Swollen abdomen yellow fluid leaking from vent.

[britsngrits]

Cynthia... thank you very much! Once I started reading about it I realized it really does seem similar to being egg bound. I've put a call into my local vet... not that I think it will do any good but if I can get it fixed affordably and without her suffering I'll do it... if not it's best to put her down.

Thank you again!

 

[speckledhen]

Vets usually know nothing about chickens, but they'll do stuff anyway and not tell you they have no idea what they're doing, LOL. Sometimes, just catching it early and giving high doses of antibiotics kicks it out for awhile. I hope she makes it. I've lost so many hatchery hens to this same thing. It's genetic/hormone based, no prevention, no cure, though there was a study that said perhaps flax seed might help in warding off internal laying. I have no proof of that, mind you, but it might be worth adding it to their diet, just in case.

 

[papparootzi]

I just took my chicken this morning to the vet and dropped her off on my way to work for the same thing. I just noticed the swelling Saturday and isolated her from the roo. She actually laid an egg on Sunday so I did not feel she was egg-bound.When I got a chance to call, the vet had given a/b but wanted to keep her overnight and see if the fluid went down. I wonder if he even suspects this internal egg laying problem? I'm going to ask him about this tomorrow. If she has that problem, I will go ahead and put her down. Why let her be uncomfortable and still have to pop out a big ol' egg everyday on top of that? I will let you know what he comes up with. BUT like speckledhen said, he may not even know about this condition at all and may be planning to do a little researching tonight. But this vet is an aviarian so one would think he would know!

 

[Veggie4life55]

Our RIR was an internal layer. She swelled up really big but never got an infection. But she was on Baytril because she had been attacked by a raccoon... We had her spayed and she is doing really well now. Our vet is a regular & exotic vet and works alot on Avians but from the start we knew that our chickens were the first chickens he had ever seen. But he had done surgery on many birds that had been internal layers. He also works at the Pittsburgh Aviary and at a Raptor rehab in WV. So you never know who you can find... If he is a avian vet he should know about internal laying... But Good luck and I hope everything works out. Please let us know what you find out!

 

[papparootzi]

The vet gave baytril on Monday and wanted to keep her overnight. The swelling went down some and on Wednesday she laid another egg (she skipped 2 days). She is still at vet but I will pick her up Friday and find out more what he thinks. I will ask him about spaying her! Thanks for that idea Veggie4life! I will post more when I know more

 

[Veggie4life55]

Try to have an ultrasound done before you decide to have her spayed. They can tell if there is internal laying this way or maybe false laying... either way she would need spayed. but you never know it could be something else.

I took one of our chickens to the vet on Tuesday because I thought she was internally laying and it didn't turn out to be that. Even though her belly is slightly enlarged he didn't find anything in the ultrasound or xrays. But her crop was a little big so he is treating her for sour crop (anti-fungal and with some liquid antibiotics. Hoping that will help. She does seem to be doing better knock on wood. she has even gained a little weight back. But she hasn't laid any eggs. So he is thinking that may be secondary to the crop problem but said we will look into it if she doesn't start laying once she gains some weight and feels better.

Both of our chickens were pretty sick and the vet had never kept them over night... Is he doing anything special to her while she has been there? Just wondering.

please let me know what you find out

Here is the info on my latest chicken X rays and all!
http://respectlifeeatveggies.blogspot.com/2011/05/gaia-chickens-1st-vet-appointment.html

http://respectlifeeatveggies.blogspot.com/2011/05/gaia-chicken-undate-spanxy-ferret-going.html

This is on Big reds surgary and pictures from being spayed. Our vet is so nice he always sends me pics and Xrays..

I didn't realize I didn't originally post it.. So I did post it without proof reading it sorry in advance. But it does have some nice pics.

http://respectlifeeatveggies.blogspot.com/2011/05/chicken-report-big-reds-surgery-jasmine.html

 

[speckledhen]

It's hard to be 100% sure about anything since so many ailments have similar symptoms. I've just found the same things inside so many hens, that it seems that internal laying/egg peritonitis is the most likely culprit with these type symptoms, especially with common hatchery stock breeds. Without actual testing by a vet who really knows birds, you are sometimes operating blindly or going on past experience. On occasion, it may lead down the wrong path, but such it is with chickens. I always tell people that it's my just best guess from my vast (and way too sad) experience with internal laying/egg peritonitis. I'm not an avian vet, of course.

 

[britsngrits]

Well I kept her on antibiotics for 7 days and she isn't any better. She laid 3 eggs this week so she isn't egg bound. I still have her isolated in a pen so her eggs don't mix with the others. Today I noticed the yellow goo down from her vent all the way under her belly along with the swelling still. She eats/drinks like normal and for the most part acts like normal. She does still have breathing issues due to the swelling, of that I'm fairly certain.

I am just at a loss. Do I cull her because she isn't breathing right etc? That seems a bit drastic but it's not like she can actually tell me if she is feeling bad. The day before yesterday after she had an egg I let her out to "play" with the others and she was fine. All I do know is that I have no other chickens that act like this.