puffed up, SICK hen!

[calichooks]

was told today one of the girls didn’t want to come out of the coop. went outside and she’s puffed up. she still goes after food and water, but she isnt talking and moves very rigidly. her crop is small and it isn’t sour/impacted. i would say egg bound but that would be weird because she hasn’t laid eggs since spring and has been in the middle of a soft molt since then. i don’t know if she’s egg bound because of that, and because it’s winter, i don’t know if she’d start laying again now.
i don’t know what’s wrong with her. i need some second opinions

 

[calichooks]

i read that one of the symptoms of egg binding is a pulsing vent but i haven’t seen that on her. she’s now refusing water.

 

[calichooks]

she’s eating some lettuce though

 

[calichooks]

she still poops. i still don’t know what’s wrong with her.

 

[calichooks]

she’s spending the night inside. hoping someone can provide some insight whenever they can.

 

[Eggcessive]

It might be hard to know exactly what is going on with her, but she could be experiencing a reproductive disorder. Internal laying from salpingitis, egg yolk peritonitis, cancer, and ascites are aome of the common things that hens can suffer from, especially over the age of 2. An experienced vet familiar with chickens might help, but I have lost a few hens who have had similar symptoms with separating themselves and walking uncomfortable. I never knew exactly what was going on with them until I started doing necropsies on them after they died. Egg binding would be unlikely if she is able to poop. You can insert a clean finger into her vent 1-2 inches to feel for a stuck egg. Can you check her lower belly to feel if it is enlarged compared ro other hens?

 

[calichooks]

It might be hard to know exactly what is going on with her, but she could be experiencing a reproductive disorder. Internal laying from salpingitis, egg yolk peritonitis, cancer, and ascites are aome of the common things that hens can suffer from, especially over the age of 2. An experienced vet familiar with chickens might help, but I have lost a few hens who have had similar symptoms with separating themselves and walking uncomfortable. I never knew exactly what was going on with them until I started doing necropsies on them after they died. Egg binding would be unlikely if she is able to poop. You can insert a clean finger into her vent 1-2 inches to feel for a stuck egg. Can you check her lower belly to feel if it is enlarged compared ro other hens?

There wasn’t any sign of stuck eggs, so i felt her lower belly/abdomen and found the issue. Her abdomen is huge and feels like Compared it to three other hens and its very likely she has ascites, which i’m guessing could also be because of her breed (black sex link) i read that they have terrible genetics and are prone to reproductive issues because of what they’re bred for. thank you so much for your help, we’re doing our best to make her comfortable.

 

[Eggcessive]

Some people try to drain some fluid at intervals to help make them more comfortable and ease breathing, but it is not a cure or without risk. Ascites is fatal eventually, and can be common with reproductive diseases, cancer, and heart failure. In post 42 of this thread there are some good pictures of draining a hen:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/laying-hens-with-water-belly-or-ascites.68731/page-5