Maybe ascites or EYP - what do I do?

[GirlsHuntToo]

@azygous - You really taught me something reading this thread! I always thought all those hens died of ascites aka water belly, but now I know it was EYP! Thanks!

@KristinKH - So sorry about your chicken!

 

[KristinKH]

My attempt to draw out fluid was not successful. I used a 1" x 18 gauge needle and 60 cc syringe, as suggested in the video. I inserted the needle in the same spot as in the video. All I could get out was a tiny amount of thick, dark stuff. I tried a second time in a different spot and couldn't get anything out. This was with 2 people, one holding the hen and the other about to use 2 hands to work the syringe. I have the hen soaking in an epsom salts bath right now.

Any ideas?

 

[azygous]

You just found out that she has no fluid buildup in her abdominal cavity. That rules out ascites and probably EYP, as well. But she may have some other bacterial infection. Do you have any of the antibiotic left? What dose were you giving her?

 

[KristinKH]

You just found out that she has no fluid buildup in her abdominal cavity. That rules out ascites and probably EYP, as well. But she may have some other bacterial infection. Do you have any of the antibiotic left? What dose were you giving her?

I have plenty of antibiotic still. I gave her 10 mg per pound, based on her weight before her belly was so swollen. I don't know if I should count the extra weight in my calculations or not. She was about 3 pounds normally, so I gave her .75 ml 2x/day. I based that on info I found on this site, but I don't have the link for it offhand. It was "A 4 pound chicken would get 40 mg per day at 10 mg per pound. If you have 200mg packets, and you can mix that into 10 ml of water, the mixture would equal 20 mg per ml. His daily dosage would be 2 ml of that daily, and I would give half of that in the morning and half in the evening."

I'll put her back on the antibiotic. I figure it can't hurt. Today she looks very unhappy. She's been just hanging out in the middle of the wet grass, looking very droopy, and she had some yellow discharge on her back end that at first glance looked like cooked egg yolk. I put her in a small coop by herself where it's quiet and dry and a little dark. She has water available. I'll cook up an egg and see if she'll eat that.

Her belly is definitely squishy like a water balloon. What could that be besides ascites or EYP?

Thanks for the help, everyone.

 

[azygous]

What may feel like fluid, could be fat. If you were not going any deeper than half and inch, if there was fluid you would have been able to withdraw some. Sticking the needle in deeper than that, you may have hit an organ. That would have prevented hitting any fluid. Abdominal fluid is just under the skin. If you think you might have gone too deep, you can try again.

I would stick with that dosage of the antibiotic and keep her on it for one more week at least.

 

[KristinKH]

She's much worse today. She ignores treats. The bedding in the coop has yellow goop on it, like she's dribbling raw egg from her vent. The outer 1/3 (or so) of her comb is getting darker. On the plus side, she's not struggling to breathe. Is there anything else I can do to help her other than ending her suffering?

 

[azygous]

It's not a good sign that she's taken a turn for the worse. The yellow discharge is also a bad sign that either an egg has ruptured or there's infection in the oviduct.

To give you a comparison, I have a hen right at this moment in a crate in the garage after observing her acting "off" yesterday and today. She had a clear discharge from her vent, and no egg for three days. She just now passed an egg after two days of calcium. I will leave her in the crate for a while longer since another egg may be coming. Her behavior is going in the positive direction and improving.

The difference in the color of the discharge of your hen and mine is the first clue that your hen has something far more serious going on that just a stuck egg. Yellow discharge usually means low odds of a good outcome. Clear discharge offers more hope. And behavior going negative is definitely a sign that hope is fast disappearing in the rear view mirror.

Yes, you need to think about euthanizing if there is no sign of improvement.

 

[KristinKH]

Thank you everyone for your help. She started having to work harder to breathe yesterday and we ended her suffering. I miss her.