Is this Ascites or Egg Bound do you think

[Beamerz]

I have new chicks with two moms and I've been overly consumed with them for the last two weeks.. Last night I noticed my 3 year old Red Hen "Lucy".. standing in front of a water dish acting oddly. I picked her up and right away though oh no.. ascites.. because I lost a bird to that a couple of years back. I got the cage and brought her home gave her some water with ACV drops in it and a quick wash in a basin t o clean her up. I was thinking ascites.. This morning I find what looked like scrambled egg poop.. on the towel I'd put into her cage. So now I'm wondering Egg Bound..?? So I put her in a deep sink and did an epsom salt soak for a good long time and and did a better vent inspection and body inspection as much as possible.. Swelling seemed less than last night and more scrambled eggy looking particles came out , no sign of any shell. I could not find any mass or egg and inspected pretty well with a lubed finger internally.

I did shoot a small syringe of water with ACV up there thinking it could not hurt but truly don't know if there is any more I can do or keep doing. She is now standing in her cage and did eat some scrambled eggs onto which I'd grated some calcium off of a pill. I'm flying by the seat of my pants.. Would love some seasoned input.. Thanks in advance.

 

[Tookie]

Feel her abdomen and see if its bloated, try and compare it to another chicken and see if there's a difference.
Do you know when the last time she laid an egg?
Give her some calcium citrate with D3.
How does her crop feel? Is it full? Empty?

 

[Beamerz]

Her body cavity is bloated but seem somewhat less so than yesterday after she emptied her bowels ( shown in picture) I gave calcium carbonate as it's what I had and I live in a remote location and would try to get what right but didn't know what form of CA was. I can ask around for some close to me on the phone. I feel no egg anywhere but do feel like what she is passing is egg yolk that has "cooked" at her body temperature. Its not especially foul smelling and it's mixed in with some real smaller pieces of blackish chicken poop. which makes no sense as I know those are two different tracts.. Her crop was empty when I found her and she did eat a little but not enough to refill it. I do not know the last time she laid an egg but it's hot here and they have been down on laying anyway. Thank you for your reply it is greatly appreciated.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Ascites is a symptom.


Is she able to move around, eat/drink on her own?
If the answer is yes, then I'd put her back with her flock and monitor her there.

The poop doesn't look good, I agree. The yellow urates may be from liver problems or a sign of reproductive issues. Cancer, EYP, Salpingitis, etc. are all common in laying hens.
IF she has the symptom of Ascites (fluid in the abdomen) and is very lethargic, has trouble walking or difficulty breathing, then draining the fluid may be an appropriate action to make her more comfortable. Draining is not a cure, it's a supportive care measure.

Getting a fecal float to see if worms are contributing the health decline is always a good idea.
It won't hurt to give her a Calcium Citrate tablet once a day for a few days just to see if she's having trouble expelling a soft shelled egg.

If her crop is not emptying, then use the treatment methods below. I still leave my birds with their flock even if I need to treat their crop.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

 

[Beamerz]

She is not moving much but is not in a penguin stance, and I'm not inclined to put here with the flock as I don't know what she is suffering from but I can observe her better keeping her at home with me. have 6 young chicks in my main coop in their own enclosure with 2 moms. I ask for a fecal float on Monday as today is Sunday, but poop is at a premium.. having all mostly been spent on the towel. I'm concerned I have a small kitten in my house. Who is curious about the bird but not bothering it.. I just don't want him getting sick either. Her crop is empty. Thank you so much for your time to reply.. It's so difficult to put years into animals and then feel so inadequate as there is so much to understand and all too often learned too late.. Thank you.

 

[Beamerz]

She is not moving much but is not in a penguin stance, and I'm not inclined to put here with the flock as I don't know what she is suffering from but I can observe her better keeping her at home with me. have 6 young chicks in my main coop in their own enclosure with 2 moms. I ask for a fecal float on Monday as today is Sunday, but poop is at a premium.. having all mostly been spent on the towel. I'm concerned I have a small kitten in my house. Who is curious about the bird but not bothering it.. I just don't want him getting sick either. Her crop is empty. Thank you so much for your time to reply.. It's so difficult to put years into animals and then feel so inadequate as there is so much to understand and all too often learned too late.. Thank you.

