My hen's abdomen and vent is swollen

[chickengrl87]

My Easter Egger, Goldie, has an extremely swollen vent and its very pink. She had poop all over her bottom. I soaked her epsom salt and have been feeding her yogurt. You can tell she is very uncomfortable. She is hunched with her bottom dropped.I have had her for about 2 months now and she has always seemed alittle off. I got her from a lady who had about 30 or 35 hens in a coop and pen area. My coop and pen are about the same size and I have only 7 but also let them free range in my fully fenced yard. I felt like it was very unsanitary for all the hens. I purchased three from her. She did not know their ages but said they were probably older. They hadn't been laying for her but have been for me. Two of them, including Goldie, had missing feathers. The other hen with the missing feathers now looks amazing and healthy. Same as the third hen. Goldie just hasn't gotten much better looking. I don't know if she has been laying any eggs either. She stands by herself and her eye lids have always been half closed. I had read about vent gleet and hens being egg bound. I think if she was egg bound she would be dead by now. I read it takes about 48 hours and the hen will die if it is egg bound. Vent gleet is more on an yeast infection. She has always had diarrhea too. With her vent area and abdomen being very swollen, I am concerned she is fatally ill. There a lot of heat coming from the area and it is swollen to about the size of a large grapefruit. Does anybody have any suggestions?

 

[cinch920]

It sure sounds like she's egg bound to me. I've had a hen in the past that was egg bound for quite a long time. If she is egg bound, you could try sitting her in warm almost hot water and let her soak for a while. Try massaging her under side as well. Working downward. Don't push too hard, you don't want to break the egg if she is egg bound.

 

[chickengrl87]

Thank you for the reply! I have been soaking her for about 20 mins every night in warm water with epson salts. I will try massaging her but I am afraid to push too hard and hurt her. I will keep soaking her and trying to work an egg out. Thanks again for your help!

 

[cafarmgirl]

If all these symptoms have been ongoing since you got her then I suspect she's got other stuff going on and not just eggbound.

If her lower body/abdomen is hugely swollen that is most likely ascites. Ascites is fluid build up in the body cavities and can be caused by several things, none of them good or fixable. It can range from internal laying issues/egg yolk peritonitis, to heart/circulatory problems or other major organ problems.

There's not really any way of precisely diagnosing her without going to a vet, and even that is sketchy. I don't know that I would keep massaging the area for fear of causing more problems and discomfort for her.

The diarrhea could be caused by her other health issues in general or she could have worms.

 

[chickengrl87]

Yeah she has been sickly since we got her. The swelling all started about a week ago and seems to be getting worse. Thank you so much for all your helpful information. I have never heard of anything like this. I also have never heard of any real chicken illnesses before. What is a good product for deworming? I have never done that or even heard of such things. It makes since tho. I deworm my dogs and cats so why not my chickens.

Last night when I checked on my flock and shutting their coop door for the evening, I noticed my matriarch hen sitting on the coop floor and not roosting with the others. I picked her up and put her on the roost and noticed she had blood coming out of her vent! I soaked her in epson salts and sprayed medicine in her vent. Any ideas what could have caused this and what is the best treatment?

 

[cafarmgirl]

For deworming I alternate between Valbazen and Safeguard liquid goat dewormer. I do 1/2 cc for standard size birds, repeat in 10 days. Where I live, hot and dry, I deworm twice a year.

I do not know what could be causing the blood you are seeing on your other hens vent. Possibly a prolapse or other egg laying related problem. It's a common thing for older hens to start having egg laying related issues. Unless another hen has been pecking her but if that was the case you'd see the damage.

 

[chickengrl87]

Thank you for the deworming advice! I will go to the feed store and get some for my girls and roo. I called my vet and he told me the bleeding vent could be from passing an egg that was just a little too big. It probably ripped something but she is acting awesome and there is no more bleeding! Thank God! The vet told me that Goldie probably is egg bound and there isn't anything to really do. He said to keep soaking her in warm water and pray for the best. Thanks again for all the help!