Urgent Help! Hen going downhill fast

[Wyorp Rock]

Thanks for the advice. Her abdomen feels fine, I think. Soft and and squashy, not firm like a basketball (like with ascites). I did think she might have some sort of fatty liver disorder, she is a big hen and the symptoms seemed consistent. I just didn't expect her to sink so fast. She's really out of it now, i've put a warming wheat filled cushion under her chest (not in direct contact) to try and help comfort her. :/

I'm very sorry she is declining further. You may be correct about fatty liver, since the yellowing of the comb.
A warming cushion sounds very nice. I wish I had better answers for you.

If you happen to lose her and want a more definitive answer, refrigerate her body and send it to your state lab for necropsy/testing. Some of us perform our own informal investigation, looking into the abdomen and at internal organs. If that is something you wish to do, you can post photos here on your thread or on the necropsy thread. I understand, it sounds morbid, but actually seeing what was going on inside is an educational experience, but not for everyone.

 

[kit-e-kate]

Id bet she has something going on that you cant do anything about, but who knows. I'm not sure where you are located, do you have a feed store nearby? I don't think she will make it waiting for Corid to be delivered.

I've just messaged a neighbour who might have some, but there aren't any shops nearby who stock that kind of thing.

 

[kit-e-kate]

A big thank you to everyone who took the time to reply and help me with this. That's her gone now. She was as cosy and comfortable as I could make her, all snug in a bed made of a cardboard box full of towels in the sunny warm greenhouse. I went to check on her about half an hour ago and she'd succumbed to a heart attack. Rest in Peace, Pepsi.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm so sorry to hear you lost Pepsi

 

[bobbi-j]

You did everything you could think of for her, and made her as comfortable as possible in the end. She couldn't have asked for anything more.

 

[featherhead007]

Thanks for the advice. Her abdomen feels fine, I think. Soft and and squashy, not firm like a basketball (like with ascites). I did think she might have some sort of fatty liver disorder, she is a big hen and the symptoms seemed consistent. I just didn't expect her to sink so fast. She's really out of it now, i've put a warming wheat filled cushion under her chest (not in direct contact) to try and help comfort her. :/

If she does pass away, my favorite rooster will take good care of her in chicken heaven!

 

[Chickens rule 33]

Hi all,
I've got 4 ex-battery hens and one of them has been giving me cause for concern for a month or so now, because she has gradually developed a very pale comb. I though it might be anaemia, so I dusted them all for mites, and wormed them all. I kept her under observation and fed her iron-improving things like small pieces of lamb, spinach, scrambled egg and kale.This was a few weeks ago, and though her behavouir has been absolutely fine (til a few days ago), her comb has remained pale, and has now even started to yellow. A couple of days ago she started to be all hunched and fluffed up and unhappy. I've given her an epsom salts bath, and a dry with a hairdryer, given her mealworm in olive oil to hopefully help clear any internal problem. She had been laying some days, quite pale eggs, but okay inside. A little wrinkly, and occasionally very frail shells.
She's not eating very much, and I've been giving her drops of a vitamin tonic for birds, but today she had really gone downhill fast. She's now just sleeping a lot, cosied in a towel on my knee. I don't know what to try now! Any advice?

Hi
My hen had exactly the same symptoms you mention and looked the same sadly she passed way yesterday night

 

[Eggcessive]

I lost 4 older hens this past winter. the 3 I did necropsy on all had ascites (amber fluid from the belly) when I opened the abdominal wall. I was surprised that ascites does not always feel hard like a drum. These hens were all very thin with muscle loss. I hope that your hen gets better, but it seems that many older hens do suffer from various reproductive problems, liver disease, and heart failure. Sorry for your loss.

 

[orrpeople]

I recently received a necropsy report on one of my "production layers" (sexlink) that was very interesting. Apparently the high volume of eggs combined with egg size can create micro-tears in the egg tract. These heal, but scar tissue builds up over time creating blockages and sometimes fibroids. Official cause of death is usually egg peritonitis or internal laying.
It seems like you gave your girl a very good retirement and that she was well loved to the end.

 

[featherhead007]

A big thank you to everyone who took the time to reply and help me with this. That's her gone now. She was as cosy and comfortable as I could make her, all snug in a bed made of a cardboard box full of towels in the sunny warm greenhouse. I went to check on her about half an hour ago and she'd succumbed to a heart attack. Rest in Peace, Pepsi.

Rest now Pepsi, take care of Peeps for me.