If not egg bound, then what?

[Bumbles]

Hi. I’m kinda at a loss. I’ve been reading through the different posts about egg bound hens and I’m not finding any that match EXACTLY what our hen is going through. Every day we let our girls out to free range unless it’s raining or snowing. We feed them chick starter with a bunch of other things including but not limited to DE, wheat, corn, calf mana, garlic, cayenne, sunflower seeds, soybean meal, oyster shells, table scraps, along with all the stuff they find free ranging. We don’t do layer feed because we have a bunch of roosters as well and we were told it’s bad for them. Yesterday when we opened the door to let the girls free range, I noticed one of our girls running like a penguin and tripping over her feet. So, I scooped her up and checked her out and didn’t notice anything physically that I could see other than her butt fluff was dirty. I put her back down to watch her walk some more thinking maybe I imagined it. She continued to walk like a penguin but she still wanted to eat. I then followed her around for about 20 minutes to let her get her fill, then I took her in and gave her a warm epsom salt bath for 30 minutes and then blow dried her. I then noticed that her vent was pulsing so I figured maybe she was trying to lay an egg. So I put her in a crate indoors to let her have some alone time. Throughout the day, she still continued to eat and drink and her comb maintained it’s bright redness. However, her demeanor didn’t change. She was still walking like a penguin with a pulsing vent. So I continued to give her multiple epsom salt baths and a blow out. Both my husband and I kept feeling around her vent but it doesn’t feel like there’s an egg. She’s still pooping with no problem and still has a big appetite as well as going through water. She keeps standing like a penguin and pushing up into the corners of the crate. She wobbles and falls over when she tries to walk. The area around her vent looks like a golf ball is being pushed out from the inside. But again, it doesn’t feel like there’s an egg?? Every once in a while she starts panting and breathing heavy. After reading all the different posts, I got her some calcium citrate with D3. I started her on some natural antibiotics. Also got her a little yogurt, wet cat food, thyme, ginger. I’ve also been massaging coconut oil on and around her vent….. anyone have any ideas?

 

[Eggcessive]

I would stop all of the extras, since those dilute the balanced nutrition of the chicken starter. All flock or flock raiser is basically the same thing, but may be better for grown birds. Is her belly full and enlarged? Can you post a picture of her poops?
You hen looks like she may have ascites (water belly) which can be from liver disease, reproductive disorders (salpingitis, egg yolk peritonitis,) and cancer.

 

[Bumbles]

I would stop all of the extras, since those dilute the balanced nutrition of the chicken starter. All flock or flock raiser is basically the same thing, but may be better for grown birds. Is her belly full and enlarged? Can you post a picture of her poops?
You hen looks like she may have ascites (water belly) which can be from liver disease, reproductive disorders (salpingitis, egg yolk peritonitis,) and cancer.

Her belly doesn’t feel enlarged. Just this area around her vent.

 

[Bumbles]

She’s struggling to stand now and keeps falling over onto her side. But she’s still trying to eat and drink.

 

[Eggcessive]

The normally white urates in the poop do look yellowish, which points to a liver issue, a cause of water belly. How old is she? Does she normally lay eggs? Has she had any labored breathing? How much calcium citrate with vitamin D did you give—300mg? Here is a picture in post 42 of a hen with water belly as she is being drained of the amber/yellow fluid in her belly:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/laying-hens-with-water-belly-or-ascites.68731/page-5

 

[Bumbles]

She’s just over a year and a half. She usually lays but, along with half our flock, has been going through a molt. She has had labored breathing off and on. I want to say I gave her 200 MG as the bottle says the serving size is two tablets and the amount per serving is 400 MG. I gave her one tablet.

Thank you for posting a link. I’ve been going through different posts that say water belly in the title hoping to find more answers.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would probably give her 300-400 mg a day in case she is trying to push out an egg or lash egg. If her belly gets tight as in the link, or she is having labored breathing, you might want to try to drain her with an 18 gauge needle. Draining could confirm that she has ascites, but it is not a cure. Sometimes when I lose a hen, I will open her belly to look for yellow fluid, and examine the abdominal organs.

 

[Bumbles]

I would probably give her 300-400 mg a day in case she is trying to push out an egg or lash egg. If her belly gets tight as in the link, or she is having labored breathing, you might want to try to drain her with an 18 gauge needle. Draining could confirm that she has ascites, but it is not a cure. Sometimes when I lose a hen, I will open her belly to look for yellow fluid, and examine the abdominal organs.

Thank you so much for the help. And this may be a silly question….. but IS there a cure?

 

[Bananabread]

Could this be a hernia? Doesn't explain her behavior changes but I've seen hernia's in that location

 

[Eggcessive]

If she has water belly, the condition that causes it is not reversible. Some people drain the belly if it becomes full and the hen is short of breath. My only hen who showed symptoms, died about 3 weeks after her first draining. Her necropsy showed internal laying. She was 10. Since I do necropsies on any hens that die, I have found water belly on a handful of hens. One had fatty liver disease, one had cancer, and I couldn’t tell what caused the others.

Hens can have hernias or a weak muscle wall. The danger of that is if they get pecked or injured. That shouldn’t make her tail position down, though. Most times we don’t know exactly what was going on until a necropsy can be done.