Sick hen

[Ardizzone7]

Here are the symptoms:

Sluggish
Sits on roost most of the day
When she walks she moves very slow and wattles
Her shanks and feet feel very hot to the touch
Her abdomen is full but not bulbous and feels like a water balloon
Pooping pale yellow liquid
Her comb is thin and dry

I thought she was egg bound but she doesn't feel like she has an egg in her abdomen. Any help would be appreciated!

 

[Eggcessive]

How old is she? How does her crop feel? Does her lower abdomen feel like it may have fluid in it? Yellow stools can sometimes be a sign of E.coli infection. Does she have any egg-looking material in her stool? Waddling can be a sign of egg yolk peritonitis or internal laying. Egg yolk peritonitis can be very painful, and they can develop ascites or water belly. Hens with EYP can be treated with penicillin, but they frequently will need to put put out of their misery at some point. If she has not been wormed recently, I would give her SafeGuard or Valbazen 1/2 ml, and repeat in 10 days. Also check her for lice and mites. Here is some info about EYP:
http://www.chickenvet.co.uk/health-and-common-diseases/egg-laying-issues/index.aspx
http://beautyofbirds.com/eggyolkperitonitis.html

 

[Ardizzone7]

Thank you. Her crop feels fine. Her stool is watery with yellow and white coloring. I thought it was probably an egg broke inside but wanted confirmation. Her abdomen feels full like a water balloon. I have not given her a vent exam but am on my way home now so I will check her soon.

 

[Eggcessive]

Here are a couple of threads about ascites:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/853726/ascites-in-desperate-need-of-some-help-and-guidance
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/68731/laying-hens-with-water-belly-or-ascites
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/120411/ascites-baloon-belly

 

[Ardizzone7]

WARNING GRAPHIC PHOTOS!!!!!!!!!!








Well I ender up putting her out of her misery. She got to the point of not walking. I opens her up to see for sure what was going on. She is the second hen in a month whith this problem. Once I opened her up the first thing I saw was this. In the first photo it looks like a piece of hot dog. When you cut it open, you see tissue that looks a little like waxed paper with cheese. We had found a couple of these in the laying boxes in the past and had no idea what they were.

In the pic below you will see her entire egg track (don't know correct term) was full of what looks like scrambled eggs. She had to have been in terrible pain. If I am correct she was an internal layer. The interesting thing is she was the second within a month of the same breed and batch that this has ok happened too. Is there anything that can be done to prevent this? They were both about 18 months old.

 

[Ardizzone7]

Sorry I have the images backward but you get the idea.​

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry about your hen. If you would like to read some more on internal layers, her are 2 good threads: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...and-other-egg-issues-will-this-never-end-long
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/79443/tell-me-about-your-internal-layers

 

[Ardizzone7]

Lost another hen today from the same batch. She went down fast. Just started showing signs this morning when I went out to fee and was dead by this evening. This is so sad! I have 3 left from this group of hens. I hope they stay alive.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry for your loss. Could the hen who died to day have had anything else going on? What were her symptoms?

 

[Ardizzone7]

She had the same symptoms but instead of it taking 3 days to die, she did it in one. I opened her as well to double check and found the same scrambled egg masses in her egg track.