Possibly Egg-bound?

[MrsTater2]

I have a 2-year old buff Orpington who is very sick. I noticed on Friday when I gave them water that her crown was turning black, she was walking funny and was not with the rest of the flock. The last couple days she won’t eat or drink, she isn’t moving from her spot in the coop on the floor and her legs are spread apart like she’s doing the splits. Tonight I tried bringing her inside to see if she’s egg-bound but I can’t feel and egg because her belly is very swollen and hot. I tried giving her a warm bath to clean her belly and vent and she just laid there. I was flipping her on her back so I could see her belly better and she just laid there. She’s normally very feisty and the dominant bird in the flock. I also noticed tonight a little bit of white spots on her crown but it’s getting more and more black as each day passes. Does anyone have any ideas?

 

[coach723]

Is a vet an option for you?
The inability to walk and the leg position suggest Marek's disease. The swollen abdomen could be tumors. There is also the possibility that she has a reproductive problem. In either case the outlook is poor. I'm sorry!! If you lose her it would be a good idea to have a necropsy done, that is the only way to confirm or rule out Marek's, and it would be good information to have going forward. I'm really sorry that the news is not more encouraging. Hopefully you will get some more opinions.
Here are some resources by state for necropsy, refrigerate the body, don't freeze:
https://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/nahln/downloads/all_nahln_lab_list.pdf
http://www.metzerfarms.com/PoultryLabs.cfm

 

[Eggcessive]

I agree with everything Coach723 said. Sorry about your hen.

 

[Eggcessive]

Mareks disease is caused by a virus, not a bacteria. It can be obvious sometimes when tumors are seen on the organs. They usually do the PCR testing as well. This link has clinical signs and gross lesions if you select Mareks disease under “view all diseases” and then click on gross lesions or clinical signs for good pictures of what can be seen on necropsy:
https://partnersah.vet.cornell.edu/avian-atlas/#/disease/Marek's_Disease

 

[Doristheroo]

She could possibly be egg bound. I have never experienced it my self tho so I’m not fully sure.

 

[MrsTater2]

Is a vet an option for you?
The inability to walk and the leg position suggest Marek's disease. The swollen abdomen could be tumors. There is also the possibility that she has a reproductive problem. In either case the outlook is poor. I'm sorry!! If you lose her it would be a good idea to have a necropsy done, that is the only way to confirm or rule out Marek's, and it would be good information to have going forward. I'm really sorry that the news is not more encouraging. Hopefully you will get some more opinions.
Here are some resources by state for necropsy, refrigerate the body, don't freeze:
https://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/nahln/downloads/all_nahln_lab_list.pdf
http://www.metzerfarms.com/PoultryLabs.cfm

Unfortunately, we live in the sticks and not only are there no 24/hour vets, any vet is far and few between (ironic since you’d think it would be a booming business around farmland). I am hoping she makes it through the night, and we can evaluate tomorrow if we should make the trip to a vet or if there is something we can do for her here. She seems very alert and would talk to me when I brought her in the bath tonight so I’m hoping that’s a good sign. Thank you for your advice it helps a lot!

 

[HazelandPearl]

Hope your hen is feeling better!

 

[MrsTater2]

We had to cull her. After extensive research last night and her extremely labored breathing this morning, we concluded she likely had Marek’s disease so we made the difficult decision. She was my favorite and the flock is definitely aware she’s not there anymore but I think we made the right decision. No matter what she had she was clearly in a lot of pain and nothing we tried was able to make her comfortable.

 

[coach723]

I'm so sorry for your loss. I think you made the right decision in this case, hard as it was. Sometimes it's the kindest thing we can do for them. Again, so sorry.

 

[farmerbrowne]

How would you confirm it as marejs from necropsy