Lethargic puffy hen

[jimjan]

This is the second time this happened to one of our hens. She just stopped moving around. Wouldn't jump on roost, and just felt swollen and puffy. Stomach felt like full of water. Barely eating. After two days i lovingly put her down this morning. Having had to do this 3 times in the last year, i was relieved it went super fast. I don't know what causes these symptoms. Unfortunately lost 2 birds to hawks in the last month also. Think its time for LGD's.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

This is the second time this happened to one of our hens. She just stopped moving around. Wouldn't jump on roost, and just felt swollen and puffy. Stomach felt like full of water. Barely eating. After two days i lovingly put her down this morning. Having had to do this 3 times in the last year, i was relieved it went super fast. I don't know what causes these symptoms. Unfortunately lost 2 birds to hawks in the last month also. Think its time for LGD's.

I'm sorry for your loss.

Without a necropsy (either you perform one yourself or send the body to your state lab )
it's hard to know.

Now speculation on my part. A stomach full of water is called Ascites. In laying hens often Ascites accompanies reproductive issues like Egg Yolk Peritonitis, cancer, Salpingitis or similar. Another cause of fluid in the abdomen would be organ dysfunction (which can accompany reproductive problems too - sort of like one thing starts to fail and the whole system breaks down.

It can be common to lose a few hens in a year to reproductive problems, especially if they are all the same age - sadly, hens are not long lived. Some respiratory diseases (if you have a history of one of those) also impacts the reproductive system and the long term results are seen a bit later in life.

If you still have the body and want to give a look, take photos and post them here, we will try to help you with what you see. Refrigerating and sending to your lab gives you the best diagnostics.

 

[Eggcessive]

Do you mean that her lower abdomen was full of water or her crop? Sorry for your loss.

This is a picture of the lower belly of a chicken with ascites or water belly, and below is a picture of a very full crop:

 

[jimjan]

Thank you a bunch for the analysis. I cremated her already. The pic of that full crop looks like some of my hens. They get exercise all day free ranging and since we started they have gotten much more muscular.

 

[jimjan]

I'm sorry for your loss.

Without a necropsy (either you perform one yourself or send the body to your state lab )
it's hard to know.

Now speculation on my part. A stomach full of water is called Ascites. In laying hens often Ascites accompanies reproductive issues like Egg Yolk Peritonitis, cancer, Salpingitis or similar. Another cause of fluid in the abdomen would be organ dysfunction (which can accompany reproductive problems too - sort of like one thing starts to fail and the whole system breaks down.

It can be common to lose a few hens in a year to reproductive problems, especially if they are all the same age - sadly, hens are not long lived. Some respiratory diseases (if you have a history of one of those) also impacts the reproductive system and the long term results are seen a bit later in life.

If you still have the body and want to give a look, take photos and post them here, we will try to help you with what you see. Refrigerating and sending to your lab gives you the best diagnostics.

What is a good average life expectancy (not taking predators into account) of a golden comet?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

What is a good average life expectancy (not taking predators into account) of a golden comet?

There is really no way to know how long any breed will live.
Golden Comets are bred for production, so for me, I would expect 2-3 years on average. But probably about the same for just about any hatchery bird.