Swollen belly and watery poo - please help!!

[Beckys Birds]

This is Cloud and she just turned two years old. She is my absolute favorite chicken.
I pulled her in to give her an Epsom salt soak to clean her poo encrusted backside off. Being as she is a large cochin, she tends to get a track of poo stuck to her butt feathers. It happens to her slightly smaller sister, Rain, as well. The last two weeks Could's booty has gotten really gross, worse than normal, so I wanted to clean her off. I was worried about fly strike. It's only been about three or four days since the last time I picked her up, and on that day she felt normal aside from her dirty butt. Today, however, she felt heavier and her belly below her vent is very distended. I washed off the dried poo, and pulled her out of the tote for a closer look. She then proceeded to explode a pint of water and dark chunks from her vent! It went everywhere! I've never seen poo like this before. I didnt take a picture because I had crap all over my phone, my couch, ME! Good lord it was awful, but it didn't stink. Cloud acted like it was awesome, and I swear the little feather brain was laughing at me. She's lucky I adore her.
Anyway, she is still very active, eating and drinking like normal, running when she sees me or hears hubby with the scratch bucket. She also laid an egg yesterday. Her and her sister lay the same small cream colored eggs, and there were two of those eggs yesterday evening. Me palpitating her belly doesn't bother her. Her comb and wattle are the normal bright red. She is not panting. No lice or mites. She is fed Nutrina Naturewise All Flock mixed with rolled oats, black oil sunflower seeds, red pepper flakes, garlic powder, and Italian herb mix. I REALLY would take her to the vet if there was one who saw chickens within a 100 mile radius, but there isn't. Please, can anyone help me help Cloud? Thanks in advance.

***I have a glove on only to protect my wrist brace from the water... and poosplosion that happened.

 

[Tookie]

My first thought would be ascites or a reproductive issue. Since she's laying, I think a reproductive issue is less likely, but I could be wrong. But my guess would be ascites. Ascites is when an organ leaks fluid because its not functioning normally. Unfortunately there is no cure for it, all you can do is offer supportive care measures. If her abdomen get more enlarged you could attempt to drain it of fluid to relieve pressure on her insides.
But its an excellent sign she's acting completely normal! So for now I would just monitor her closely and watch if the abdomen gets bigger. If it does, you may want to look into draining, like I mentioned.

 

[Beckys Birds]

My first thought would be ascites or a reproductive issue. Since she's laying, I think a reproductive issue is less likely, but I could be wrong. But my guess would be ascites. Ascites is when an organ leaks fluid because its not functioning normally. Unfortunately there is no cure for it, all you can do is offer supportive care measures. If her abdomen get more enlarged you could attempt to drain it of fluid to relieve pressure on her insides.
But its an excellent sign she's acting completely normal! So for now I would just monitor her closely and watch if the abdomen gets bigger. If it does, you may want to look into draining, like I mentioned.

I was afraid of water belly, but she isn't showing any other symptoms. Maybe I'm doing the wishful thinking thing. I just don't want to lose my favorite girl. Water belly is a death sentence.

 

[Tookie]

I was afraid of water belly, but she isn't showing any other symptoms. Maybe I'm doing the wishful thinking thing. I just don't want to lose my favorite girl. Water belly is a death sentence.

Maybe her abdomen isn't filled up enough to show symptoms such as labored/heavy breathing? Its the first thing I thought of, but maybe its not it and it could be something reproductive. I'll tag some experts who know more than me. @azygous @Wyorp Rock @Eggcessive
I completely understand not wanting to lose her, I'm the same way with my flock. And I have dealt with things like this before.

 

[Eggcessive]

Can you get any pictures of her poop next time or two that she passes some? Have you noticed any yellow urates (the normally white cap?) Does her belly size seem to increase and then go down again after she poops? How old is she?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

she is still very active, eating and drinking like normal, running when she sees me or hears hubby with the scratch bucket. She also laid an egg yesterday.

Me palpitating her belly doesn't bother her. Her comb and wattle are the normal bright red. She is not panting. No lice or mites.

She is fed Nutrina Naturewise All Flock mixed with rolled oats, black oil sunflower seeds, red pepper flakes, garlic powder, and Italian herb mix.

The distention may be some fluid. Where it's originating (the cause) would be hard to know. (Heart, Liver/Fatty Liver, Reproductive, etc.)

At this time she's doing well, except for getting a messy bum. So she's not exhibiting "symptoms" as of yet.

