Is this water belly? Strange bald swollen abdomen and crop in young hen

[sparklez]

I have a 10 month old hen who as far as I can tell is acting normal and comfortable (tail up, color in comb, eating, walking, trotting with the flock when let to free range) over the last 5 or so days I noticed poop building up on her so today after she free ranged for almost 3 hours I soaked her to clean it off and had to trim a few feathers. I noticed she has a distended abdomen and no feathers under her or on her crop. They have been laying less since it's winter and I don't supply heat or light. I have not noticed her sitting in thr nesting box over the last couple weeks. Her belly feels somewhat soft but full. Crop is squishy. We have noticed that she regularly has a larger softer crop than others. In November we started to really notice it more but checked the next morning and it looked empty. I am thinking this is water belly and seems that it's not treatable but draining so help her love longer and more comfortable. Am I right? What is going on with her? They eat layer pellets with occasional table scraps of fruits/veggies and meal worms

 

[Certified Chicken Lover]

I have a 10 month old hen who as far as I can tell is acting normal and comfortable (tail up, color in comb, eating, walking, trotting with the flock when let to free range) over the last 5 or so days I noticed poop building up on her so today after she free ranged for almost 3 hours I soaked her to clean it off and had to trim a few feathers. I noticed she has a distended abdomen and no feathers under her or on her crop. They have been laying less since it's winter and I don't supply heat or light. I have not noticed her sitting in thr nesting box over the last couple weeks. Her belly feels somewhat soft but full. Crop is squishy. We have noticed that she regularly has a larger softer crop than others. In November we started to really notice it more but checked the next morning and it looked empty. I am thinking this is water belly and seems that it's not treatable but draining so help her love longer and more comfortable. Am I right? What is going on with her? They eat layer pellets with occasional table scraps of fruits/veggies and meal worms

To my knowledge water belly is not common among young hens, but from the symptoms you described it sounds like your hen might have egg yolk peritonitis. Here is a great article on it:
https://poultrydvm.com/condition/egg-peritonitis

 

[Eggcessive]

Is your hen laying eggs? Can you post any pictures of her usual poops? Do the normally white urates in her poop look yellow? Could she be getting feather picked by the others? Have you ruled out any mites or lice on her skin?

 

[sparklez]

Is your hen laying eggs? Can you post any pictures of her usual poops? Do the normally white urates in her poop look yellow? Could she be getting feather picked by the others? Have you ruled out any mites or lice on her skin?

Just put her in a separate area and she quickly pooped twice. I'l took a photo But it's very runny, white and light brown. I've never noticed her being picked or pecked at. Have not noticed lice/mites, her legs look healthy to me. Even so that wouldn't cause a distended/swollen abdomen?

 

[Eggcessive]

Hens with ascites may have the yellow urates in the droppings, as in this BYC picture below. Seeing poop pictures may help. Is her crop emptying overnight as it should do normally? It seems she is missing a lot of feathers here and there. That can make them look like a hen with water belly. Here is what a hen with ascites/water belly look like in post 42 of this link:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/laying-hens-with-water-belly-or-ascites.68731/page-5

 

[sparklez]

Update: It is defiantly not just looking weird because of the feather loss-ive seen another hen go broody and remove feathers, and i checked and felt another hens under belly area to compare and be sure. Poop is normal looking, once in awhile running, tail upright, color in her comb.

Today she laid a normal egg.. We tried to discharge some of the fluid build up in the swollen/distended area (a few inches below vent and to the right, used a 18 gauge needed, 1/2-3/4" depth on each poke, tried 3 times) and nothing came out. Even after pulling the needed out there was no dripping/discharge from the hole (two of the 3 spots had one blood droplet but stopped bleeding after that one drop on her skin).
I am thinking it is either a tumor/yolk/infection build up, probably caused by cancer or egg yolk peritonitis. She is acting normal and comfortable so i am going to return her back to the flock and unless anyone has any other ideas and finding out what is wrong with her or how to treat/support her i will let her enjoy the rest of her life.

 

[Eggcessive]

I think that is a good idea to put her back, and watch her closely, to make sure that no one is picking her feathers or bullying her. If she has been out of the flock for more than a couple of days, they may pick on her. Let us know how she gets along.