Swollen abdomen- culled and found tumors... GRAPHIC PHOTOS!

[Sunflower]

I have a 5 year old hen, Hazel, that has the same symptoms! A couple of weeks ago her butt looked awful so I brought her in to clean her up and her lower abdomen felt like a balloon. I've just kept an eye on her b/c she seemed active, happy, eating etc. But now she is sleepy a lot and then the other chickens were really picking on her and she is loosing weight, and still has the poopy butt. We've never culled a chicken before but I feel like that is what needs to be done. I was treating her with ACV, but obviously that is not working. Now I'm trying an antibiotic and she is isolated. I am so sad and hate this part of owning chickens.

 

[Bethel3330]

Ascites is very often a symptom of cancer within the abdomen.
Thanks for sharing those photos. And, Sunflower, I'm sorry. Things don't sound good for yours

 

[rpar003]

I'm thinking our hen has some form of tumours. She has a balloon/water belly for sure. She's a 3 yr old RIR. She's hanging in there, but getting pretty skinny. Still seems happy though (and tried to dominate my 12wk chicks this afternoon). I have a biologist friend who has promised to do a necropsy when the time comes.

 

[Sunflower]

We checked Hazel this morning and her crop was still full (another symptom she developed). So rather than put her through trying to fix a sour crop on top of her other issues we decided to cull her. It was so traumatic...we had never done this before. We usually take them to the vet to be euthanized. We decided with the last trip to the vet that we need to learn how to cull. Hazel was so weak we really needed to try a do this. After two hours of research on line, sharpening both an ax and a knife, we made a cone out of a milk jug and cut her artery in her neck. It wasn't as bad as we had thought and she very easily went to sleep. We did not check her body out to see what might have been the cause. Thank you for "helping" with your tumor information, it truly helped us make a decision to not prolong our Hazel's life.

 

[Bethel3330]

So sorry Sunflower. We care about them and don't wish them to suffer so you did well.

 

[casportpony]

We checked Hazel this morning and her crop was still full (another symptom she developed). So rather than put her through trying to fix a sour crop on top of her other issues we decided to cull her. It was so traumatic...we had never done this before. We usually take them to the vet to be euthanized. We decided with the last trip to the vet that we need to learn how to cull. Hazel was so weak we really needed to try a do this. After two hours of research on line, sharpening both an ax and a knife, we made a cone out of a milk jug and cut her artery in her neck. It wasn't as bad as we had thought and she very easily went to sleep. We did not check her body out to see what might have been the cause. Thank you for "helping" with your tumor information, it truly helped us make a decision to not prolong our Hazel's life.

So sorry... FYI, a full crop is often a sign the dying process has started, so I think you did the right thing.

-Kathy

 

[SavageDestiny]

We checked Hazel this morning and her crop was still full (another symptom she developed). So rather than put her through trying to fix a sour crop on top of her other issues we decided to cull her. It was so traumatic...we had never done this before. We usually take them to the vet to be euthanized. We decided with the last trip to the vet that we need to learn how to cull. Hazel was so weak we really needed to try a do this. After two hours of research on line, sharpening both an ax and a knife, we made a cone out of a milk jug and cut her artery in her neck. It wasn't as bad as we had thought and she very easily went to sleep. We did not check her body out to see what might have been the cause. Thank you for "helping" with your tumor information, it truly helped us make a decision to not prolong our Hazel's life.

So sorry you lost your girl. Berta was my first cull as well. My friend came over and helped me, we used a thin metal pole and put her on the ground, then the pole over her neck. We each stepped on a side of the pole and pulled her up very sharply- she was gone before she ever knew what happened. That helped a lot, for me. Sounds like your sweet girl went peacefully too. Glad this thread could help someone out.

 

[Ranchwoman]

my girl Big Red has the Ascites. For a couple weeks maybe, I did the draining today. I don't think she will make it. She is so beautiful and sweet (of course) and only 3 yrs old. Her and Reba are the only 2 left out of the 6 I bought from TSC 3 summers ago. I got about 1/2 C of the clear yellow fluid from her belly. She is not acting too good after, but seems better than before the draining of fluid. She still won't eat, just laying in sunshine even tho it is like 110 deg heat index here.... Thanks for the advice and info here. It hurts us so much to not be able to help our sweet ole' chickens. At least we have a place to go to when we need advice or just to talk about it. thank you BYC