UPDATE on My Bird - I was unable to reach a vet to ask for fecal float today.. I live in a place that gets SWAMPED in summer.. nothing works then... She is far less swollen in her abdomen, is still passing somewhat yellowish mixed with dark usually looking poop and I know that can't be good but she seems to be feeling ok.. not in distress.. no penguin stance, eating scrambled eggs and drinking water with minerals and electrolytes.. not laying any eggs. BUT I did remember that my husband came in about 2 weeks ago and said I found a REALLY strange egg in the coop.. I (at that time had no knowledge of Lash eggs). He said" it was weird, and no shell, like a jelly egg, and I threw it out". I was busy making dinner and thought well that's what I'd do too.) Now considering the feedback I've gotten I am considering if this could have been her egg. BUT I also lost a chicken overnight 2 weeks ago that did not display Ascites as a (Symptom) thanks for that clairty Wyorp Rock, that's why I love this site. , that chicken just went down like a rock and it was right before my chicks were hatching , so my time and focus was on last minute preparations for that., and I didn't think much of what I chocked up to be a natural loss of unknown origin. Back to my Red Hen. With the details I've added do you think she has a chance of recovering? She is seeming better each day and I was shocked not to find her dead on the 1st morning with the degree of Ascites present. I has lessened on it's own by more than 30-40%. I do have a needle set up and I could drain but know if I do I'll have to keep it up and if this bird can not lay, I would not choose to keep her, love her as I do, because I'm very concerned about being able to feed my birds that are good layers, in the times ahead.
I am suspicious about worms in my flock and bought some of the natural stuff your suppose to sprinkle on their food but when I introduced it , they would not eat the food. If someone can give me a comprehensive link to worms ( parasites) I'd love that. I get confused on what to do. A fair portion of them are showing poopy butts.. but I've monitored droppings and all looks normal. Any help from you seasoned keeps is very appreciated and welcomed. I seldom share my thoughts because I"m only 3 years in and learning, learning still. I'm also still really looking for a way to keep grain in the longest possible term.. Anyone have ideas I'd love to hear those. Thanks!

 

[Eggcessive]

I agree with keeping her with her usual flock, since it can be difficult to reintegrate them back in after being absent for awhile. Also, they are less agitated and may eat better. Of course it the others are picking on her, I would separate in a wire dog crate with food and water inside the coop or run where she can still be with them. I would try to keep her eating and drinking. Watery chicken feed, a spoonful of plain yogurt, and bits of scrambled egg can be good for her.

 

[Beamerz]

I agree with keeping her with her usual flock, since it can be difficult to reintegrate them back in after being absent for awhile. Also, they are less agitated and may eat better. Of course it the others are picking on her, I would separate in a wire dog crate with food and water inside the coop or run where she can still be with them. I would try to keep her eating and drinking. Watery chicken feed, a spoonful of plain yogurt, and bits of scrambled egg can be good for her.

As the poop chart shows https://farmstocking.com/chicken-poop-chart , that yellow can be a sign of some contagious diseases i.e. fowl typhoid, coccidiosis , kidney malfunction, or worms and I'm partially disabled and have to go up and down a big hill to attend to her, it's easier for me to keep her in my house until I can feel that putting her there would not put the others risk. Its a lot to wrap my head around and my time to research ( and retain) is stretched tight as a rubber band. Thanks for letting me know that too much time away might make integration difficult. I'll factor that in. I really am leaning toward possible Salpingitis if that "possible lash egg that Was found " belonged to her and the chicken that died did not have symptoms of Salpingitis.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I am suspicious about worms in my flock and bought some of the natural stuff your suppose to sprinkle on their food but when I introduced it , they would not eat the food. If someone can give me a comprehensive link to worms ( parasites) I'd love that.

with the degree of Ascites present. I has lessened on it's own by more than 30-40%. I do have a needle set up and I could drain but know if I do I'll have to keep it up and if this bird can not lay, I would not choose to keep her, love her as I do, because I'm very concerned about being able to feed my birds that are good layers, in the times ahead.

