sick chicken with swollen abdomen. need help!

[proudchickenmom]

my chicken has a bloated squishy abdomen, is lethargic, is not eating, is not drinking, can not walk, and cant "talk". this has been going on for 3 days and is making me super worried☹. what worries me even more is that I had a chicken died a day earlier that seemed (after a light at home postmortem examination) to have the same problem! I am worried that it will spread to the rest of my flock! I don't want to have to terminate the rest of my lovely flock! SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT TO DOOOOO!!!!!

 

[Wezdin]

Ascites. @Wyorp Rock might be able to help with a treatment.

 

[micstrachan]

Do you know when she last laid an egg? How is her poop and her crop? How about her appetite? I have found Lily of the Desert aloe detox helps get the fluid down. However, that’s just treating a symptom and she’d be best off if you can figure out with the underlying causes. Isn’t Avian Vet an option for you? Could they have gotten into some rotten compost?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

my chicken has a bloated squishy abdomen, is lethargic, is not eating, is not drinking, can not walk, and cant "talk". this has been going on for 3 days and is making me super worried☹. what worries me even more is that I had a chicken died a day earlier that seemed (after a light at home postmortem examination) to have the same problem! I am worried that it will spread to the rest of my flock! I don't want to have to terminate the rest of my lovely flock! SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT TO DOOOOO!!!!!

Welcome To BYC

I'm sorry about your sick hen and the loss of another so recently.
You did a necropsy on the one that died - did you happen to take any photos?
What were your findings - can you explain?
Can you post some photos of the current sick hen and her poop?
How old is she?
When is the last time she laid an egg?
Is your hen's crop empty?
What state do you live in?

A bloated squishy abdomen could be fluid in the abdomen. If you have vet care, that would be the best option. Sometimes that's not possible so you have to do the best you can.
IF, IF there is fluid in the abdomen, sometimes that can be drained to make the hen more comfortable - it's a supportive care and extension of life measure - it is not a cure. Draining does have it dangers - sometimes a hen may die during draining, you can introduce bacteria into the abdomen and that cause infection or if fluid is drained too quickly then hen could have organ failure.
Detox as supportive care as mentioned previously is also something to consider as well.
There is a condition or illness that is causing fluid or the bloat in the abdomen. Unfortunately most of the time even after a period of recovery and doing well, a hen begins to decline since the condition or illness usually has no cure.

Not drinking/eating/walking and not (able?) to talk for 3 days is very concerning. She would dehydrated by now if you haven't tubed fluids into her.
At some point you may need to make a decision about whether she needs to be put out of her misery and either you perform another necropsy or send the body to your state lab for formal diagnostics.

Have your hens gotten into anything toxic or rotten?

 

[proudchickenmom]

Ascites. @Wyorp Rock might be able to help with a treatment.

Ascites. @Wyorp Rock might be able to help with a treatment.

Ascites. @Wyorp Rock might be able to help with a treatment.

thank you for the encouragement!

 

[proudchickenmom]

once I cut open her gut the first thing i saw were her intestines behind that there were large fluid filled balls with small yellow things in between them. there was one large misshapen yellow ball with was a cheesy yellow color that had the texture of wax. it seemed like a lash egg. both chickens were about 2 years old... maybe older. i don't know when the last time she layed an egg was (i have 35 chickens so it is hard to know who lays which egg). she has not been eating so her crop is empty. we live in the Carolinas. i love my chicks but i don't think that they are worth $100s of dollars to get them a check up if they are going to die anyways. her legs are definingly paralyzed and any noise she makes is a soft airy version of what it should sound like (chicken whispers). she dose not eat of drink unless i stuff it in her mouth, but i do give her water through a syringe. and she hasent come into contact with anything toxic as far as i am aware.

 

[proudchickenmom]

i have been doing some research and I think it might be a ovary infection ☹ ... does anyone know how to treat an ovary infection???

 

[Wyorp Rock]

once I cut open her gut the first thing i saw were her intestines behind that there were large fluid filled balls with small yellow things in between them. there was one large misshapen yellow ball with was a cheesy yellow color that had the texture of wax. it seemed like a lash egg. both chickens were about 2 years old... maybe older. i don't know when the last time she layed an egg was (i have 35 chickens so it is hard to know who lays which egg). she has not been eating so her crop is empty. we live in the Carolinas. i love my chicks but i don't think that they are worth $100s of dollars to get them a check up if they are going to die anyways. her legs are definingly paralyzed and any noise she makes is a soft airy version of what it should sound like (chicken whispers). she dose not eat of drink unless i stuff it in her mouth, but i do give her water through a syringe. and she hasent come into contact with anything toxic as far as i am aware.

i have been doing some research and I think it might be a ovary infection ☹ ... does anyone know how to treat an ovary infection???

I'm sorry, for some reason I didn't get an alert that you replied until this evening.

How is she doing now - does she still seem paralyzed and is making the soft airy noises?
Hard to know what's going on with her, but as you suspect, I would think she's having some type of reproductive problem.
She may have infection, cancer, tumor, abscess or something similar. Her quality of life and whether she is suffering does need to be considered. I understand it's sad and distressing.
IF you are able to keep her hydrated, she doesn't seem in pain and you think she's got a good chance of recovering to the point she can be fairly active and rejoin the flock, then treating her with an antibiotic may be in order. Do you have an antibiotics on hand? What do you have? Most all antibiotics I would recommend you would need to order online or get from your vet. For severe reproductive infection, my first choice would be Baytril, if you order it, it will take a couple of days to get it at best. Baytril is not approved for use in laying hens, so you will want to research that and determine if it's a drug you want to use.
Amoxicillin may help, it really depends on what's going on with her. Since you are in the Carolinas, you may be able to find Fish Mox (Amoxicillin) at Tractor Supply. Dosage is 57mg per pound of weight given orally 2 times a day.

What you found in your other hen, without seeing it, hard to know - some reproductive problems are hard to distinguish even with an official necropsy (they usually do more testing as well). Internal Laying, Salpingitis and Egg Yolk Peritonitis can all have yellow cheesy material in the abdomen. The large fluid filled balls with yellow things in between them sounds like possibly cystic oviduct, the yellow things may have been ovum(?) All speculation on my part - I'm not a vet and I'm very limited in knowledge, sometimes seeing photos I can tell a bit more.

There's various photos here that you might recognize? https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...omas-in-laying-hens-graphic-pictures.1064118/

Also photos of cystic oviduct can be found here https://www.slideshare.net/VETIDEA/infectious-bronchitis-in-laying-hens-chickens

 

[proudchickenmom]

she seems to be in a stable condition but I don't know how long this will last. her legs still useless and she still cant talk. the 2nd large picture looks like what my chicken had only my chick had yellow cheese balls in between. i am pretty sure that the yellow balls were lash eggs. what was the picture of anyways?

 

[proudchickenmom]

also do you know how much a examination would cost?