New Pics: Hen w/ swollen abdomen, breast but still laying - eggbound?

[turkeymom]

Hi, I've been agonizing over my 1-yr old black australorp for about a month now. It started off with feather loss on her breast and then her belly beneath her vent. Then I noticed swelling in these areas. It is soft, maybe watery or jelly feeling, not hard. She shows no discomfort when I press on these areas to examine her. She's also had some weight loss but she is still eating. She also still lays perfectly normal eggs every coupld of days (normal for her).

So, about a week ago I wormed her with Valbazen and started spraying the bare areas with Blue Kote. I also gave her vitamins and some high protein treats (like eggs, beans, cat food, tuna).

She shows no improvement and is possibly more swollen with more feather loss. I went out and bought some injectable penicillin to try, but I wanted to see if anyone had any ideas. I don't think she's eggbound b/c she does lay and she eats & poops ok. Any ideas?

I'm nervous about giving an injection, but I can't imagine she can go on like this forever and I want to try something before it's too late.

Thanks in advance for your help!



Ok, I was able to get some pictures.
Here's a general picture of her:



And, the swollen area under her vent, dyed blue by the blue kote:



And, this is the swelling under her breast:

 

[chicmom]

Could that be a breast blister? It would be on the breast and belly and it's from rubbing against something rough, alot. I think kind of like if she had a rough edge where she sleeps with her breast against it.....Something like that....

 

[turkeymom]

I never thought of that. I'll do a search and see if the symptoms are right.
Thanks

 

[the_eagle69]

Pics would be great if you can.

 

[CityClucks]

Besides the bare places, what are symptoms of her discomfort or illness? If she is eating and drinking and laying, she may be just fine. I had an Australorp who lost feathers in those areas last year and spent the summer with a bare bum, but she was just fine and after molting all her feathers came back in.

 

[turkeymom]

Thank you so much for the comments! I'll try to answer the questions:

Eagle, I don't have pics and probably can't get any decent ones w/o help and dh won't be home until later. But, I'll try in a bit - everything will look blue due to the blue kote. Basically, almost her whole underside - breast to vent - has lost 90% of the feathers (all the little down ones on the belly and butt). Initially, the skin was smooth but then I noticed a few little sores that I thought could be due to rubbing on the ground or a perch. Over the last week or two, I've realized the bare spots are swollen. I've watched my girls for a quite a while and I'm almost certain she is not being pecked, nor does she seem to be pulling the feathers herself.

City Clucks, the most concerning issue is that her breast is very swollen - about golf ball size, but soft. There is another identical lump on her belly near her vent. Also, she feels thin, whereas before she was always pretty hefty, like an australorp should be.

I went ahead and gave her 0.10 ml of pen g provocaine 300,000 units per ml. I'm not sure it went into muscle b/c there is that swelling in her breast (I tried to inject the breast muscle), but I don't seem to have killed her and hopefully it will help.
Should I continue giving her the meds every day for 3-4 days (per package directions) or should I give on alternate days for 7 days (as I've heard other do here)?

 

[turkeymom]

Just wanted to update, because I'm still trying to figure out what is going on and if I'm treating her correctly. So far today, she isn't acting any different and I haven't noticed any change in the swelling.
Any ideas?

 

[the_eagle69]

Great pics however i have no idea hope some one here does just keep posting updates.

 

[ldefoliart]

Hi, I was wondering if you had ever found out what was wrong with the austrolorp with the swollen breast.... I have a 1 year old austrolorp with exactly the same symptoms. She is broody right now and has pulled all her breast feathers. I didn't notice with our other hen that went broody, so I'm worried about her.