Draining is a supportive care measure and I would only drain a hen that is showing signs of distress from the fluid - difficulty breathing/walking, lethargy, etc.
If the fluid is lessening on its own, then she's reabsorbing some of it and passing it on out.
Your goals are more focused on production and efficiency (rising feed costs!!!)fd, so if she's not able to resume laying, then culling/processing for food would be a practical approach. This is something to consider doing.

Can you post a photo of the natural stuff that you purchased for deworming? I'd be see what product(s) are on the market and how it's labeled.

I don't know of any natural remedy that will rid poultry of worms. Using an anthelmintic like Fenbendazole (Safeguard) or Albendazole (Valbazen) will be more effective and get rid of most worms that poultry can have except for Tapeworm, which requires a different dewormer.

You could show your Hubs the photos in this article and ask him if the odd egg was similar to the photos. If so, then it may help confirm/rule out your suspicions of Salpingitis and help you make some decisions about what to do with her.
https://the-chicken-chick.com/salpingitis-lash-eggs-in-backyard/

 

[Beamerz]

Your replies have been very much appreciated. I did show my Husband some pics of Lash eggs but it was actually a couple of weeks ago and he said it was after work, he was tired.. he just knew it was very abnormal and threw it out. He told me about it but I ( at the time) had never heard of a Lash egg and just thought oh it was a weird egg without a shell I guess. It was only after I began to read to learn what could be some of the possibilities, that I put 2 and 2 together. When I did my internal on her hunting for "shell or egg" I could tell it was very painful for her. She does seem more comfortable but I don't think the long term is going to be favorable for her even with me giving her much of my time and efforts.
The link for the Natural products is found on amazon Search "The Poultry Store" I did buy several of these products but like I said the de wormer was not a big hit. The usual feed I was buying became " unavailable" recently and my birds have not been happy about it. Then I mistakenly ordered a fairly huge amount of some grain from New country only to discover upon arrival it's like unground whole grains that are huge.. and not at all what I thought I'd orders.. They don't like it.. So I order yet again from the producer of the "unavail" feed what I thought was the unavailable product ... only to get Layer Pelets which they are not happy with. All this pickiness has not contributed to being able to maintain their dietary needs much. They free range in the afternoon as we have woods with good cover right now but it's so dry that they don't seem like they get as much of what they are looking for as they have in the past.. I keep and eye on their crops.
I'm concerned with rising costs, but truly more so I'm concerned with NOT being able to get grain at all possibly. ( We do live on an island 7 miles off shore). Supply chains are changing. So I had ordered a lot and they are being super fussy. I began to try to ferment the large grains.. thinking this will be the solution, but it's a bit trickier to master with the heat.. and I had covers that fit to tightly.. tried to keep air flowing but flies out.. I will Prevail.. they like the fermented feed one day not the next.. I've been into alternative medicine for a long time and had purchased a bottle of USNEA which is made from moss but is in fact akin to Doxycylene. Because ( many many moons ago) I had a similar problem to fallopian inflamation and PID (Pelvic Inflammatory Disease ) for multiple years that doctors couldn't diagnose..or fix and then I fully recovered when i got Lyme disease and was prescribed a long term of Doxy, I was wondering if the USNEA might be a useful med for Salpingitis. ( doxy does treat bacterial infections). I looked for mine but could not find it ( I'm in the process of moving as well.. ) but not far just closer to the chicken coop. I can not thank you enough for your extremely highly valued input.
So here I am.. 6 new chicks, a sick girl who is giving it her best, we got a kitten, but not just any kitten, ( a pixie bobcat) who was at 4 weeks old trucking around with a flock of turkey's surrounding him. My husband saw him .. out in the bush and brought him home so we have lots of babies around us.. Now all I have to do is build a Silo I guess to keep my stocked up grain that my fussy birds won't eat.. I'm running up and down the hill ( actually limping) between our two houses, but I'm happy to be a novice chicken keeper at 74 and, also thankful for BYC and people like you who really pitch in your expertise. Thank you! You help people make better decisions!