UPDATE: Hen is puffed up like a balloon--please help!

[Terri O]

She is doing much better this morning...wondering why she is inside I think. SHe keeps cocking her head and looking at me as I type. (Maybe she thinks I am pecking at something tasty?)

Anyway...she is eating, drinking and pooping but her underside is still grossly swollen--I am planning on attempting to drain some fluid out today in attempts to make her more comfortable...Terri O










I went out to see the girls this morning and my 2 year old hen (production red) is lethargic. I picked her up and she had some poop stuck on her feathers under her vent. Then I noticed that she was really swollen and puffy back there. I felt for an egg stuck but there does not seem to be one. It is kind of hard to tell with her so swollen. It feels like a balloon.
I brought her in and she just stands kind of hunched up not walking at all but her legs are fine. I made her 2 scrambled eggs and she ate them all. she also ate a piece of bread. SHe looks very tired but when the dog goes over there she perks up and is alert. She has not pooped since I brought her in--about 1/2 hour ago.

Is there anything else I can do? I am puting a towel over the cage and giving her a heating pad underneath next. THank YOU! TErri O

 

[CheerfulHeart2]

This is outside my expertise, but I am sending good wishes for you and your bird.

 

[chicmom]

Try soaking her bottom in some warm water.....this may relax her and then she may be able to relieve herself. Also, after she is cleaned off really good, you may be able to feel if there's an egg stuck. If you've got some surgical gloves, you could kind of lube her up with some vasiline, which might help if there is an egg stuck.......

Good luck to you!

Sharon

 

[Kittymomma]

I'd soak her in a warm bath/sink for 15 minutes or so, get her all cleaned up and blow dried and then maybe you'll be better able to tell what's going on. I've heard that the bath will often relax them enough to pass the egg if that is the problem.

 

[Terri O]

She is all bathed and blow dried. Feels like a chicken spa in here! She is on a towel with a heating pad underneath now and eating yogurt mixed with a bit of granola. Her legs are spread far apart. She is just standing and not moving much at all. I thinned a bit of vaseline with mineral oil and sucked it up in a syringe and put that into her vent to maybe lube up whatever is blocking her up. Her abdomen really feels likeit is just full of gas--not solid at all. I was also surprised at how heavy she feels. When she was wet I noticed that she is in the end of a hard molt.

Anything else I could be doing? Terri O

 

[redhen]

sounds like shes either an internal layer or i've heard of some hens that fill up with fluid in thier abdomen..the people had to take a syringe and get the fluid out of there.. ugh...
good luck..

 

[Wynette]

Do you know for certain the last time she laid?

 

[Terri O]

I was thinking of doing that Renhen. I am letting her rest after her soak to see if anything comes out. She is just standing there looking miserable! I feel so bad for her. Can a normal layer all of a sudden become an internal layer? I had another of this bunch do a similar thing about 2 months ago. Terri O

 

[Terri O]

Quote:
NO I do not know for certain. Her legs are very white and her vent is soft and moist, bones far apart. I assume it wasnot long ago...but there A LOT of chickens in the coop! Terri O

 

[Kittymomma]

If you suspect internal layer do a search for that with Speckledhen as the poster. I know she's been dealing with that and I think she has so good threads on the subject. OrpingtonManor had a good thread on either that or the fluid retention (can't remember what it's called) that her hen Paris was dealing with. I had saved that thread to my favorites, but my computer is down right now so I don't have it.