Swollen belly area near vent... Please help!

[walkerkm]

I have a 2+ year old NHR what seems to either be egg bound or something else-not sure what else it would be. She is eating and drinking and pooping, but seems a little slow in regards to walking. Her belly near her vent area seems swollen a little and hard. I gave her a bath in warm water and message her belly. I also checked her vent area with my finger and do not feel an egg. in the past she has given me rubber eggs...

I have called all the area vets and no one can take her! not even Tufts, which is one of the best vets in all of New England. what can i do to help her? what can this be?

any help would be great!

 

[chickenscratchings]

We had a similar situation with our 2 yr red hen...Her whole abdomen was hot, firm, almost bluish. And she got totally listless and acted chilled as well (it was winter in Wisconsin), so we brought her into the house and roosted her in the kitchen for days. Area vet treated her for coccidiosis, which helped some, but not completely. 2 weeks later, not much improvement, so I did a bunch of reading, and think she had egg yolk peritonitis...when a bit of the egg gets into the belly cavity and causes infection. Based on the type of microorganisms most likely to cause her symptoms, it seemed that the best antibiotics would be neomyocin or tetracycline. Only problem is vet is not really supposed to give those to chickens based on rules for which livestock are allowed which antibiotics...so I went to local Farm and Fleet type store and got neomycin formulation for cattle, back calculated dosage and guessed how much water she drinks in a day, and gave it to her in water (basically, 2 capfuls of the formulation to 1 gallon of water).

It took another 2 weeks of treatment, but she improved dramatically, and is still with us months later. She's never started layi ng eggs again, but we're just happy to still have her (she's one of only two hens we have)

Good luck!

 

[walkerkm]

Thanks for responding. I reached in again and do not feel an egg. Her belly seems warm and full. I just put her in a cage in the coop with food and tetracyclin in her water. I really hope this helps. How many days on tetracycline?
I still cannot believe that the vets i did call would not take her until tuesday! I could care less about ever getting an egg from her again, i just want her to live a happy life. She was my 1st chicken. My husband actually named her after me as she is the one in control of the flock...lol!

 

[walkerkm]

Please help me

 

[janetk]

try searching 'internal layer'. that's what it sounds like to me.