My old hen is slowly dieing, how can I help her during her last days?

[Wyorp Rock]

I am dealing with this with my hen Chandler right now. The vet said she has a tumor in her abdomen, I first thought it was water belly but water belly apparently is found only in meat birds. The vet said nothing can be done and usually occurs in older hens. My Chandler is 4 or 5 years old. She too walks with her legs spread, and lays down sometimes to rest. She also can't bend over properly at times so I put their food and water up on bricks so she doesn't have to strain so much. I feel horrible for my girl. I may have her put down if/when she stops eating and drinking so she doesn't suffer.

Welcome To BYC

I'm sorry that your hen is not well. This thread is from 2013 so it's unlikely the OP will respond.

Did the vet see a tumor on imaging?

Water Belly (A.K.A. Ascites) is a symptom of fluid in the abdomen. This can be seen in hens with reproductive disorders and/or when there's an organ dysfunction. Sadly, it can be a common symptom in poultry no matter what breed. (Ascites also can affect humans, dogs/cats and pretty much any living creature).

IF she does have fluid in the abdomen, sometimes this can be drained to offer comfort for a period of time, a lot depends on what's causing the fluid to accumulate. There are risks to draining the fluid, you can introduce bacteria through the needle stick, sometimes draining too much fluid can send the hen into heart failure and they die. Sometimes fluid comes back very quickly.

Draining would be up to you, there's a lot of videos on how to do it, if you search for them.

An alternative would be to try a detox to see if that helps with fluid in the abdomen, it may or may not help. Detox instructions can be found HERE.

Lastly, if the vet saw a tumor on imaging, then your hen may have a short period of time and there's no treatment. It's a sad thing to think of, but unfortunately laying hens often do die from reproductive problems like cancer, EYP, tumors, etc.

Do the best you can to keep her comfy, putting feed up higher like you've done is a good idea.