Is this water belly ?

[yakitori]

One of my girls has had a bit of a bare bottom for a while, and I finally checked her out today as she’s super skittish and very hard to catch. It is squishy. Does this seem like water belly? She’s very active and doesn’t seem sick in anyway, which was also another reason I didn’t check on this earlier.

 

[Tookie]

Compare her to another hen and that’ll help you tell.
It does look a bit bloated in the first picture.
Any labored breathing? When was her last egg?

 

[yakitori]

Compare her to another hen and that’ll help you tell.
It does look a bit bloated in the first picture.
Any labored breathing? When was her last egg?

She lays daily, it’s hot right now so all the hens are panting, and usually by the time I catch her, she’s also panting Maybe I’ll have to sneak a camera up to the roost.

she’s super active, and lays daily. Her eggs are sometimes kind of odd, sometimes they look like they had a crack through them, and was welded together in the middle. Other times her eggs are slightly flattened on one side. She’s always the first to come for food.

Her belly definitely feels somewhat squishier than all of my other birds, Initially I suspected mites and did a round of ivermectin for everyone, but no one else has a balding belly like she does.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

One of my girls has had a bit of a bare bottom for a while, and I finally checked her out today as she’s super skittish and very hard to catch. It is squishy. Does this seem like water belly? She’s very active and doesn’t seem sick in anyway, which was also another reason I didn’t check on this earlier.

She lays daily

she’s super active, and lays daily. Her eggs are sometimes kind of odd, sometimes they look like they had a crack through them, and was welded together in the middle. Other times her eggs are slightly flattened on one side.

Photos of the eggs?
What do you feed, including treats?

Ascites (Water Belly) (Fluid In the Abdomen) is a Symptom. The abdomen would feel tight like a drum. You describe squishy.

While yes, the abdomen looks a bit distended, it can look like that without feather or fluff coverage.

She's very active, eating/drinking, laying eggs daily.

The eggs you mention, sounds like perhaps you see a mended egg on occasion and a slab sided egg, hard to know without seeing them.

Is she getting to the nesting box on time, is she having to wait to lay an egg, is she stressed or disturbed when laying an egg?

 

[Tookie]

She lays daily, it’s hot right now so all the hens are panting, and usually by the time I catch her, she’s also panting Maybe I’ll have to sneak a camera up to the roost.

she’s super active, and lays daily. Her eggs are sometimes kind of odd, sometimes they look like they had a crack through them, and was welded together in the middle. Other times her eggs are slightly flattened on one side. She’s always the first to come for food.

Her belly definitely feels somewhat squishier than all of my other birds, Initially I suspected mites and did a round of ivermectin for everyone, but no one else has a balding belly like she does.

Ah, panting makes it hard to tell. When she lays down or sits on the roost does her body kinda move a lot?

It’s good she’s acting normal and such. Not sure if the eggs have anything to do with it?

Her abdomen may just be like that and it’s normal for her. Personally I would just closely monitor for now.

 

[Eggcessive]

She does have feather loss, and others may be pecking her feathers out. That can make her belly look more prominent. She also could be pulling her own feathers out if she has some discomfort. Has she started looking like she is going into her yearly molt? It sounds like she doesn’t really have a problem now, since she is eating and running around normally, laying eggs. Hopefully she is just a healthy hen. Hens with reproductive problems or fatty liver disease can develop water belly, but I would not worry now.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

she’s super active, and lays daily.

very hard to catch

She lays daily, it’s hot right now so all the hens are panting, and usually by the time I catch her, she’s also panting

Stop chasing her in hot weather LOL

If you want to examine her, wait until she's roosting. It sounds like she's o.k. right now, so I'd just go into observation mode.

 

[yakitori]

Thanks for all the responses

Stop chasing her in hot weather LOL

If you want to examine her, wait until she's roosting. It sounds like she's o.k. right now, so I'd just go into observation mode.

Yeah, I usually don’t try to bother them in hot weather. My mom is the current care taker for the birds, since life has been super hectic for me of late. I just happened to have a rare moment to check up on them, so I took the opportunity. She didn't seem to be panting today looking from afar, but the top of her comb is looking kind of purple, which as I understand could be indicative of a heart issue?

Hopefully she is just a healthy hen. Hens with reproductive problems or fatty liver disease can develop water belly, but I would not worry now.

She hasn’t gone into the yearly molt, although some of the others have started. Her bottom has been looking bare for a while now, so I don’t think that is it. She’s 2.5years young, and a relatively slim bird - compared to my chonky midnight marans.

Photos of the eggs?
What do you feed, including treats?

Ascites (Water Belly) (Fluid In the Abdomen) is a Symptom. The abdomen would feel tight like a drum. You describe squishy.

While yes, the abdomen looks a bit distended, it can look like that without feather or fluff coverage.

She's very active, eating/drinking, laying eggs daily.

The eggs you mention, sounds like perhaps you see a mended egg on occasion and a slab sided egg, hard to know without seeing them.

Is she getting to the nesting box on time, is she having to wait to lay an egg, is she stressed or disturbed when laying an egg?

Yeah, it’s kind of squishy, like a crop when its full of liquid not like a taut water balloon - so that sounds like good news?

I don’t have a photo of the squished looking egg, but it’s not a slab side egg, just looks like someone slightly flattened one side of a playdough egg, It’s more like a pebble. This bird lays more weird eggs than normal, so we usually eat those first in case the integrity is compromised and it doesn’t survive the counter.

She does get to the nesting box on time, I have several. But in typical chicken fashion they all have the one favorite box. she’s a bit lower on the pecking order so sometimes I see her getting chased out by another hen.

Their staple is nutrena 20% all flock and whatever they pick off the lawn during free range time. Occasionally they get some greens or meat from bone scrap used to make soup stock (unsalted unflavored) since my mom volunteers at a local kitchen. We also have consistent supply of oyster shell for them on the side

Ah, panting makes it hard to tell. When she lays down or sits on the roost does her body kinda move a lot?

I’ll keep an eye out, what do you mean by lying down? like resting during the day?

 

[Tookie]

I’ll keep an eye out, what do you mean by lying down? like resting during the day?

Yes, resting!
My apologies, I believe I should have said *lies*.

 

[Eggcessive]

Stress can be a common cause of abnormal eggs. This article shows common causes for some of the egg shell problems we may see:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/common-egg-quality-problems.65923/