RIR enlarged abdomen, lost appetite, & lethargic

[SweetieBirds]

We have two (nearly) 3 year old RIR hens with the same problem. Hard swollen abdomen,yellow runny poo, lack of appetite when offered their favorite treats (fresh chard, boiled egg, or crushed raw peanuts) ,and are lethargic. The first one began (March 15th) just sitting around & then lost her appetite. Her comb was maroon and very dark at it's tip. I researched symptoms on BYC and started her on organic ACV water and tried to get her to eat yogurt but she would not. She would drink a little of the water. Her crop was almost empty. Her poo was very yellow like she was egg bound. I examined her & found no apparent egg backup. March 17th, I purchased Ivomec and we injected .1 mL into her breast. March 18th, she ate a little egg yoke. To play it safe, March 18th, I also measured enough Ivomec into water to give the rest of the flock of 10 sister RIR's & their bantam roo. March 19th, another hen began the same symptoms and has gone downhill but not quite so quickly. We gave hen # 2 an injection of the Ivomec on the 20th. Both hens ate boiled egg yolk & chard on the 20th. Hen # 2 is still sort of active but today (21st) she wouldn't eat her favorite treats. Hen # 1's comb has returned to the usual bright red but I couldn't get her to eat.

This flock is confined inside a 100 foot electric poultry fence but enjoy a couple of free range hours every afternoon. We have too many preditors to allow them to run free all day. Their coop is cleaned out about every 4 months. They are fed crushed corn and Laying mash and have plenty of fresh drinking water. Their treats include home grown chard, occassional raw peanuts, table greens, yogurt, oats, and we put vitamins in their water. They are perky, loving & keep our fenced in 2 acres well landscaped. The only health problem we've had with the RIR's is that several of the girls have been egg bound. We've examined them and found no bugs. The vents look healthy. They were all wormed with Wazine last fall. When I clean the coop, I put down DE before the wood chips. Egg production has dropped during the past 12 months to about 50%. They were purchased from Randall Burkey Co. but were not vaccinated.

A month ago, one of the hens died on us within a couple of days but I did not notice if her abdomen was swollen & hard. Her comb was pale & she was lethargic. She was given a dose of Wazine the day before she died. I tried to force feed her yogurt, egg yolk and water but she resisted.

One question that I haven't been able to find an answer to is how long it takes for the Ivomec to work & any worms to be expelled. Both hens are still quite bloated. Taking hens to a Vet isn't an option right now for us. Last one we took to the Vet cost us several hundred dollars. She had an egg stuck, so the Vet put her out, took Xrays, extracted the egg and sent us home. We've found that most Vets in our area won't treat chickens.

Any ideas anyone?

 

[Cloverleaf Farm]

Sounds very much like they are internal layers, and have egg peritonitis. Unfortunately, if that's the case, there isn't anything you can do about it. Except if one of them dies, (if you can deal with it) open her up, you'll have your answer for sure.

Sorry I don't have a better answer for you.

(Oh, and Ivermectin works very quickly).

 

[SweetieBirds]

Thank you. It's hard to accept that nothing can be done.

 

[dawg53]

With the swollen abdomen and combs turning dark, their age...it possiblly could be ascites. I recommend you type "ascites' in the search box and read up on it and see if this is what is happening...I hope it isnt.

 

[gallusdomesticus]

It could be a number of things. The empty crop, no appetite and yellow runny poop indicates she is not processing food, either to a metabolic problem or an obstruction in her intestinal track. The yellow poop indicates she's over producing bile for digestion but does not have the food in her system to absorb it. An intestinal obstruction is probably untreatable without a vet. She may have ascites. Ascites is often called 'water belly' and is most often caused by congestive heart failure or a liver malfunction. I have a Silver laced Wyandotte hen that I've been treating for two years with the condition. Every five or six months or so, I take her to the vet to have her abdomen drained and she gets a daily dose of milk thistle extract for her fatty liver disease. I know this only because I had blood work done on her which pointed out the liver malfunction. She's doing fine, as long as I keep her drained and her droppings are normal.
My best guess is you've got a girl with an intestinal obstruction due to a foreign body or something wrong with her metabolism. If you can't take her to a vet, I would look into draining her abdomen and taking her temperature (should be 103-105) to check for an infection that may be treated with antibiotics. Good luck with her.

 

[speckledhen]

This thread may be helpful to you. https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=362422

 

[schellie69]

Quote:
I was just looking for this thread to post it. Thanks speckledhen.

 

[Rusty's Ranch]

We lost a bird to internal egg laying awhile back, so when Penny got sick around Thanksgiving I thought the worst and took her to the vet. The xray didn't show an egg inside, but she was very bloated, had a fever, wouldn't eat, etc. Her test results were unclear. The vet wasn't sure what was going on. She either had peritonitis or a problem with her kidneys. We gave her antibiotics and changed her diet (vet thought maybe it was diet related??). We changed her from a soy based to a fish meal based food.

Well, she got better, went through a serious molt and seemed to be good as new (just not laying eggs). Two months went by and she got sick again - swollen abdomen, wouldn't eat, lethargic. Decided to "let nature take it's course" and didn't give her antibiotics. What we did change, was we didn't give her any additional protein for treats (ie meat, cottage cheese, etc). After a few weeks, she got better -- still no eggs.

After some time, we let our guard down and started giving her protein snacks ... she got sick again. Took her off the treats, she got better. I'm thinking it's her kidneys. Don't know if she's coming or going!

Anyway ... this week she started laying eggs again (one every other day).

I hope Penny's story gives you a little hope and maybe a new thought about what might be wrong. Sorry you're going through this ... it isn't fun.

 

[speckledhen]

The only way to really know if it's internal laying (and remember, that is completely different than egg bound) rather than a kidney or liver issue is testing. So many ailments do have similar symptoms. The reason I usually tend to go to internal laying/egg peritonitis is that I've lost so many to it over the last three years and research showed that it is extremely common, especially in hatchery stock. When a hen hasn't laid an egg in a year, those yolks are going somewhere--backing up in the oviducts, or dropping into the abdomen. Infection in chickens makes solid cheesy masses that build over time.

Rusty's Ranch, I've had a hen like your Penny. My Ivy did the same thing, built up fluid in her abdomen, we used penicillin, she got better and started laying again, then same thing--fluid buildup, cessation of laying, penicillin, and she got better, laid one egg, then the last time, penicillin didn't work.

 

[SweetieBirds]

Thank you Speckledhen & Schellie69 for that very informative thread. I have not noticed the abdomen being like a water balloon. I will examine both hens again & take temps this morning. That should be fun... It is possible that one or both of these hens consumed something foreign. Our property has been cleared of many years of machinery/hording/crap that the previous owners collected. We still pickup objects that our girls might find appetizing. Last year we had a hen Xray'd and the vet said she had two .22 shell casings in her crop. She's been renamed "Bullet".

I am amazed at how much some of you know about chickens! I am unable to tell which of the girls are still laying & which are not. Neither of the sick hens have laid since we separated them from the rest of the flock. Hen # 2 is walking around but not as active as she once was. Hen # 1 mostly sits around. She moves in or out of the sunshine. Both hens entered the coop on their own last night. Still not eating much. A little Layena. If I could just get them to eat something, I'd feel better.

I am going to see if there is a local breeder that we can get our next chicks from instead of getting hatchery stock. We are in this for the fun of it, not meat or egg production. Although we do have a following of people who love our gift of fresh eggs!

Thank you all for this information. We want our flock to be healthy and happy. We are always open to advice!