Swollen Sagging Abdomen

[bobhoke]

Looking for a solution.

A hen has a swollen sagging or droopy abdomen area. The area is from just below the vent to the end of the rear of her breast bone. In laymen terms it looks like she has granny butt, really it look like her gut is swollen and sagging below her butt. What is it and how is it fixed if possible? Should I cull the hen now?

Thx! -Bob

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Either she's laying internally or she has ascites which usually means organ failure. I always give birds about a week to show an improvement or else I cull, unless they appear to be suffering than we cull asap. Your hen probably won't improve, or survive long term.

 

[strangeanimal]

Either she's laying internally or she has ascites which usually means organ failure. I always give birds about a week to show an improvement or else I cull, unless they appear to be suffering than we cull asap. Your hen probably won't improve, or survive long term.

this is usually an idication that there is an organ responsible indeed . Yet not necissarily failing ,it can also be your hen needs to go on a diet ( think about fatted livers etc ) or it can be an infection or as said before she might me laying internally , altough this could also be something more simple as topicsarter mentions ...

May I ask what you feed your hens ? Did you recently give a lot of mealworms or anything having a lot of protein ??
Is there a bad odor coming from any opening of the hen or is it just a normal odor ? a bad odor is the best in fact how odd it may sound

 

[bobhoke]

maybe she got too many meal worms and amish scratch.

 

[strangeanimal]

maybe she got too many meal worms and amish scratch.

that is indeed possible , depending on how much thay had , that is the danger of mealworms etc , it is a very healthy feed but not ment to be given a lot due the high proteinlevels and even fatlevels , if you know that there are even a lot of people eating them for proteines you can probably already guess how bad it can be if they eat it a lot . But that ain't certain . If they ate a lot the past time I think a diet will do no harm . Is your hen showing any other symptoms , such as loss of appetite ? Does she still move around like she normally does or is it obvious she is in pain ?
I would suggest that in any case a vet should be called , even if it was just for more advice since the swollen abdomen can have so many causes and can be a worst case scenario or just something that will pass if done some simple things ... a pic can help perhaps but still she should be examened to be SURE about it .
Does she lay ?
kind regards out of belgium