Huge swelling of the abdomen

[wendigo]

So I have this chicken. She always had a bigger abdomen than the other girls but I though it's just the way she is. It only got bigger and bigger. She never layed a single egg. I tried everything, antibiotics, vitamins, egg binding treatments, nothing worked. It got so big that now it almost feels like she has a coconut in there. It's elastic,like a rubber ball. She almost sits up straight because of it and walks like a penguin. Her poop is yellow liquid with green little bits. I'm pretty sure it's the liver.

I know that most probably there is nothing to be done and we thought about ending her suffering, but I decided to ask for your opinions first. Did you ever encounter anything like this? I might post pics when I will open her if anyone is interested.

 

[chooks4life]

If you've tried everything and nothing's worked, by this stage it may be kindest to cull her. She sounds like it's quite uncomfortable, probably even painful, and I can't imagine it could be otherwise.

If this was an earlier discovery of the problem I'd make some suggestions but they would only be things to try, not guarantees of cure, and at since they'd be natural therapies for the most part and would take time, at this late stage I don't think it's practical or ethical.

Best wishes, and yes, if you cull her and autopsy her, please do post pics of the results. Education is valuable. The more we know, the better the chances we can learn to fix it in future.

 

[Eggcessive]

Fatty liver hemorrhagic syndrome is common in chickens that are overweight, and have been fed diets with a lot of corn, or that have been exposed to aflatoxin. I don't know that your chicken has this, but since you posted recently about another chicken that was sick and had a yellow liver, I would read some about it. Your chicken now sounds like she may have signs of ascites which is fluid in the abdomen from liver disease. There are some threads on BYC on how to remove fluid from the abdomen with a needle which might relieve some pain temporarily. Here is a link about the syndrome: http://www.merckmanuals.com/vet/pou...ty_liver_hemorrhagic_syndrome_in_poultry.html

 

[wendigo]

Fatty liver hemorrhagic syndrome is common in chickens that are overweight, and have been fed diets with a lot of corn, or that have been exposed to aflatoxin. I don't know that your chicken has this, but since you posted recently about another chicken that was sick and had a yellow liver, I would read some about it. Your chicken now sounds like she may have signs of ascites which is fluid in the abdomen from liver disease. There are some threads on BYC on how to remove fluid from the abdomen with a needle which might relieve some pain temporarily. Here is a link about the syndrome: http://www.merckmanuals.com/vet/pou...ty_liver_hemorrhagic_syndrome_in_poultry.html

We really take care with what we are feeding them. It's mostly corn, layer pellets and vegetables. I forgot to update that thread. It ended up being a heart related disease. I give all the chickens that I lose to a friend of mine who's rector at the Vet University in our city and he uses them with the students. It's been a few chickens so far. I lost almost all of my previous flock (7 chickens and a rooster) to leukosis, this chicken with the swelling being the last survivor. This is another reason why I think it's liver related. Then I bought 5 more chickens and I know I did a risky thing when I moved them together. The chicken with the heart problem was one of those 5. The other 4 are great and I'm preparing them for new chicks. Of course I will disinfect every little corner and crack before that.

I'll think about trying to remove the fluid. I'll post pictures when everything will be over.