Lethargic, puffed up hen with pasty butt

[The_Chicken_Tender]

Sorry for the long post, but I'll try to include as many details as possible.

Two days ago, I noticed one of my hens asleep standing up in the middle of the yard. Her feathers were very puffed up. She also had a lot of poop stuck to her feathers and completely covering her vent, so my first concern was that this was blocking her from pooping. I gave her a bath to remove it and she passed a few microscopic poops. I'm 99% sure she isn't egg bound since no one is laying, and she is pooping. Afterwards, I gave her some Nutridrench and put her in a cage on my back porch. I have some super old tetracycline powder that has saved a few chickens in the past, so I put some in her water, and gave her a little by mouth. I'm not sure if this was a good idea or not, but at that point I wasn't expecting her to last the night I also gave her some wet feed (wetted down with the antibiotic water) which she ate enthusiastically, which seemed to be a good sign.

Yesterday, she seemed to be feeling *slightly* better, but she was still very puffed up. She ate some scrambled eggs in the morning, and in the evening I gave her some more eggs with tetracycline powder. Also, there were some watery droppings in the cage.

This morning, she's not as puffy and seems a little better, but her vent is completely covered in poop once again (I am planning on giving her another bath). The thing that concerns me though is that her crop is still full from last night. I didn't put any food in the cage, only water, so it is definitely from yesterday.

If anyone has any ideas on what this could be, it would be much appreciated. Thank you!

 

[The_Chicken_Tender]

Update: I just bathed her again, and her abdomen is very swollen compared to yesterday. I'm worried this could be water belly She is now hardly able/wanting to stand, and she just wants to sleep. I tried giving her more nutridrench but she would hardly swallow any. Do these symptoms point to water belly?

Another thing I forgot to mention is that she was sick a few months ago, but it wasn't bad enough that I separated her. She just seemed lethargic and slow for a week or two, but she recovered on her own. Could be unrelated but thought I should mention it.

 

[The_Chicken_Tender]

Another update in case someone reads this: I realized that she is extremely skinny, like no meat on her bones whatsoever I feel absolutely awful for not noticing, but she just finished molting and became much fluffier than she was before, so I couldn't tell. I think something has been going on with her for awhile now. Her crop still has not emptied from the food she ate two days ago, and I think the kindest option is to put her down. I just don't want her to suffer. If anyone has any insight, it would still be appreciated.

 

[Debbie292d]

Hi!

Gosh, so sorry about your hen. How old is she?

Finding her in the yard like that just sounded like eggbound to me, yet by what you're saying, that's unlikely. If her abdomen is now swollen, that could be ascites (water belly). Is she breathing heavier than usual?

Due to the crop not emptying, on the off chance it's worms, have they ever been dewormed?

She may also have an impacted crop. If that's been a problem for a while, it could be why she's lost weight, too.

 

[The_Chicken_Tender]

Hi!

Gosh, so sorry about your hen. How old is she?

Finding her in the yard like that just sounded like eggbound to me, yet by what you're saying, that's unlikely. If her abdomen is now swollen, that could be ascites (water belly). Is she breathing heavier than usual?

Due to the crop not emptying, on the off chance it's worms, have they ever been dewormed?

She may also have an impacted crop. If that's been a problem for a while, it could be why she's lost weight, too.

She is around 4 years old I think. Her belly is definitely swollen, but she's not struggling to breath. She seems to have perked up a little, like she is clucking a lot more and isn't fluffing her feathers out.

Her crop ended up emptying a little bit, but there was still a small amount of food left yesterday. I gave her some scrambled eggs, which she ate (after rejecting normal feed). I have never dewormed them before, so I will look into that.

Since she seems to be doing a little better, I really don't want to put her down, but I also know that ascites is incurable. And I'm going to be honest, I have no idea why she is feeling better now. Maybe the antibiotic did something?

Anyway, thank you for your response! I'll do some research about deworming for sure.