Still desperate, still no advice

[jeannieo]

O.K. let's try this. My girl Annie (Araucana) has a distended abdomen and when I put in the 16 G needle I just get a few drops of thick yellow gunk. I don't know what to do for her. She is in the house next to the furnace. I'm giving her white rice with a scrambled egg with some nutritional yeast. she seems to like it and is eating but also seems to be in distress. She's not clucking but rather making some squeaking type noises and appears to be trying to get something out. I checked for an egg but don't know if I went up far enough to feel an egg AND she is demanding a diamond ring now!

I think she probably has some sort of infection. I have Duramycin-10 but the directions are not clear. it says 400-800 mg per gallon of water per day. I don't know how those mg's would be put into tablespoons. I also have some Tribissen from the vet from another hen who has passed. Will either of these help or at least not hurt her? and how much if so? PLEASE help her! I feel so helpless and if I can't save her, I at least want to make her comfortable.

 

[danischi24]

Have you ever seen her lay an egg? She could be an internal layer.

 

[Quillgirl]

I agree. Sounds like an internal layer. Do a site-search for this and see if the symptoms match. Speckled Hen has had several go-rounds with this condition with her chickens.

 

[jeannieo]

THANK YOU!

 

[Southpaw970]

I'm sorry I can't be more help. I haven't experienced any illnessess with chickens.
The only thing I can help with is the medication dose. You need to find out how many milligrams per ml the Duramycin-10 is.
1 tablespoon is equal to approximately 15 ml. Then do the math from there.
I hope she gets feeling better.

 

[chickenlady08]

I just took a chicken to the vet with what I was thinking was the same thing last week. Her abdomem was huge and although I felt up inside the vent I could feel no egg. When I took her to the vet she said it could be possible to be egg bound. She drained the fluid and got out 2 pints of fluid. She said it was clear so she wasn't bound or not an interenal layer. Unfortunatley she said it could be heart or cancer. She gave Lasix for her to help with the fluid. She seemed ok as long as the fluid wasn't there, but it is not helping and she won't make it.

It sounds to me that she probably is an internal layer and if you can you need to take her to the vet to make sure there are no complications.

Good Luck

 

[jeannieo]

there are no vets around here that will treat chickens. Annie is in a large bird cage next to the furnace. She seems pretty perky and doesn't seem to be in pain. her abdomen is huge. should I give it another try to drain? I'm sure I'll still just get the teaspoon of thick yellow gunk. Should I put her back in the coop so she can be with her peeps?

 

[danischi24]

If you have the guts, you can fix her with surgery yourself. There are some threads on here about people doing it-it's not as difficult as you think. Has she laid an egg in the past few weeks because if so, she isn't an internal layer?

 

[jeannieo]

I don't know if she's laid any eggs. I have several Araucanas (9 I think) and I usually get 2-3 blue eggs a day so I sort of assume they "take turns" giving me eggs. I don't know if I have the guts to perform surgery, I freaked out when I had to trim one of my girl's combs but that was easier than I thought. And I never thought I would put a finger up a chickens butt to check for eggs and I did that too. So I will check out the surgery which you speak of and try to figure out if it's something I have the "guts" for. thanks.

 

[silkiechicken]

Could be two things, a reproductive issue, or a heart/liver issue. If it is reproductive, removing her ovaries and reproductive tract will solve internal laying, if it is slow heart failure or liver failure, there is nothing you can do. Both conditions will cause build up of fluids in the cavity. Liquid often means liver is not making the albumens needed in blood to maintain the pressure in the blood or the heart is not working right thus pressure is off and fluid seeps out of the capillaries and fills up the abdomen.