sick hen

[jmon]

My orpington Hen is not egg bound, she passes eggs. However her bottom is very hard and comb/wattle are pale. Not a healthy red color like the rest of them. She is also not eating well and very light. Has very hard belly/bottom. Stays off by herself most the time. Doesn't act like the other chickens.

I have tried soaking her in absom salt, heating pad, antibiotics, electrolytes, vinegar(mother) but her bottom is still very hard.

Thought it may be a virus, but other hens are fine, just isolated to her.

So I thought must be worms/parasites, etc., tried various medicines and back yard youtube videos on hen issues, but still the same.

Anyone here ever had an issue like this with any of your hens? Tia for any suggestions.

Here are some pics of her. she is on right of picture with pale comb/wattle. TY for any suggestions.

 

[jmon]

She lays eggs maybe once a week or so, not everyday like the others.

we have no avian vets in my area. The regular vets told me they are a live stock animal just put her down if she is suffering.

Imo, She doesn't appear to be suffering been going on like this for over two months.

 

[Debbie292d]

You've eliminated so many things this could be. I wonder about ascites, though (water belly).

I have no experience with that here, but there's a thread covering treatment for it. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/ascites-treatment.1662714/

@coach723 and @Eggcessive who posted the help for that one can maybe help determine for sure that is what it is though first.

 

[coach723]

She may be laying internally. Sounds like if that's the case then an occasional egg is making it down the oviduct, the rest are being deposited in the abdomen. There are no real fixes for that, if that's what it is. Sometimes imaging will show if there are eggs in the abdomen, if they are shelled. Treatment would likely require surgery to remove all the matter (which is risky for birds at best, I would want an avian vet if I were going that route), and then an hormonal implant to stop her laying. Obviously all of that would require a fair investment of funds. Just exam and imaging could be fairly costly depending on the vet. Most birds that lay internally will continue to do so until they eventually die of infection. Very hard to predict how long that could be. There are other reproductive issues that can cause hard abdomens as well, but usually with those they cease laying altogether.