickens later, I don't want there to be a disease in the coop that needs to be taken care of!!! Thanks for any help!

 

[itom37]

I am not experienced enough to know what this could be, but clearly this hen should be quarantined.

 

[rpchris]

Does it look like this?
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=340501

 

[Tmatthews]

I looked up that link, and yes....it seems to be that. I'm waiting on my vet who's very knowledgeable about chickens to call me. Thanks for sharing that link! If my vet can come up with a diagnosis, I'll post it in case it may help someone else with the same problem! Thanks everyone!!!

 

[speckledhen]

These threads may be helpful to you. You can see if the symptoms match what's happening to your hens.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=362422

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=195347

 

[Tmatthews]

The vet said my hen has synovitus. (spelling) Her belly is actually full of air and she also has pneumonia. He has her on antibiotics. We're hopeful she'll make it. We are treating the other 3 chickens also since this seems to be contagious. Thanks for everyone's help!

 

[speckledhen]

You mean Mycoplasma Synoviae? That is very contagious and they remain carriers. Wasn't aware of the bloating being a symptom of that. For those who are not familiar, here is a definition and information about it from http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044 :

Mycoplasma synoviae

Synonyms: MS, infectious synovitis, synovitis, silent air sac

Species affected: chickens and turkeys.

Clinical signs: Birds infected with the synovitis form show lameness, followed by lethargy, reluctance to move, swollen joints, stilted gait, loss of weight, and formation of breast blisters. Birds infected with the respiratory form exhibit respiratory distress. Greenish diarrhea is common in dying birds (see Table 1 ). Clinically, the disease in indistinguishable from MG.

Transmission: MS is transmitted from infected breeder to progeny via the egg. Within a flock, MS is spread by direct contact with infected birds as well as through airborne particles over short distances.

Treatment: Recovery is slow for both respiratory and synovitis forms. Several antibiotics are variably effective. The most effective are tylosin, erthromycin, spectinomycin, lincomycin, and chlorotectracycline. These antibiotics can be given by injection while some can be administered in the feed or drinking water. These treatments are most effective when the antibiotics are injected.

Prevention: Eradication is the best and only sure control. Do not use breeder replacements from flocks that have had MS. The National Poultry Improvement Plan monitors for MS.​

 

[Tmatthews]

Yes...that's it. I haven't read anything on the abdomen filling up with air myself. But I'm gonna trust my vet. He's raised chickens and is very knowledgeable about them. He's always healed my chickens before when I had no idea what was going on. So I guess we'll see. Maybe my chicken is just not a "normal" case. lol Oh my. These chickens are such a worry! I love them all and ya hate to see a disease come in and destroy all of them. One death is enough let alone several!

 

[speckledhen]

A friend of mine had MS enter her flock recently and though she hated it, she euthanized every one of them, including many lovely BBS Orps she got from my flock. It came in through hatching eggs, if I recall correctly. It does pass down through the eggs to chicks and unfortunately, will never leave the flock, if that is indeed what it is. I'm sorry you're dealing with this.

 

[Tmatthews]

Thanks for the sympathies. The weird thing is that the one chicken that already died, we've had for a few years. This one we're now treating, we've had for several months. We haven't gotten any new chickens. This came all of a sudden! Can they carry it for a long long time before symptoms appear??? This is just weird, ya know?