I'd feed the All Flock free choice. Rolled Oats, Sunflower...give in a small amount a few times a week as a treat.

If possible, get a fecal float to see if deworming is needed.

Since she does have some distention, feel of that some more. If you feel that it is fluid, then try giving her Aloe Detox since you've noticed this early.

Coach has mentioned using Aloe Detox many times here on BYC, you can also search for it under her username. This is the info I saved since she explains usage and dosing. https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...le-to-move-now-laid-egg.1446105/post-24045478

 

[Beckys Birds]

Can you get any pictures of her poop next time or two that she passes some? Have you noticed any yellow urates (the normally white cap?) Does her belly size seem to increase and then go down again after she poops? How old is she?

Next time she's inside and poops, I'll try to get a picture. There were no colors other than dark brown chunks in water when she exploded all over me, my phone, the couch and floor. I was very up close and personal with her poo.
Her belly didnt seem to shrink after her poosplosion.
She just turned 2 years old.

 

[Beckys Birds]

Can you get any pictures of her poop next time or two that she passes some?

Last time, her poo looked just like this but with a massive amount of water.

The distention may be some fluid.

You're not going to believe this, but I think she is just fat. Like, obese fat. The reason I think this is her sister Rain has the same type of belly! Rain just isn't as large of a chicken. I felt the bellies of all my girls this morning, and they all feel like Cloud's belly but smaller. We weighed Cloud this morning and she is exactly 10.5 lbs. She's a huge bird! I thought she was just really fluffy, being a cochin, but no. She's just a Fatty Fat McFatterson! I guess Rain is too, but on a smaller frame, and thats why BOTH of their butts are always covered in poo. We have now stopped adding the rolled oats and black oil sunflower seeds to the feed because of my rotund girls. They'll only get those 2x a week on "scratch day" when we toss their scratch grains out. They also get 2 cans of kidney beans and a purple cabbage once a week. Then there is my "scraps bucket" of snacks i do whenever my bucket gets full of kitchen scraps. Everyone else is a healthy size and no fat belly. I have 20 chickens outside at the moment, and my two cochins are the only overweight birds. I have a Jersey Giant, a Brahma, a Buff Orpington, and four RIR girls who are all large birds, but only the Cochins are fat. I'm seriously thinking that they are only eating the black sunflower seeds and barely anything else except snacks. That's why the poo is always dark with no green or white.

Here shortly, we will be fixing the front yard and the small coop back up. Everything was torn apart at the end of February when a tornado tried to form in our front yard. That's where Rain and Cloud used to live. I'll be able to regulate their feed and snacks better then. They won't feel the need to gorge themselves thinking the other birds are going to eat their food, becauseCloud wasn't this big a few months ago when we had to move them to the back. My back yard hens are not the nicest. Not bad enough for pinless peepers, but they are a pack of mean girls for sure.

Since she does have some distention, feel of that some more. If you feel that it is fluid, then try giving her Aloe Detox since you've noticed this early.

I went ahead and gave her some of this aloe detox stuff just to be on the safe side. It was expensive! It smells weird and the whole experience was NOT fun. Is there an easier way to get her to take it where she won't be angry at me and hold a grudge? As per above, I don't even think it's water belly now and she is just obese. We got the 18 gauge needles, but I didn't want to stab her if she is just FAT!

 

[Eggcessive]

What is her breed? She sounds quite overweight. I would stop the seeds, oats, or other treats for every one for awhile. They don’t need anything but their balanced chicken feed. Fat birds can end up with fatty liver hemorrhagic disease, and die young. If you should ever lose her someday I would do a necropsy to look for what the inside of her abdomen looks like.

 

[Beckys Birds]

What is her breed? She sounds quite overweight. I would stop the seeds, oats, or other treats for every one for awhile. They don’t need anything but their balanced chicken feed. Fat birds can end up with fatty liver hemorrhagic disease, and die young. If you should ever lose her someday I would do a necropsy to look for what the inside of her abdomen looks like.

Cloud and Rain are Lavender Cochins and turned 2 years old the first of May. For her breed, Cloud is 10% heavier than she should be. She gained all this weight when we had to move her into Gen Pop at the end of February after the tornado. Cloud and Rain are the only overweight birds. In the next 2.5 weeks we will have the front coop and run fixed up for them to move back. It's really odd because they never really ate the snacks and treats I'd give them when up front. But now that they're in the back, I guess they feel the competition from the "mean girls," so they are eating more. Girlie picked the wrong season to get added padding, that's for sure!