Update: Lost our girl..... bloated stomach....

[pupmom10]

Okay we have one hen that we discovered tonight when we went to feed the other hens for the evening... she was in the bottom of the house, puffed up, with a dark blue/black tinge to her comb, the rest is red?? not sure what thats about. then I went to pick her up. she really didnt try to move away from me. As I picked her up I noticed she was REALLY bloated from like her "breastbone" to her butt. her skin is stretched and red, and her vent is clean and puffy a little bit. slit from side to side not puckery... if that makes sense. we moved her away and have her in a box right now away from the others... there are no signs of other illness. she walks okay doenst look to be in distress, besides just sitting all puffed up???

what could this be?

thanks!

UPDATE: this afternoon she is acting very sleepy, Im afraid she might die. I wrapped her up again to keep her warm, shes been inside all day, when I let her out to eat,she does walk around but is now using her wings as props to walk... I feel really bad for her. I wish there was something I could do.... she ate some oatmeal and a grape but no poop yet.... and nothings crusted on her butt... her under belly thats bloated seems to be a little blueish, sort of off color???

any advice???

 

[ChickenWisperer]

Is her gut hard (the area that is "bloated")? If so, she could be eggbound. Anouther sign is that she hasnt layed.



If it is -

Give her a warm bath. Not hot, but warm. Massage her abdomen gently so that hopefully, her muscles will relax so she can pass the egg. Be sure to dry her well after the bath. Try not to stress her any more than need be.

You can also apply some KY jelly to her vent and inside it - do so gently (with a glove on). From what I've read, mineral oil will work too.

Keep her in the house until she does pass the egg. Keep her in a dark, warm place. Monitor her food/water intake.

 

[pupmom10]

I didnt get to go check on her yet today but we seperated her last night, she ate! wet bread and drank water... its not really hard just firm I guess. if that makes sense... I think Im gonna bring her in today...

I wonder why her comb is dark? do you think shes dehydrated????

Ill give her a bath and let her chill out inside today

any more advice??? should I feed her anything to help boost her overall health right now?

~Thanks!

 

[pupmom10]

Okay so the avian vet says that the dark comb thing could mean that the egg broke iside and that it turned spetic????

any other suggestions??? I just gave her a second soak for about 45 minutes...

 

[pupmom10]

Bumping

 

[Kittymomma]

Hi,

I know nothing about this, sorry.

You might try changing your title to something more specific now that you've talked to the vet--Eggbound hen with possible ruptured egg-- If you don't get a response try pm'ing threehorses, speckeledhen (she's had some eggbound issues lately) or dlhunicorn. There are others on here too that are great with the emergency stuff, but these are the three that I can think of right now.

Also do a search on treating an eggbound hen, there have been a lot of threads on this so hopefully you can find something to get you started while you're waiting for a reply. Good luck with her, I know how stressfull it is to have one sick and not know quite what to do.

 

[ChickenWisperer]

Have you massaged her while giving her baths? And lubricated her vent? You could also give her some olive oil soaked bread, not too much. Perhaps that would help from the inside. Give her a high protein diet to make sure she isnt malnurished. The blue comb and skin means blood, or oxygenated blood isnt being recieved in those areas, possilby infection if Im right.

Right now, it sounds like she needs lots of love, and make her as comfortable as possible. If these are her last hours, I would just try to make her happy as possible.

If an egg has busted, or she is laying internally, there is nothing you can do. The other day, I let my girls and boys out to free range at 4:10. I went to put them up at 5:10, and found one of my girls dead - had just falled over and died, apparently from internal laying/being egg bound. She never showed any signs of being sick.

Im very sorry, and I wish there was more you could do for your baby or some other way for me to help. Lots of hugs for you and your girl

 

[speckledhen]

Her abdomen was full of fluid and infection, most likely. The dark comb is because her heart is taxed and the fluid is pressing against her organs. If this happens again, get penicillin and give her three or four days of injections and the stuff may drain out. I've had two like that recently and they may eventually succumb to it, but are with me now and no fluid anymore. This internal laying is the pits. Lost six girls to it and the other two I mentioned are very thin and pale, but still functioning, though not laying. It's nothing you can really fix. It's not the same as eggbound, where there is an egg actually stuck. I have never had an eggbound bird, only internal layers.

Did she pass away? I see that in the title, but not in the other posts.

 

[pupmom10]

Yep she passed.... it was wierd we tried to drain some of the fluid with a syringe, like it said in the few posts we read about other chicken people doing ot birds with fluid filled bellies. I drained a little bit but instead of it being clear and whitish, it was brown and cloudy. Im sure it was infection.... My hubby was holding her and she started freaking out , probably because she was uncomfortable being held and just like that she flapped her wings and stuck her feet straight back. previous to this whole darining thing she was very sleepy, and very limp-ish. I think that by the excitement of being held and the draining, which she didnt really act too interested in , just the holding part. I dont hink we were really hurting her, I said to my hubby, we either try to help her or she probably will die anyway, just by how she was acting...

all in all after she freaked out a little we put her back in her box and just like that she fell over and died.

Im glad she went fast, but wish I could have done more... Its hard to fix somthing when you dont know what the problem is to start with...

My opinion was that she got excited and the fluid that was pressing on her lungs and heart maybe over did things and caused death?

anyway, its over now, Im going to be keeping a eye on the others...

thanks for all your advice and support

~Tammy

 

[bonita5kitten]

Tammy, I'm so sorry to hear your sad news.. what an ordeal you've suffered. Like you said, at least she went quickly and it seems that you did everything you could for her. We get so attached to our pets and its really tough when we lose them. I guess the silver lining is that you've learnt something from it and hopefully you'll be able to pass on your knowledge on this subject if and when someone has to deal with the same experience. Take care x